A range of keynote speakers will address this year’s Headway Suffolk Neuro Conference on Wednesday 11 May, which takes place at Wherstead Park near Ipswich and will also be streamed online.
The main theme of the Neuro Conference is around brain injury and crime, but it will also focus on a much more.
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, will be joined by Chief Inspector Nick Paling, Head of Custody in Norfolk and Suffolk, to talk about how people with a disability are cared for in custody.
His Honour Judge Martyn Levett, who has been a resident judge at Ipswich Crown Court since 2017, will talk about acquired brain injury witnesses in Crown Court.
Huw Williams, an Associate Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, will talk about his experiences of brain injury and the criminal justice system.
Delegates will also learn about the Headway Brain Injury Identity Card, which helps police officers and staff ensure brain injury survivors receive an appropriate response and support.
The conference will also hear powerful stories from two brain injury survivors and a carer.
Gordon Watling, an ex-Headway Suffolk client, will share his journey from CEO at telecommunications company Sepura to firefighter at Suffolk Fire and Rescue, while Alec Charnley will talk about his switch from service user to director. Carole Almond will speak of her life as caring for a loved one with dementia.
Dr Silke Walter, a neurology consultant at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Unit, will discuss the mobile stroke unit, which carries out immediate tests to determine the best course of action and was relaunched in 2020 after a successful trial in Ipswich in 2019.
Amanda Cousins, a Chief Operating Officer at the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF), will speak about brain injury rehab on a national and regional basis.
The event takes place from 10am – 5pm and will also have updates from Headway Suffolk’s CEO Helen Fairweather on the Charity’s services and post-Covid future, and from mental health nurse Sam Jangum on mental health and brain injury.
Tickets are £45 for attendance at Wherstead Park and £25 for the live online stream.
They can be purchased by calling 01473 712225 or emailing [email protected]. Full details are on our events page.
Helen Fairweather said: “Headway Suffolk has been holding an annual neuro conferences since 2015. Even during the pandemic we managed to hold a virtual conference.
“Our conference is one of our main events which attracts high quality speakers. It is a great day for professionals, family carers and people with neurological conditions. Tickets are already selling quickly.”
The conference is being kindly sponsored by Ashtons Legal, CFG Law, East of England Co-Op, Hodge Jones & Allen, Irwin Mitchell and Slater and Gordon.
Headway Suffolk has attracted great interest in its conferences, with Dawn Astle, Chris Tarrant, Stephen Hawking, Prof Robert Winston and Jane Hawking as previous speakers.