A charity is seeking volunteers from Wells and the surrounding villages to buddy up and help people who have suffered from brain injuries.

Headway Somerset exists to support individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and their families.

ABI includes trauma such as a blow to the head from assault or accident, strokes, haemorrhage, aneurysms, tumour, meningitis/encephalitis and oxygen deprivation.

The charity has five rehabilitation centres across the county including one in Henton, where it works with people to support them to move forward with their lives.

In 2020, it received a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund for a Making Headway project, which is a service that matches trained volunteer buddies with local people with ABI to work alongside them to engage with their communities, be that swimming, dancing, researching their family trees, having friendship phone calls or going out for cuppa.

Headway Somerset is now recruiting volunteers in the Wells area for its next volunteer training course starting in the autumn.

A spokesperson said: "In Somerset every year about 3,000 people have a hospital admission due to ABI.

"Every year an estimated one million people attend Accident and Emergency Departments in the UK following a head injury.

"It is estimated that around 500,000 people of working age are living with long-term disabilities as a result of ABI.

"Headway Somerset was founded 30 years ago by the parents of a young woman following her brain injury in an accident.

"An ABI can happen to anyone and happen at any time. When it does Headway Somerset is here to help."

This training will be virtual, and to find out more have a look on the Headway Somerset website or send an email to [email protected].