New Year Honours list: Emilia Clarke and her mum made MBEs for setting up brain injury charity

Actor Emilia Clarke and her mum have been made MBEs in the New Year Honours list for their services to brain injury, after co-founding a charity and smashing stigma.

Clarke has spoken publicly about surviving two brain haemorrhages, leading to thousands of young survivors around the world speaking out about their own battles and revealing the difficulties they faced accessing rehabilitation.

Nearly one in three people will suffer a brain injury in their lifetime.

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Clarke, best known for her role in Game of Thrones, and her mother Jenny launched the charity SameYou in 2020. It is on a mission to pilot recovery innovations that bring immediate benefits to brain injury survivors and their families. 

It works with partners globally to launch ground-breaking therapies and lead vital research into brain injury that wouldn’t be funded otherwise.

Jenny, who is also chief executive of SameYou, says: “Emilia and I are both extremely honoured to accept this award on behalf of every brain injury survivor who has struggled to access quality rehabilitation and has had to fight for their own recovery.”

SameYou is campaigning launching a fundraising appeal to be able to continue to treat more people with its pioneering group rehabilitation programme – Neurorehabilitation Online.

Almost 1,000 patients have gone through this programme so far which has revealed life-changing results, and SameYou wants to roll it out further into the UK. It is operated in real time via Teams, delivered by the NHS in London and Lancashire and is funded by SameYou. 

Jenny added: “It’s absolutely essential that brain injury survivors know they haven’t lost the person they were before. With programmes such as Neurorehabilitation Online, it helps patients to take back power to control their own recovery and is an extra layer of support that we know is clearly missing.  

“The results of NROL have been astonishing. Please support our appeal to enable more NHS Trusts to take on this programme to really highlight what it can do to change so many lives.”

England heroes Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Lauren Hemp, Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis and baker Paul Hollywood are among the others being recognised in the New Year Honours list.

A donation of £10 that would buy a rehabilitation session for a brain injury survivor. Find out more about SameYou and how to donate here.