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October Group Meetings

Balham Day Group Meeting
Tuesday 4th October, 10-11:30am, followed by a drop-in service until 1pm
Balham Library, 16 Ramsden Road, London SW12 8QY

As not many people could make the July meeting, we will be rolling this topic over. Next week will be all about understanding stress, so we will be talking about the signs, symptoms and causes of stress, as well as ways of coping. Hope to see you there!

Wimbledon Group Meeting
Tuesday 11th October, 7:30-9pm
Drake House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon, SW19 4ED

In October’s Wimbledon meeting we will talk about memory and the strategies that can be used both at home and at work. We hope to see many of you there!

Croydon Group Meeting
Wednesday 19th October, 7:30-9pm
Harris Academy Purley, Kendra Hall Road, South Croydon CR2 6DT

In our October group we will explore the effect of common behaviours and how they can impact on relationships with friends, family and partners.

Richmond Group Meeting
Thursday 27th October, 7:30-9pm
Moore Blatch Solicitors, 2 The Green, Richmond, London TW9 1PL

What is rehabilitation? Who are the professionals? What are the local services and what are the member’s experiences of these? How do we decide our rehabilitation goals – who do we trust? How long do we rehabilitate for? ……….

Come along and bring your thoughts and experiences of rehabilitation you received following your brain injury.

ByEditor

Follow-up from September Richmond Meeting

Our Speaker, Jo Anderson, has sent the following useful information following questions that came up at the September Richmond meeting:

1. Freedom Pass

The definition of “disability” under the Transport Act 2000 are listed below. You will note that the last category relates to those who are unable to drive due to a disability. However, the previous category also relates to cognitive impairment. I would think that many of your members would be able to argue for one or both of these categories, and therefore that being able to drive should not necessarily mean that you would lose you Freedom Pass.

• People who are blind or partially sighted
• People who are profoundly or severely deaf
• People without speech
• People who have a disability, or have suffered an injury, which has left them with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to walk
• People who do not have arms or have a long-term loss of the use of both arms
• People who have a learning disability that is defined as ‘a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning’
• People who, if they applied for the grant of a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, would have their application refused pursuant to section 92 of the Act (physical fitness) otherwise than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.

2. Claiming PIP

Set out below is the link to the Citizen’s Advice Service website and the page relating to claiming PIP. This gives the telephone number to call to start your claim  and a list of the information that you need to have with you before you make the phone call. If you have a root around this part of the website you will find lots of other helpful info regarding PIP.

https://www.citizensadvice.org .uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled- people-and-carers/pip/help- with-your-pip-claim/how-to- claim/

3. Working Tax Credits

I meant to let everyone know at the end of the session what the income limits were for Working Tax Credits.  You can earn up to £13,000 as a single person and £18,000 as a couple and claim Working Tax Credits.

4. Turn2Us

I don’t know if anyone took any of the leaflets that I left yesterday. You will remember that I mentioned that the charity Turn2Us have a great website with a “benefits calculator” tool. I have attached the link below. I recommend entering your details in to this. It is very easy to use and the results may be surprising. If you are entitled to benefits, you really should be claiming them!

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/

ByEditor

September Group Meetings

Balham Day Group Meeting

Tuesday 6th Sept, 10-11:30am, followed by a drop-in service until 1pm
Balham Library, 16 Ramsden Road, London SW12 8QY

This session will focus on ‘pacing’, or how to look after ourselves and plan activities to suit our abilities and achieve our aims in the time we have available to us.

Wimbledon Group Meeting

Tuesday 13th Sept, 7:30-9pm
Drake House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon, SW19 4ED

We are looking forward to seeing you all back at the Wimbledon meetings following the summer break in August. We have a guest speaker from Imperial College London joining us on the 13th Sept to talk about current research and TBI.

Croydon Group Meeting

Wednesday 21st Sept, 7:30-9pm
Harris Academy Purley, Kendra Hall Road, South Croydon CR2 6DT

Following the summer break, we will discuss the impact of a brain injury on everyday life. We will also identify topics you would like covered in future groups.

Richmond Group Meeting

Thursday 22nd Sept, 7:30-9pm
Moore Blatch Solicitors, 2 The Green, Richmond, London TW9 1PL

This month, the Richmond group will be meeting after the summer break on the usual 4th Thursday of the month – the 22nd September – where we will be joined by Jo Anderson from the Citizens Advice Bureau at St George’s Hospital. She will be available to answer questions and discuss any points people may wish to raise around benefits, work access and other topics in the social services arena.
We look forward to welcoming back existing members and meeting new members.