The family of a Newport man who drove 25 miles after suffering from a brain injury whilst driving on the M4 has welcomed the news that over £360,000 from the Big Lottery Fund has been awarded to Headway Cardiff, a charity that supports people with acquired brain injuries.

The award comes as one of thirteen projects sharing in £3,285,829 through the latest announcements from the Big Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme. (For full project descriptions, please click here).

Electrician Adrian Crowley suffered a brain haemorrhage whilst driving on the M4 in late 2013 and miraculously drove safely home now has trouble with memory, balance, speech and headaches. After being treated at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, he saw a flyer forHeadway Cardiff that supports people with acquired brain injuries across South East Wales, and he and his family have accessed a variety of their services in Newport.

Adrian’s wife, Sharon, said: “Headway Cardiff has been invaluable to me following my husband, Adrian’s brain haemorrhage. I was lucky that he was transferred to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff and they automatically refer patients on discharge to Headway Cardiff for support.

“Meeting with other carers at the Carers Group is a great help because I had to cope with Adrian’s difficulty in accepting what has happened. It is hard to watch him struggle to just change a fuse.”  

Headway Cardiff will use £364,374 to provide support and services that will directly impact on the recovery and stress levels of survivors of Acquired Brain Injury in Cardiff, Newport, the Vale of Glamorgan, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen and Rhondda Cynon Taff.  New activities will be introduced including weekly activity groups for the individuals and their families and specific support with Welfare Benefit and Personal Independent Payment entitlements.

Receiving the funding, Julie Smith, General Manager of Headway Cardiff said: “Acquired Brain Injury is on the increase in Wales, and it is estimated that across the UK there are over500,000 people of working age living with permanent disabilities as a result of a head injury. The Big Lottery Fund award means that we will now be able to offer support to a greater number of people, over a wider area and in a variety of ways designed to meet the holistic needs of individuals and their families.”

In Swansea, Wave Project Cymru receives £142,000 to deliver a surf therapy project. The funding will support young people living between Swansea and Newport with mental health difficulties to improve their mental health, life chances and social skills by learning to surf. Each participant will receive support from their own mentor – a volunteer surf instructor supervised by the Welsh National Surf team coach that will provide emotional and practical support.

Wave Project Chief Executive Joe Taylor said: “This is fantastic news for young people in South Wales who will benefit from these projects. The Wave Project has developed an evidence-based programme which is proven to improve self esteem and wellbeing for young people.

“By overcoming the challenges of learning to surf, they will feel more confident and resilient about dealing with other challenges in their lives. We hope that they will also make friends with other children and be inspired by the volunteers, who provide great role models.”

In Powys, Radnorshire Play Network, based in Llandrindod Wells, will use £250,000 to provide a dedicated play centre and hub for children and young people from birth to the age of 25, to include children with special needs or disabilities. The new facility will broaden the current provision offering space for activities, sessions and workshops, and expand outreach services to new areas in Radnorshire and North Brecknockshire.

In Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Marie Curie receives £196,127 to improve access to palliative care services in the area. The project will work to enable people with learning disabilities, dementia, and diverse or no religious backgrounds to get better access to vital care services in the area. The grant will be used to work with communities to identify and overcome the barriers faced by them to use available services.

Andrew Wilson-Mouasher, Divisional General Manager for Marie Curie, said: “We are thrilled that The Big Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme has elected to support this important piece of work. I’m sure this exciting new project will make a huge difference in our continued efforts to further improving access to our services for people living in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.”

In Gwynedd, Llwyngwril Community Co-operative Limited will use £248,963 to revitalise their village. It will redevelop a recently closed school into a self sustaining hub of community activity and provide a venue for many of the services lost in the village, such as a hairdresser, cafe, chiropodist to return and will benefit all ages within the community. The three year grant will be used to cover full refurbishment costs, project expenses and the salary costs.

Highlighting the importance of the People and Places programme, Rona Aldrich, Wales Committee Member for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.

“It delivers on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy.”

The People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects. For further information about the programme and how you can apply for funding, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/wales

Further Information:

Alexander Davies - Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 029 2067 8236

Public Enquiries Line: 0300 123 0735  

Textphone:  0845 6021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Follow Big Lottery Fund Wales on Twitter: www.twitter.com/biglotterywales

Find Big Lottery Fund Wales on Facebook: www.facebook.com/biglotteryfundwales

• The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
• Since June 2004 we have awarded over £6.5 billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.