Brains Matter is our Kent Local Cause for 2024/2025 and is a charity supporting adults in Kent and East Sussex who are affected by brain injury.

Brain injury can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time. Causes of brain injury include road traffic accidents, stroke, meningitis, brain tumours, falls, assaults, and work and sports accidents.

A hospital will look after a patient in the immediate aftermath of a brain injury but after time the patient will be discharged. The National Health Service has no dedicated after-care service for people with brain injury. Unlike most other injuries, a brain injury does not simply heal over time and many people who sustain a moderate or severe brain injury will never fully recover to be the person they once were and live the life they once lived.

But with help, at the right time, there can be life after brain injury. That’s where Brains Matter steps in.

Initial support at hospital

Brains Matter employs a community “navigator” who goes into hospitals in the area and provides support and advice to patients and their families while the patients are in hospital, at a time when the families are in crisis and have no knowledge of what to expect or what to do. The navigator will assess patients’ future needs, advise on what to do, help put in place future support arrangements, and prepare patients and their families for when they are discharged.

Activities Centre

Brains Matter has an Activities Centre in Tunbridge Wells, a place to socialise with others, share similar experiences and participate in a programme of stimulating and varied activities. The activities are designed to be enjoyable as well as promoting cognitive development and include arts and crafts, gardening, active games, board games, quizzes, as well as neuro Pilates and mobility exercises. Attendance at the Activities Centre provides respite to the clients’ carers and, for other clients, their visits are the only occasion when they meet other people. Other day trips and outside activities (such as a theatre visit in Tunbridge Wells or a trip to the seaside at Hastings) are also arranged periodically.

Drop In Centres

Brains Matter operates a drop-in centre in Maidstone (once a week) and Sevenoaks (once a month) for those clients in Kent for whom Tunbridge Wells is too far away. This offers an opportunity for people to meet with others, gain support and access information and advice.

Community wellbeing service

This is a bespoke one to one support service. Those accessing the service receive an initial assessment to ascertain the support required, what skills they would like to develop or goals they would like to achieve. Individuals work in partnership with their “buddy” on an agreed programme over a period of weeks.