As of today, England has entered another full-scale national lockdown.
As many of you will know, the public have been told to stay at home wherever possible, and all clinically extremely vulnerable people have been asked to shield once more.
Unfortunately, we have therefore made the decision to close The Brain Charity’s building from tomorrow (Wednesday, January 6th) until at least the next government review on Friday, February 19th.
The Brain Charity’s staff will be stopping any face-to-face work we have been able to carry out under recent restrictions, with all services now back to running virtually. Under government guidelines The Brain Food Café and our charity shop and room hire spaces must also close.
We are still here for all people with neurological conditions, as we have been throughout the pandemic. Get support now by calling our free helpline on 0800 008 6417 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Below are some of the ways we’ll be supporting you through this latest lockdown.
You can find a full list of the services we offer here: www.thebraincharity.org.uk/how-we-can-help
Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you all in person as soon as we can.
Counselling
Neurological conditions can have a wide-ranging effect on mental health, and the pandemic has not made things easy for any of us. If you are struggling with your mental health, contact us as soon as possible.
We provide counselling to anyone affected by a neurological condition – whether you have a condition, a family member does, or you care for someone with one. Our team use a range of counselling and psychotherapies, including CBT. Your counsellor will provide you with a safe space to talk about your problems and feelings.
For the time being, all counselling appointments are taking place via telephone or video call only. But thanks to recent new funding, we now have the capacity to also extend our counselling service to provide additional bereavement support to anyone affected by Covid-19.
Phone Befriending
If you are facing loneliness and social isolation, do not suffer in silence – you are not alone. We have extended capacity within our phone befriending service, so if you think you would benefit from a weekly call, just let us know. Calls usually take place once a week, for around 30 minutes, and can cover any topics you would like to discuss.
Online activities
Our popular online activities and classes have restarted this week, and we are looking at extending many of these until at least the end of March. If you are not confident using Zoom, please reach out to us, as we will help you set this up to make sure you can participate.
To sign up for any activity, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Would you like to see different activities taking place? Complete our short survey here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HYR285C
Covid-19 support
If you need help with shielding, food delivery slots or Covid-19 advice, our info team will be able to put you in touch with the relevant organisations and advocate on your behalf.
Donate to our Covid-19 appeal here
