Brain injury charity reopens HQ after £600k refit

The brain injury charity Headway has reopened its headquarters in Shropshire after a £600,000 refit.

The money has been spent on creating a wellness hub, which includes a wheelchair-accessible kitchen, an art room and an IT suite.

Charity CEO Nia Rossiter said she was "extremely grateful" for the £475,000 from the National Lottery's Community Fund towards the project.

"[The National Lottery] came out to visit us to understand why we were asking to renovate our building," she said.

"Ultimately, [the building] first opened and was incorporated in 2002 and nothing had been done since.

"[It] wasn't suitable for all the needs, it wasn't adapted appropriately throughout and there was not enough space or circulation space for wheelchair users."

Rossiter said the charity realised it needed greater awareness in the county.

"There were too many people that still didn't know about us who needed our support," she said.

So the aim was to get the centre "up to scratch" and make sure it had all the facilities it needed.

Now, she said, they were in a position to "really start shouting about it across Shropshire".

The building, which used to be offices, now uses its upper floor too.

Rossiter said: "The biggest change has really been opening out the space, making sure there's big social areas, there's plenty of room so that people can do activities, and we can obviously welcome other professionals in to work with us."

Chuk, from Shrewsbury, started attending the groups after he was involved in a serious accident in 2003.

He visits three times a week and said he doesn't know what he would do without the centre.

"I could not walk or nothing before and I was broken up pretty bad," Chuk said.

"I went and had an operation in London and stayed down there for a few months.

"I came back and started coming here and [it] has been really good," he said.

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