Headway - the brain injury association

Who we are

Headway - the brain injury association is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity no. 1025852) and the Office of the Scottish Regulator (Charity no. SC 039992). Headway is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 2346893.

Brain injury can challenge every aspect of your life – walking, talking, thinking and feeling – and the losses can be severe and permanent. It can mean losing both the life you once lived and the person you once were.

Headway is the UK-wide charity that works to improve life after brain injury. Through its network of 129 groups and branches across the UK, it provides support, services and information to brain injury survivors, their families and carers, as well as to professionals in the health and legal fields.

At Headway, people use insight and care to help survivors regain some quality of life through a wide range of services, including rehabilitation programmes, carer support, social re-integration, community outreach and respite care.

On a national level, Headway provides a range of frontline services to help those affected by brain injury, including:

• a freephone helpline 

• a comprehensive award-winning website containing information and factsheets on all aspects of brain injury 

• an award-winning range of booklets and publications designed to help people understand and cope with the effects of brain injury;

• an emergency fund to assist people dealing with the financial implications in the immediate aftermath of a brain injury;

• Headway Acute Trauma Support (HATS) nurses to support families whose loved ones are in the acute stage of care following brain injury;

• a network of more than 125 groups and branches that provide physical, cognitive and social rehabilitation and support to individuals and families;

• a directory of approved residential homes, rehabilitation units and respite facilities specialising in ABI.

The charity also lobbies for better support and resources to be made available to people affected by brain injury and works to raise awareness of brain injury and the devastating effects it can have.