Our History

When Bolton Businessman Derek Gaskell brought his wife, Dorothy, home after life-saving brain surgery at Hope Hospital [now Salford Royal] she was unable to do anything for herself. She could not walk or talk and suffered deep depression. After many years she made a good recovery but the because of this unexpected and traumatic experience, Derek was inspired to establish a registered charity Neurological Research in 1986.

BASIC

The appointment of the charity's first employee, Wendy Edge, saw its re-launch as BASIC (Brain and Spinal Injury Charity) in 1994. BASIC is now affiliated to the Greater Manchester Clinical Neuroscience Centre, one of the largest in the country. 

Since it's inception in 1994, BASIC has provided counselling, information and support services for patients and their families following a brain or spinal injury.

BASIC has come so far from the creation of the UK's first National Helpline for people following brain surgery, in 1996 to the Ground Breaking Virtual Reality Rehabilitation project in 2015.