Charity support

Just as all those at IE believe there has to be a better way to resolve claims than litigation, Silverlining believes there has to be a better way to help brain injured patients and their families in the longer term.

Silverlining has achieved major success in creating social support networks, programmes and events that rebuild a sense of purpose and direction, motivating individuals and benefiting the wider community.

Having seen the tremendous difference made to so many lives, IE is delighted to support the Silverlining Brain Injury Charity as it spreads its reach throughout the country.

Letter from David & Sue Rogers, supporters of The Silverlining Brain Injury Charity

In 2005, my wife and I received a telephone call that no parent ever wants to receive. Our son, Steve, had been catastrophically injured and it was doubtful whether he would survive. During the months and years that followed, when we needed to focus on Steve’s rehabilitation, we found ourselves plunged into litigation. Fortunately, we met Peter Freeman and he guided us through the legal case and to a successful conclusion at Court.

We had complete confidence in Peter as a barrister; he always had our injured son and justice at heart. We have always found Peter to be extremely professional, skilled and thorough, who can be completely trusted. Moreover, we have always found him to be one of the kindest, caring and most approachable lawyers that anyone could hope to work with.

Throughout the duration of our son’s case and since, we have shared ideas about how to make the resolution of serious personal injury cases better for everyone involved. We fully supported the concept of the Independent Evaluation & Facilitation Service, as it was originally called, and are so pleased to watch it becoming an established force, now as “Independent Evaluation.”

In our opinion, the Independent Evaluation process has the potential to significantly benefit families in our position by enabling a settlement to be reached more quickly, without the added stress inevitably caused by the adversarial nature of the alternative, court process that we had to go through. We believe that a collaborative approach, guided by an Independent Evaluator, will save the insurers time and money too.

Since concluding our litigation, Peter kept in touch and kept a very close eye on the great progress that Steve has made. In 2016, Steve felt he needed a new challenge and was accepted onto the Silverlining Charity’s mission to Namibia. The trip involved a team of brain-injured individuals and able-bodied assistants going out to support a small rural school in an area on the edge of the Namib desert. All participants had to fundraise to pay for their involvement. In Steve’s case this included, amongst other things, organising and participating in a walking football tournament and completing a sky dive with the Red Devils. The trip was a huge challenge for all, not least in having to camp, live and work in temperatures reaching over 43 degrees C in the shade. However, it was extremely successful and life changing. The huge sense of achievement and fulfilment that each team member came back with was wonderful to see.

The Silverlining Charity does amazing work helping to engage and unite the brain injured with the wider community in a way that reconnects, motivates and rehabilitates. This helps all those affected by brain injury to rediscover a sense of purpose direction and meaning. The Charity is primarily based in the south of England. There has been nothing quite like it for people in the Midlands, and we have been trying to establish a Midlands branch for some time.

We are delighted that IE have supported the founding of a Silverlining branch in the Midlands, which will be up and running and changing lives for good from Autumn 2017. We thank them for their kind generosity.

IE’s Charity of the Year 2021: The Rhythm Studio Foundation

“We believe that young people deserve the chance to transform or enrich their lives through music, whatever their background or their personal circumstances.”
RSF Mission Statement

The Rhythm Studio Foundation (“RSF”) was founded in 2011 with the goal of transforming the lives of young people through music. In association with The Rhythm Studio Academy of Music (“RSAM”), they work with schools, hospitals and community groups to provide opportunities to economically underprivileged and socially disadvantaged young people who have limited access to music-making. Their focus on contemporary music and use of technology makes their approach accessible to local young people, some of whom may be harder to access through more traditional music education.

AT RSF, they believe that there has never been a more important time than now to provide young people with a creative outlet through music. Through RSF, children who are disadvantaged or vulnerable are offered a creative outlet through music.

Opportunities offered by the Foundation include:

• A primary schools’ programme where local children from state schools visit the RSAM music studio to learn instruments and form rock bands, sing in a pop choir and produce music using iPads;
• A hospital programme that involves fortnightly visits to the paediatric wards at Chelsea & Westminster and St Mary’s Hospitals, making music with young patients as well as providing respite for siblings and carers. Currently, due to Covid-19, they are producing virtual content for hospital patients as well as providing one-to-one lessons for young people who are shielding at home due to long-term medical problems; and,
• A scholarship scheme that supports several young musicians to have one-to-one weekly lessons on guitar, drums, bass, piano, vocals or music technology.

To see more information about the Rhythm Studio Foundation, please visit the RSF website.