Henley Rotary Club & Headway Thames Valley

SIX clients and four staff of Headway Thames Valley, the brain injury charity in Henley, enjoyed a trip on an accessible boat.

The journey with the Rivertime Boat Trust, which provides boat trips for disabled and disadvantaged children and adults, was paid for with a £300 donation by Henley Rotary Club. 

Volunteer crew member John Porter and skipper Lucy Herbert took the guests up and down the river as they enjoyed a music therapy session run by Headway’s Jenny Bell. 

Rotarians John Grout and Sam Lamden joined the group on the boat for one final song as it moored outside the River & Rowing Museum. 

The trip finished with a rendition of the Beatles’ Let it Be with a solo by Headway client Cindy.  Mr Grout called Rivertime a “wonderful” charity.

He said: “The Rotary club has funded trips for Henley charities before and we donated some money to help the trust purchase the boat all those years ago. 

“The club is all about supporting local charities and they are one of the best.” 

Ms Herbert said the trust completed around 240 boat trips a year and usually ran two two- to three-hour sessions a day. 

She added: “Thanks to the Rotary club we have been able to offer this amazing day out.” 

Ms Bell said: “The boat trip was fantastic. We sang up and down the river. We also brought in a few sea shanties. 

“We have particular goals we want to work on every session like how we are feeling and what we want to achieve.” 

She said the group also sang its own “Headway song” written beforehand.  

The lyrics are: “Happy everyday at Headway; Exercising our bodies and minds for energy; Also our friends that help us too; Day after day we communicate; Week after week we come back for more; Always with a smile; You/we feel at home.”  

Emma Dodd