Tribute by Marietta Sharp and Headway staff:

Sylvia was working as a supply teacher for the Leicester Royal Infirmary School in 1987, when she met and worked with a young man of 17 who had sustained a severe brain injury. Seeing the potential for his recovery if the right help was given, Sylvia visited him even after he had been discharged from hospital, and helped him to regain his skills and confidence. It was her involvement with, and kindness to, this injured young man that was the catalyst for Sylvia’s pioneering work in Headway.

To look at Headway now it is hard to imagine its humble beginnings.

In February 1990 Sylvia started working to build up a team – initially recruiting and training volunteers. Soon Headway House was open for 2½ days a week. Brain injured adults in Leicestershire finally had a service that could address their needs.

In those early years, Sylvia was very ‘hands on’, (literally so: I remember seeing her with her arm down a drain when we were clearing a blockage) and involved herself with every aspect of building the service. She was particularly keen on the therapeutic benefits of activity, humour and good communication. She was a team person and encouraged members, staff, and volunteers to pursue their interests and build on their strengths, recognising that that was the best way for people to achieve their potential. She worked closely with the many experienced and dedicated trustees over the years.

Sylvia was also passionate about all aspects of brain injury rehabilitation. One of our trustees (and retired neuro-psychologist) recalls a trip with Sylvia to London, in the early 1990s, to attend a meeting of professionals with an interest in brain injury. On the ‘Tube’ on the way home they were having such an intense discussion about the issues raised, with Sylvia challenging the accepted wisdom of the day, that they hadn’t realised that they had reached their station, and had to push through the passengers and force the doors open.

When we were preparing for today we asked for contributions from many people and one story was mentioned many times.  At Headway it is not unusual for members of staff to make a food contribution for a meeting or a party. On one such occasion Sylvia had volunteered to make sandwiches. On the day of the event Sylvia announced that she had made egg sandwiches using ‘her own eggs’. A completely innocent remark, leaving everyone in fits of giggles. Of course she meant that the eggs had come from her own chickens. Egg sandwiches still provoke laughter at Headway.

Although Sylvia was very kind and patient, she was forthright, and to the point, when she needed to be. Her workload increased enormously with the success of the charity and it was said that when she was particularly busy, ‘frost’ formed around the door frame of her office as a warning that any disturbance had better be valid.

Whether it was because she was a child of post-war rationing, passionate about the environment, or just ‘tight’ is unclear, but she detested waste, embraced recycling and kept a firm grip on the purse strings. This did mean that money and items donated to Headway were always used very wisely.

To assume that Sylvia only had an impact on a local level would be misguided; the response we have received from people nationally has shown how far-reaching her commitment and achievement was. She never lost sight of the fact that the person with the brain injury was the reason for Headway’s existence and actively promoted this ideal.

Today Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Headway has become a valued service that has made an immeasurable difference to the lives of many brain injury survivors and their families.  It employs 17 skilled staff and offers a 5 days a week service in our excellent facilities at Hospital Close, and an outreach service that takes our service in to people’s homes wherever they live in the County or Rutland. It is a unique provision within the area, and only those that have needed it can tell you how valuable it is. Without Sylvia we would be very unlikely to have what we have now.

When Sylvia retired in 2005 she would visit from time to time, it may have been to check that we were not undoing her good work, but mostly it was just to gloat and say how much she was enjoying her retirement, particularly when her granddaughter Jocelyn was born. We saw many photos and listened to her cooing over how fantastic it was to be a grandma.

There are little reminders of Sylvia everywhere in Headway House: areas of the garden that still bear the blooms that she planted, and her familiar hand writing still graces our notice boards and pops up unexpectedly amongst paperwork. These things are superficial in comparison, because Sylvia’s influence and values will continue throughout our service and will act as a fitting tribute to her hard work and dedication.

When we said farewell to her at her retirement, we never dreamt we would be saying goodbye so soon.

Thank you Sylvia, from us all, members, volunteers, staff and trustees, for the inspiration you have left us.