Headway House Day Centre

Marietta Sharp moved to London from southern Africa in 1976 to train as an occupational therapist. After having a family and working in the NHS she became a volunteer at Headway in 1991, a co-ordinator in 1995, and a day-centre manager in 2000. Her day can include picking up litter from outside the door, helping to design the new specialised kitchen, organising summer activities, ringing taxi companies, and encouraging members in their activities. She is a firm believer in the importance of creative activities in helping recovery and restoring self-confidence after a brain injury. She loves working in a small organisation where a real difference can be made to people’s lives.	Alison Maynard was a hairdresser for several years when she thought it was time for a change. This came about when she saw an advert for a support worker for a 22 year old young woman who had suffered a head injury in a road traffic accident. When her support was no longer required in her first post she was recruited as carer for a client who attended Headway House in Leicester. That was 6 years ago and she has not looked back. Alison is now a Day Centre Worker at Headway House and says “Attending Headway with a member has given me the opportunity to see first hand what positive changes Headway can bring to someone’s life. I feel incredibly honoured to be part of such a dedicated team.”
Jacqui Bates joined Headway in January 2003. After completing her counselling degree she spent 12 years working with adults as a qualified counsellor. Jacqui is now fully accredited with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). At Headway she juggles the roles of Assistant Day Centre Manager and Volunteer Coordinator, working with members, staff, volunteers and liaising with various agencies. She was born in Leicester and has lived in various surrounding villages and towns, before settling back in Leicester. Jacqui enjoys cooking, various art and crafts, gardening (when she finds the time), reading, music, spending time with friends and going to the cinema. She has a family who are growing up and spends time with them. “I never grow tired of Headway. Each day brings fresh challenges and wonderful new experiences for both the members and me”	Pat Martin has been a Day Centre worker at Headway House since 1998. Prior to that she worked as a secretary in various industries until a ‘mid-life crisis’ moved her towards a caring profession and she trained as a psychiatric nurse. After 20 years with the health service working mainly with older people with dementia she ‘retired’, joined a craft group and then found Headway where she has been able to make use of life experience and craft skills to offer encouragement to Headway members to reach their potential in the numerous activities on offer at Headway House. Pat says “I find my work both challenging and rewarding and thoroughly enjoy working with our talented members and volunteers.”
Maryanne McGinn worked for nine years as a carpenter and joiner before studying furniture design. After moving from London to Leicester in 1993 she began part-time voluntary work whilst her children were young, firstly for SOFA, a furniture recycling project, then at Headway in 2001. She was invited to join the staff soon afterwards and has been running the woodwork facility for four days a week for the last three years. Maryanne enjoys working in a small team and values the sharing of ideas and skills amongst staff, Members and Headway’s fantastic volunteers. “It’s rewarding to watch people’s confidence grow as they discover or re-discover their talents.”	Maggie Taylor started working at Headway House in 2005 for one day a week as a sessional tutor in the workshop. Since then she has become a member of staff doing woodwork and some outreach work. Before coming to Headway she worked as a Design and I.T. technician in an Upper School and has also had experience of working in an art shop, window dressing and running a Toy Library. She also worked at an F.E.College with Special needs students. “I enjoy working with members and feel that my job enables me to help build their self esteem and independence alongside developing skills in woodwork and communication.”
Val Thurman has worked at Headway House since 2002 as a much valued cleaner. Before coming to Headway she worked for the NHS for a number of years until her retirement but felt that she didn’t want to give up work completely so comes to us each morning for 2 hours before members arrive. The house is very well looked after because Val takes a pride in her work and nothing is too much trouble for her. She always gives us a warm welcome when we come in and this gives us a chance to catch up on any problems she’s experiencing with her work. When she takes annual leave we all miss seeing her. It’s strange to come in to an empty building and we all agree she’s an essential part of the Headway team.
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