Creative Emporium Blog

brainstrust offers a unique support service to people who have to cope with a devastating brain cancer diagnosis.

 Unlike other charities, they offer pragmatic support and advice at the point of diagnosis, and they can do this because they have a unique network of advisors in the medical, scientific and nursing community. Most other organisations in this field just offer pastoral support and can’t do much when it comes to helping people explore all the options.

At brainstrust the ultimate aim is to instill in people coping with brain cancer a sense of empowerment and control, and make them feel they are working towards an outcome that is the best it can be for their situation.

Our online merchandise company Argon Promotions relationship with brainstrust began in March 2010 when we helped them to develop a range of merchandise designed to support someone diagnosed with a brain tumour. Will Jones, Development Manager at brainstrust, approached us with the idea of a “brain box”, a box designed to contain useful information and advice for brain tumour patients. One of the main items to go in the box was the “brain book”, an invaluable source of information and a place for patients to record important information. Our experience in promotional merchandise meant we were able to offer Will several options for the brain book, before settling on a custom made A5 polypropylene 4 ring binder with integrated pockets and CD studs for medical scans and vital letters and information.

Will at brainstrust, explains “At brainstrust, we appreciate how difficult things can be once you are diagnosed with a brain tumour, the 4am moments, the travelling to and from appointments, the stream of questions that pop into your head, trying to remember the jobs of all the people that you’ll meet on your journey and knowing who to turn to and when. We wanted to design an aid for brain tumour patients to help them keep on top of things. With the advice and production expertise on offer from Argon Promotions, we were able to design and bring to life a package that offers a lifeline for the new patients that contact us at brainstrust every day.”

There were several other important additions to the brain box to make it even more invaluable to patients.

• A “Have You Lost Your Way” booklet- A pocket sized companion packed with useful tips to manage the “care pathway” and describes the role of the different professional people likely to be encountered on the way from first diagnosis of a brain tumour to treatment to aftercare.
•  A copy of the “Living with a Brain Tumour” book. Written by brainstrust patron Professor Peter Black MD PhD, professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and rated as one of the top ten doctors in the USA.
• A pill box. Both necessary and useful.
• Highlighter. A fun flower shaped highlighter to help patients pull out and remember important pieces of information.

Also included in the box is a box of tea bags to help patients and carers to relax over a quiet brew and get to know the brain box better and, for young children the brainstrust mascot, a crocheted red elephant, is included.

The brain box was officially launched on March 16th in Winchester with interest from hospitals as far a field as Aberdeen and features in several publications including Womens Own magazine. The brain box is available free of charge to people who are trying to cope with a recent brain cancer diagnosis.

Richard Burniston, Argon Promotions Sales Manager, explains “We were delighted to help brainstrust with the production and design of their brain box. Knowing that we have made a contribution to such a worthwhile cause is something myself and the Argon team are very proud of and we look forward to working with brainstrust in the future”.

 

For further information on brainstrust please call 01983 292405 or visit www.brainstrust.org.uk

For further information on Argon Promotions please visit www.argonpromo.co.uk