Head Injury Support Embark on a Year of Fundraising

A Newry charity that gives a lifeline to individuals, carers and families affected by acquired brain injury is beginning a series of fundraisers in advance of their second ever Camino challenge in 2026.

Head Injury Support based at Kildare Street in the city, caters for up to 90 survivors and requires £120,000 annually to run. The organisation provides activities including art and music therapy, and social outings to foster independence and social integration.

The 2026 Camino trip will feature 23 walkers and fundraisers aim to surpass last year's £31,000 raised. The 2026 Camino will take place from March 7-14 in the white villages of Andalusia. Upcoming fundraisers include a Truck Show on 14 June, a classic golf event on 6 June and street collections. 

Hannah Downey and Carole Murphy jointly founded the organisation. Speaking about how it came about Downey said "My son had an accident and there was literally nothing - every door closed. A year in hospital, he came home,  the doors I knocked all closed, there was nothing. So we got together  a group and we started a very small meeting in the Bank Bar every month for people, just to get together. From that we have fought many battles to where we are today with a Day Centre here in Kildare Street, four days a week, 11am to 4pm and some Friday nights. We take them on a wee holiday as well. It's just a safe place and it's literally an extension of my home for my son, because he has nowhere else to go. There's wonderful staff, brilliant volunteers and you know what - We're very proud of it."

The organisation caters for survivors right across the Southern Trust and beyond. They also do an outreach in Craigavon, Portadown and Armagh with a worker that goes out to those three areas. Community transport also buses survivors from those areas to Newry twice a week.

Volunteer Pat O'Neill said "When they come here they're meeting people who have similar circumstances to themselves,  and it's a way where they feel less isolated. It's very important socially for them, because if they're at home, there's nobody else like them there, that's had an unfortunate accident that's affected their brain and the functions of it. Users of the centre regularly talk about how important it is, from their point of view, to be in here, and it makes it like a special type of a family for them."

Speaking about the upcoming events volunteer Roisin Mulgrew said "The Truck Show is going to be on 14 June at 1pm and will be held between SAFE Fuels and Shane O'Neill's Football Club. At the minute we have been sponsored by local business and haulage companies. It's a Truck and Tractor Show, and we also have a number of classic cars coming so it's going to be a fun family day out. There's also going to be music and a raffle and it will hopefully be one of our significant fundraisers for this year. The week before that we have Classic Golf down in Greenore Golf Club on 6 June, we have a street collection in Camlough on 7 June and we also have a number of street collections in Warrenpoint and Rostrevor to tie in with the Ulster Fleadh and Fiddler's Green.

"We are also hoping to do a Halloween event, which will go towards the fundraising for the Camino, something like a Witch's Scary Walk in Derramore. This is only our second meeting of the Camino team, and we have a big wall chart, and we are starting to fill in the dates. Our hope would be that every month we will have something on, and we hope that people will start to recognise our purple jerseys and realise what we are about and what we need to do, and get out and support us in doing it."

Carole Murphy believes the most important thing Head Injury Support do is give people the opportunity to bring out talents they didn't even know they had, and give them confidence, to be able to go outside, into crowds, into people.

Murphy said "One child's sentence always lives in my head. The child came in one evening and said to their mother "I didn't know there were other people like you" - simply because the mother's speech was a little bit slurred, her walking was a little bit different, all of that.

"The other example is that whenever we would go out with our survivors, maybe for a meal, we used to phone up and book a table. Then we'd walk into the venue and there was all these lovely tables, and then there would be an annex or a place at the back and they'd say 'we have it all ready for you', and I'd say what are we doing down there, why are we not up here and they'd reply ' We thought you'd be better there'. So it's an education for our own people, for the families and for anybody who is interacting with us. We are the same people with a different coat on us because we've acquired a brain injury. We're the same people inside so that's very important."

Mulgrew believes the support given by the charity to families/carers is also very important "I always think carers are so forgotten, as Hannah said, you're in hospital for a year and you're sent home and you just sink or swim. The change that it is to an entire family. There's a night here for carers on a Wednesday evening, and there's counselling here for them as well. Sometimes when survivors are in here, some of the carers meet up and go for lunch that day. It's the networking that happens not just for survivors but for everybody"

For more information on Head Injury Support you can check out their website at headinjurysupport.org.uk or you can telephone 028 3083 3728 or email info@headinjurysupport.org.uk