HEAD INJURY AWARENESS AND APPEAL WEEK BEGINS TODAY

Remember that Head Injury Awareness and Appeal Week begins today (Tuesday, 8th June) If your current riding helmet has a few years under its belt, and/or has had a few knocks and bumps (even one fall can be enough to render them ineffective) get down to Saddlery Warehouse or Stirrups Equestrian.

Both Saddlery Warehouse and Stirrups are offering substantial discounts on new riding helmets.

Saddlery Warehouse is offering a 20% discount on any new riding helmet purchased during the Head Injury Awareness & Appeal Week, which runs June 8-15 this year.

Stirrups Equestrian, located in Auckland city has also agreed to support the awareness week and will be offering a 10% discount on their GPA range of riding helmets and 20% off other safety riding helmets at their Newmarket shop during the Head Injury Awareness & Appeal Week.

Remember you only have one brain and one head and a bad fall can be absolutely devestating. Be safe. Wear a helmet :)

FORMER INTERNATIONAL MODEL AND HORSE RIDER, ELIZABETH CHARLESTON, LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF HEAD INJURIES IN NEW ZEALAND

On Friday 21st May, former international model and head injury victim, Elizabeth Charleston, launched THINK! The Head Injury Network for Kiwis, to increase awareness about head injuries and to provide support to those dealing with the condition.

THINK! was created in partnership with the Waikato branch of the Head Injury Society of New Zealand and ties in with The Head Injury Awareness and Appeal Week which runs from June 8th- 15th 2010.

‘New Zealand has a higher rate of head injuries than many other countries in the world with researchers at Auckland University of Technology estimating incidents between 18,000 and 26,000 per year,’ explains Elizabeth. ‘One of the main messages I want to get across to people through THINK! is that anybody can suffer a head injury.

'I would also like to break down some of the attitudes that people have towards head injury victims and the stigma that is attached. Often, even after a sufferer has started to accept that they have a head injury, the people around them do not know how to deal with the changes to their personality and abilities. This has got to change.’

THINK! encourages people to use safety-approved head protection when playing sport or taking part in potentially dangerous activities, such as climbing, horse riding and cycling, and at work when the circumstances or activity being undertaken puts the user’s head at risk.

‘When you get into a car a person instinctively puts on their seat belt. The same level of self preservation should apply. It’s about reducing the risk and improving safety,’ says Elizabeth.

Elizabeth has also launched a campaign to coincide with the Head Injury Awareness & Appeal Week in June that gives equestrians a discount on safety riding helmets at Saddlery Warehouse and Stirrups Equestrian.

For more information on the Head Injury Society of New Zealand, visit their website by clicking here.

THINK! has a Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/THINK-The-Head-Injury-Network-for-Kiwis/378242020990?ref=ts