It all started 3rd June 1972 with a man called Keith Pennock. His daughter, Alison, had acquired a brain injury at a young age and the family were desperately reaching out for help and seeking support for her difficulties.
Keith and his wife visited an organisation in America they believed might help Alison. They saw huge improvements in Alison’s difficulties and so began to help other families access the support. That organisation approached Keith to run something similar in England.
It was evident that Keith’s passion and ambition for helping brain injured children would be able to carry the organisation forward to be a success – and so the work began. Four years after opening, the organisation moved from Staffordshire to Knowle Hall in Bridgwater, Somerset.
In 1980 we became independent, with the name ‘The British Institute of Brain Injured Children’. And in 1990, after 20 years of building an incredible charity supporting children just like his daughter, Keith retired as the Chief Executive, having built a team who could carry on his work in the coming decades.
1997 marked a positive year for our development
We linked with NHS children’s neurodisability specialists, who visited us to evaluate the techniques and strategies used. Further recommendations were made for our work in order to strengthen the clinical base and integrate with more mainstream therapies.
In 2007, we shortened our name to ‘bibic’ to reflect the scope of conditions we were now able to support, helping not only children but young adults too, with or without a diagnosis, which we continue to do to this day. And we are now based in Langport, Somerset, where we have been since 2014.
Our bibic team expanded in 2016 and onwards
Our team has continued to grow, develop and learn. We recruited two more therapists to support even more children and young adults and enhanced our reach.
Like all small charities, we’ve gone through some hard times. However the strength of our work and our focus on supporting those who come to us has never changed.
Through the pandemic
We knew the support for children and young adults could not pause, and our team developed digital assessments to safely ensure all families could access our support and advice.
2021 and a growth in need
In 2021 more families have been seeking our support than ever before, and we welcomed two more therapists to the team, now with a total of seven therapists. We also opened our brand new therapy suite, increasing the space for families and ensuring we could offer the most appropriate assessments.
We are so excited for the big things to come from us in 2022
The bibic approach to therapy is to look at the young person as a whole, as all areas of development interact and impact each other. We work closely with our families to support and empower them.
Within 50 years, we have now helped over 20,000 children and young adults with a variety of difficulties such as; Acquired Brain Injury, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Global Developmental Delay, Sensory Processing Disorder, Downs Syndrome and many more.
The work we do shows the legacy of the work one family started to make life better for children with brain injuries. Our work today continues that legacy, and we are determined to help families that reach out to us through therapy, advice and support.
