JANE Weston is manager of the Headway Swindon, a charity helping survivors of brain injuries, which is based at the Headlands Trading Estate. Recent days have seen it hold events to mark national Action for Brain Injury Week, including Hats for Headway Day. Jane, 50, lives in West Swindon.

“The biggest causes of brain injury,” said Jane Weston, “are having a stroke or having a head injury. Road traffic accidents are the biggest cause of head injuries but there are also falls. Sadly, after that I think one of the most common causes is when somebody has been assaulted.

“Then there are things like brain tumours and aneurisms, and things caused by other medical conditions such as meningitis and encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain.”

There are currently 68 regular Headway users, and Jane leads 11 staff and many volunteers. She is full of praise for her team.

There is no such thing as a typical client. The brain is our most mysterious and complex organ, and the difference between devastating injury and mild impairment might amount to damage occurring a millimetre or two in a one direction or another.

Some of those who use Headway are back at work within weeks, perhaps armed with simple coping tricks such as a notebook and pen to lessen the effects of memory loss. Others have more severe problems.

“According to the part of the brain that has been affected or damaged there can be a myriad of different symptoms,” said Jane.

“For example, at the back of the head is the part of the brain that controls your vision, so if you damage that you can actually lose part of your peripheral vision.”

In Headway’s main corridor, large playing cards are taped to the walls at random intervals.

“We walk them along the corridor and they have to learn to move their heads so they’re properly observing what’s around them, rather than relying on distant memories and assumptions because part of their vision has gone.”

Headway helps with other problems encountered by people with brain injuries.

“One of the most common effects is memory loss. If people have a frontal lobe injury it can affect their personality and behaviour.

“A lot of people here have speech problems, so we use speech and language software to help them practice key words and phrases.

“People lose their ability to sequence events and to plan things so, for example, using the bus is very difficult because of bus timetables, being able to buy a ticket, handling money.”

Jane took up her role a little over a year ago.

She is originally from Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol. Her mother was a teacher and her father a civil engineer.

An electronic engineering degree at the University of North Wales in Bangor led to a long career in industry and business, including a stint in Munich in the 1990s.

“That was great – a fantastic experience. I loved working in an office where I was surrounded by people from different cultures and different nationalities. In my team there were something like eleven people and nine different nationalities.

“You were constantly learning and people were challenging things and your way of thinking – that you had made assumptions based on your upbringing, and maybe their upbringing had been slightly different.

“I think it opened my mind to other ways of thinking and different perspectives.”

Jane first moved to Swindon in 1991 and returned in 1997. She worked for various firms in the electronics and financial sectors, but had a longstanding ambition to eventually use her management and financial skills in the charity sector.

“I’ve always an interest in charity work. When I was at school I did the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, and I was a Girl Guide – those sorts of things. We went and helped to decorate the children’s ward of a hospital. When I was at university I spent a week on a holiday with the Winged Fellowship, who arrange holidays for disabled people.

“I’ve always felt that urge to give back and help people who are less fortunate than me.

“I can’t put my finger on exactly why; I just feel it’s always been a core part of me. I know I’m very privileged and very lucky, and therefore I want to help people who are less fortunate.”

This commitment saw Jane take part in Rotary and Lions Club work, and become a trustee and then chair of Swindon Advocacy Movement, which helps people with learning difficulties.

The Headway role was exactly what she wanted.

“This job came up and appealed to me immediately because I particularly like working with vulnerable adults and people who are misunderstood in society.

“We want this to be a place where people feel safe, where they’re not judged and where they feel welcome.”

Her message to brain injury survivors and their loved ones?

“I think never to lose hope. I was doing a radio interview with one of our clients earlier this week. She was knocked off a moped in Swindon.

“She was saying it would be easy to think, ‘My life has ended and everything’s changed’ but actually she doesn’t regret it because through having the brain injury she’s met some absolutely wonderful people that she would never have met.

“Look for the positive in things and seek out organisations who can help you.

“Another thing about brain injury that a couple of people have mentioned to me is a bit of a misunderstanding – that after you’ve had a brain injury it’s almost like the first year or two years is critical ad after that you’re not going to improve anymore.

“That’s pretty much a story that I’ve heard a lot but actually, if you speak to some of our clients who’ve been her for six years, they’ll tell you they’re still learning and they still feel that they are improving every day.

“The improvements may be smaller steps, but they’re still improving and they’re still getting that hope and that shared success by seeing other people’s successes as well.”

Headway Swindon is planning a move to bigger premises in November, and welcomes inquiries from potential clients, their loved ones, volunteers, helpers and donors.

Its website is headwayswindon.org.uk