History

What is BIF?

BIF is a European Confederation of Associations of Families of which one of the members suffers a brain injury. It was created on April 11, 1999 in Brussels by the 7 founding Associations brought together in the General Assembly : Headway-UK (The United Kingdom), U.N.A.F.T.C. (France), D.B.I.A. (Denmark), Le Noyau (Belgium), FEDACE (Spain), Coordinamento Nazionale Associazioni Trauma Cranico (Italy) and FRAGILE (Switzerland).

Why was BIF created?

The families in which one of the members suffers a brain injury, in all national associations of different European Countries, have a very strong bond in common in that they have shared the same affliction (the accident seriously wounding the brain of one of them), they permanently carry the same concerns and, for the persons in charge of an association, they try to reach the same goal : to promote the interests of brain injured people and improve the assistance which can be given to them as well as their families.

Brought together for the first time in Paris, on March 17 and 18, 1998 at the French Association’s initiative, the 7 founding Associations wished to set up a European Confederation in order to establish between them a real and concrete bond of friendship and solidarity to share their experience and their achievements and allow the most recent national associations to take advantage of the achievements of older Associations.

Convinced that the real interests of the families can only be expressed and defended by the families themselves, they also wished to be linked in order to speak as one voice. Thus they hope, at the national as well as European level, to be better heard and helped and to be more persuasive in getting the specifics of acquired brain injury, which still remains an “ignored plague”, recognized.

Situation of BIF in 2010

BIF became a non-profit-making International Association (A.I.S.B.L) according to the Belgian law, on March 2, 2000 with the publication of its Statutes in the Moniteur Belge, where it is identified under N° 5410/2000. Its new Statutes, put in conformity with the new Belgian law are in the Appendices of the Moniteur Belge, at the date of the 04/05/2006. BIF is always identified there under the number 5410/2000.

It became member of European Disability Forum (E.D.F.) at the time of its General Assembly on June 2, 2000 in Brussels, and it was classified in the category of "full members" of this Forum. It is now an NGO (a European Non-Governmental Organization), representing within the E.D.F. the Associations of Families of which one of the members suffers a brain injury. At the time of the following General Assembly, on June 9 2001, Mrs Rita REES, President of BIF, was elected for 4 years member of the Board of directors of the Forum, and in May 2005 Niels-Anton SVENDSEN, our Vice-President, was elected member of the Board for the new mandate (2005-2009), and re-elected in 2009 for the mandate (2009-2013).