Donna Dunford

For a long time I felt like I didn't belong anywhere. I'd never met anyone else with a brain injury and since people couldn't relate, I just kind of kept to myself. I grew up knowing I was different but I didn't know how to talk to people about it.

When my kids got older I decided I wanted to do something with my time. I started volunteering at the foodbank at my church. One of the support workers there knew about my brain injury and she suggested I contact Cathy at the Otago branch of the Brain Injury Association.

I've been coming along to their meetups for about two years now. I really like being around people who have similar problems to me. I'm able to talk about my experiences and hear about other people's. Sometimes my husband will come along too, and he's enjoyed getting to know some of the others.

Sometimes we just talk and other times we do activities or have a guest speaker. I enjoy it all but I really love it when we do word games, I'm really good at spelling. I used to be so shy but now I join in the conversations. I'm definitely happier now that I've found that sense of belonging I'd been looking for.

"I really like being around people who have similar problems to me. I'm able to talk about my experiences and hear about other people's."