Annual Report: Oct 2024 - Sept 2025

 

Aphasia breaks people's connection and communication from their families, friends and their world. Our support helps them to restore connection.

 

Our service provides long term support and social inclusion for people with aphasia who are adjusting to life after stroke or brain injury. 

 

 

Key Achievements

In 2025, Say Aphasia made significant strides in our mission to grow the number of groups and improve the service and governance across the organisation. 

Since last October, we have:

• Opened 10 new groups.
• Welcomed 202 new people with an acquired communication disability.
• Enrolled 73 new volunteers.
• Enrolled 16 volunteers with aphasia.
• Collaborated with 23 Stroke Association Support Co‑ordinators who are referring to our groups.
• Collaborated with 10 Neuro-rehabilitation teams who aim to refer to our groups.
• Raising our profile with health professionals, including better liaison with the main hospital stroke units near our groups to encourage referrals.
• Raised £51,546 in donations.
• Raised £69,388 in grants from charitable trusts and foundations.

We have 3 new groups opening early in 2026.

Our USP still stands; we are the only aphasia charity in the UK which is run predominantly by people with aphasia. 

Say Aphasia celebrated their 9th anniversary during this year.

  

 

Mission and Vision

Say Aphasia’s Vision:

To offer peer-led groups that support people to live positively with aphasia in the UK.

 

Say Aphasia’s Mission:

Say Aphasia will have a network of peer led support groups across the UK.  We will identify the best locations for aphasia support groups, focusing on areas with potential peer leaders, active Speech and Language Therapy teams, and/or other referral partners such as Headway, Stroke Association, and/or other relevant brain injury support. These partnerships will help us build strong links and reach people with aphasia.

 

Each group will follow Say Aphasia's clear, consistent protocols. Peer leaders with aphasia will run the groups, supported by a structured support team, ensuring the charity becomes an important part of local care for people with aphasia.

 

Aims of support groups:

• To bring people with aphasia or other acquired communication disability together.

• To help people with aphasia feel less isolated, and feel positive and more confident living with aphasia.

• To provide a safe place where aphasia is understood.

• To provide a supportive community for people with aphasia to have conversations and socialise.

You can see the impact Say Aphasia are having on its members here

  

 

The Team at Say Aphasia HQ

⅓ of our team live with aphasia.

Founder and CEO:

Colin Lyall

Trustees:

Kate Swinburn

Jeremy Hodgkinson

Ian Lyall

Martin Hall

Staff:

Lauren Leake - Service Manager

Emma Rich - Charity Co-ordinator

Nadine Crook - Local Fundraising and Training Lead

Mona El-Khatib - Operations Administrator

  

 

Key Achievements From Our Members and Peer Leaders

• BBC Radio Sussex Make A Difference Awards: Colin Lyall was chosen as a finalist in the BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey Make a Difference awards 2025!

• Many of our groups and peer leaders have stepped out of their comfort zone and made many media appearances!

  • TV appearances! We are incredibly proud of our Peer Leaders with aphasia who have taken the initiative to contact local journalists / news departments to raise awareness of aphasia. To watch the news segments, visit: sayaphasia.org/press

  • Radio appearances! In February some members from our Bournemouth group spoke on the Bournemouth local radio, Hope FM. 

  • Podcast appearances! Many of our peer leaders have spoken on the podcast, On The Tip Of My Tongue. You can listen to the podcast here.

• Aphasia New Music concert: Colin Lyall took part in a musical project with University College London. Participants produced their own music. Each piece of music expressed what it can be like living with language difficulties.
  
  

• Presentations: Pete, our Darlington peer leader, regularly offers talks to local businesses to raise awareness and understanding of aphasia.

• Parliament: Say Aphasia were mentioned again in the houses of parliament.

• Art exhibitions: 

  • Paul Parks - a member of the Gloucester group.

• • Janine North - our peer leader in Hayling Island.

  

 

Our Impact

Aphasia Stories: This year, we have collected stories from our peer leaders to find out more about their lives with aphasia and how the charity is helping.

You can read their stories here.

 

How well are we doing? Click here to find out.

 

Service Overview

Service 1: Support Groups

• Current number of groups: 27

• Total number of service users with aphasia who attend our drop-in groups: 482 (between 1st October 2024 - 1st October 2025) 

• Current number of volunteers with aphasia: 40

• Current number of volunteers without aphasia: 94

• Current number of volunteers who are speech and language therapists: 5

• Current number of speech and language therapists who refer patients to our groups: 133

Service 2: Home Befriending Scheme:

Exeter:

• Current number of service users: 7

• Current number of volunteers: 6

Eastbourne:

• Current number of service users: 15

• Current number of volunteers: 3

 

 

Financial Overview

Income Sources:

• Donations: £51,546

• Grants: £69,388

• Gift Aid claims: £2,678

• Bank interest: £225 

 

 

Successful Funding From Grants

A huge thank you to:

The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia

The Fore

Point North Community Foundation

Barnstaple Town Council

Barry Town Council

Vale of Glamorgan Mayor’s Foundation

Bournemouth BH Coastal Lottery

Mid Sussex County Council

Exeter City Council

Yeovil Town Council

  

 

Fundraising and Donation Acknowledgments

• Kirsty Maguire and Lauren Leake raised £2,523 with their long distance swimming challenge.

• £9,000 was raised from our runners who took part in the Brighton Half Marathon.

• Leigh Walton raised £900 by offering a talk about her journey walking the Camino de Santiago.

• Alison McConnell raised £375 with her day of silence.

• Hanka Mayhew and Colin Lyall raised £450 by walking the South Downs in Sussex with reduced mobility.

• Martin Pearce raised £600 with his walking challenge.

• Monica Church raised £800 with her garden party.

  

 

Challenges and Lessons Learned

• Expanding our successful model to new locations while maintaining the quality and ethos of the original support groups.

• Establishing a clear fundraising strategy that includes a mix of income streams.

• Accepting that we will always have recurring communication obstacles to overcome when running a charity which is peer led by people with aphasia. Due to the fact that aphasia is complex and varied, and so our support also needs to be varied, as well as flexible. 

• Memory and processing issues are common symptoms of brain injury and so we have to take this into account with everything we do when managing and supporting a charity run by people with brain injury and aphasia.

 

 

Future Goals

• To grow the groups by at least 4 a year.

• To recruit more staff.

• To roll out our new training for all volunteers.

• To continue to reach and support more people with aphasia.

 

 

Collaborations

Aphasia Alliance

Aphasia New Music Group

UCL Research

London City University research: 

• COMSTAR Project

• DARA Project

• APT Programme

 

 

CEO End-of-Year Message

As we come to the end of another remarkable year, I am proud to reflect on the impact we have achieved together. Our network has continued to grow and strengthen, with 27 Say Aphasia Support Groups across the UK, each providing vital connection, confidence, and community for people living with aphasia.

This year we have been fortunate to receive significant grants, fundraising support, and generous donations. These contributions have enabled us to expand our services, reach more people, and continue innovating in the way we deliver support.

None of this would be possible without the dedication and passion of the people who drive our mission forward every day. To our trustees, peer leaders, and volunteers—thank you. Your commitment, expertise, and compassion are the foundation of everything we do. You ensure that every group remains a safe, welcoming, and empowering space for those we support.

And of course, to our dedicated staff—thank you. You are the ones who keep this entire organisation moving forward. Your professionalism, passion, and resilience turn intentions into action and challenges into achievements. You run this machine with skill and heart, and everything we accomplish is rooted in your hard work.

Together, we have made a real difference—and together, we will continue to grow our impact in the year ahead.

Thank you 

Colin Lyall

Founder and CEO