Auckland’s brain injury association, Headway, has been operating for more than 40 years, but it wasn’t meeting the needs of the brain injury community effectively – partly because few people knew it existed.
Gardening and growing connections with Headway volunteers Kathy and Sally
New CEO Stacey Mowbray reached out to the Community Comms Collective to help develop a communications strategy that would help Headway better support individuals and their whānau as they navigate the complexities of brain injury.
“We knew that we needed to get our communication plan sorted and that we weren’t using the platforms as best we could but, as a small charity, it can be overwhelming as to where to start.
“One of the greatest things the Community Comms Collective gave us was the impetus to prioritise and focus on a comms plan. From the first conversation with Hamish, I was able to develop a clearer picture of our needs and goals.”
Matchmaker Hamish Girvan quickly understood Headway’s requirements and matched them with experienced volunteer Hannah Kronast.
“Headway had been through some significant and challenging change in the months before Hannah joined us,” says Stacey. “Although we were heading in the right direction, Hannah brought new energy, enthusiasm and a fresh set of eyes that helped drive us forward. One of the most powerful contributions was Hannah’s ability to step back and to ask the right questions – ones that made us stop and challenge assumptions.”
Stacey says Hannah pulled the many strands of communication into a clear and accessible plan that allowed the team to break tasks into manageable, achievable pieces of work while also helping them identify priorities.
“Hannah’s impact has been huge and was primarily about reconsidering everything we did around communication and then working to align our communication with our strategy: elevating Headway as the leading source for brain injury information and support.”
Hannah says having a strong interest in the healthcare sector and experience in reputation management, communications reviews and external relations meant being paired with Headway was a natural fit.
“Alongside the professional development benefits, it was also enormously gratifying to give back to a charity that does incredible good in my local community and to think I might help them reach a few more people makes it so worthwhile,” she says.
“I’m continuously looking for opportunities to learn and grow in my career and I had been considering volunteering in my free time. I was thrilled to find the Community Comms Collective and have the opportunity to be a part of a team of industry leaders that recognise that New Zealand benefits significantly when charities are supported to do their best work.”
Community Brain Day in New Lynn – raising awareness
Headway Brain Injury Auckland is a charity enabling better futures through brain injury prevention, education, navigation and support.
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