Newly formed Chichester charity to support people with acquired brain injuries

Friends of Brain Injury Survivors (FABIS) is devoted to providing holidays and social events for survivors of acquired brain injuries. The events are entirely free, bankrolled by support from generous trustees and patrons, and it’s hoped that they will give brain injury survivors a new lease on life, an anti-dote to the loneliness and isolation experienced by many of those with brain injuries.

FABIS is most concerned with helping brain injury survivors who are entirely reliant on state benefits, but they are also concerned with those who have another form of income since they are also likely to be “feeling the pinch.”

To get in touch with FABIS, visit www.fabischarity.com, email [email protected], or call 07880 547482

Meeting with Chichester City Mayor Cllr. J.L. Gershater, FABIS Chairman Trevor Hines explained that the charity holds a deeply personal significance for him. His son suffered an acquired brain injury while attending a school reunion and he was run down by the driver of a stolen white van. He was rushed to ST Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, where he remained unconscious for three months. After recovering consciousness, he spent a further 12 months in a rehabilitation unit and, though he survived, continues to live with the repercussions of the incident.

"The journey my family has been on since the accident is not one I would wish on anyone,” he told the Mayor. “Like my co-trustees I want to help other families at whatever stage of that journey they might be on. It is truly motivating for us to know that our work will give hope and joy to the people with ABIs and their families in Chichester and its surrounding area.”

Despite its relative youth, charity trustees already have a range of ideas for future events, but they are keen to confer with brain injury survivors themselves to find out what they’d like. “We want our

beneficiaries to feel empowered,” says Trevor. “after all it is a charity working on their behalf.”