Hello and welcome to our spring newsletter. With 2023 well underway, we hope you’re having a great year so far. For Say Aphasia, it’s been busy already. 

Brighton Half Marathon success
We were delighted and humbled to have 35 runners taking to the streets of Brighton raising money for Say Aphasia in the Brighton Half Marathon.  

  

Sunday 26th February dawned cold but dry and not too windy - perfect running conditions. Our runners and walkers, including Colin Lyall, founder of Say Aphasia, did an incredible job getting around the 13.1 mile course. And (mostly!) with a smile on their faces.

Our runners included several members of Say Aphasia, who completed the course despite physical challenges. Also running were friends and family of Say Aphasia members, plus some brilliant Speech and Language Therapy students. 

  

Not only that, we had lots of members and volunteers helping out on the day by marshalling, manning the Say Aphasia tent and supporting from the roadside. For all the fantastic photos from the day, check out our Facebook album.

In total the team raised an incredible £11,428 for Say Aphasia. There's still time to donate here, so if you can spare any amount for our runners/ walkers, we'd be so grateful.

And can’t wait to do it all again next year!

A huge thank you
We’ve received some extremely generous donations from around the UK recently and we’d like to thank you again. Any donation we receive, no matter the size, goes directly towards helping more people with aphasia. 

Our goal is to open more and more drop in groups so that nobody has to travel far to experience the warmth, good conversation and community that Say Aphasia offers. 

Amazing aphasia art exhibition 
Mark Chappell, the wonderful peer leader at our Skipton drop in group, has created his very own Say Aphasia art exhibition. 

Mark, who had a stroke in 2012, uses art to express himself and describe how it is to live with aphasia.

His exhibition features portraits of prominent Bradfordians, celebrating its status as UK City of Culture 2025. It also features some interactive artwork, as Mark also enjoys finding ways that technology can help express his creativity too. 

Mark says “Communication is what keeps us all connected.  Without communication our wellbeing and sense of self can be badly affected.

This is why I want to hold this aphasia exhibition. Without more people being aware of aphasia and its life changing impact, no progress will be made. I want to open the door and allow others to walk through it and develop their knowledge and experience of this isolating condition.”

  

The free exhibition is running at the Kala Sangam Arts Centre, Bradford, until 30th April. It’s open Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm and Sat 9am – 3pm. If you’re in the area, do check it out!

Mark, we’re so proud of you and all that you do to raise awareness for people with aphasia. 

Art in Exeter
On the subject of art, our Exeter group have been really enjoying having an art table at each of their drop in sessions.

  

It means people who want to come to the group but aren’t able to talk -  or don’t feel like talking - can come and be with others while drawing, painting or making something.

It’s a no pressure environment for relaxation and creativity and it’s proving to be really popular. The power of art is real!

Darlington College helps people with aphasia
We were delighted that Pete Coady, the fantastic peer leader of our Darlington drop in group, has been advising students from the local college on a project to help people with aphasia. 

Third year students from Darlington College are creating videos to be shown within Ward 26 at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

This is a specialist ward that looks after patients who need to stay in hospital, often after having a stroke with aphasia. The videos will sit on the hospital website, designed to inform and reassure patients who may be anxious about their upcoming treatment. 

Ward 26 was where Pete spent time following a serious car accident that left him with severe injuries and aphasia. We look forward to seeing the videos when the project is complete.

Monthly slot at James Cook Hospital

Pete is also busy helping even more people in his local area. Along with one of the volunteers at the Darlington group, he’s been asked to facilitate a monthly session at Wards 24 and 26 (neurosurgery and spinal surgery and neuro-rehabilition).

He’ll be talking about his journey with aphasia and spreading awareness of Say Aphasia.

Not only that, one of his local speech and language therapists has asked him to present at their conference, giving more insight into his lived condition and our charity.

Amazing work Pete!

Love in the Exeter air
We were lucky one of our Exeter drop in group sessions fell on Valentine’s Day this year.

This gave the team a great opportunity to make it a fun ‘love’ themed meetup, with heart shaped cakes and decorations. It also gave them the chance to ask members what love means to them. 

Here’s what they said: ‘Our only task is to think about all the love in our lives and the various places we find it... we are worthy of it all.’ So true and so inspiring. 

Clothes swap for cash
It’s not just running races that our supporters are taking part in to raise money, they’re also having a rummage in their wardrobe.

Barbara at our fantastic Exeter drop in group, hosted a clothes swap that raised an amazing £220. Clothes swaps are not only a great way to reuse and recycle clothes, they’re a brilliant fundraiser too. 

Image by Freepick

So why not get together with a few friends, a cuppa and cake, and raise money for Say Aphasia while refreshing your wardrobe? 

Say Aphasia makes music
Colin, founder of Say Aphasia, has been taking part in a music group in London.

The Aphasia New Music Group is a collaboration between adults with aphasia, their loved ones, and music makers. Over several months, the group will develop a new music practice and co-compose original music for public performances in summer 2023.

The project is co-produced by Oedipa and Second Movement, and delivered in partnership with senior speech and language therapists at UCL’s Communication Clinic.

Lookout on our social media channels for updates on when the performances will be.

We can’t wait to hear what you all come up with, Colin.

Channel swim for Say Aphasia
Our supporters constantly inspire us and here’s a great example of why.

In June, Kirsty Maguire, Speech and Language Therapist who supports our Hove drop in group, is planning on relay swimming the English Channel to raise money for Say Aphasia. 

Image by Freepick

Team ‘Sea Aphasia’ will take it in turns to swim sections of the 21 mile stretch between Dover and Calais, dealing with shipping lanes and cold water, exhaustion and the wildlife of the English Channel on the way.

She and her team have been training for 3 years and are entering the final stages of their training plan. 

Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates. Good luck Kirsty, what a challenge! We’re all so proud of you. 

Travels with aphasia
In our new travel series, we’re showing that aphasia is no barrier to living a full and active life, wherever your travels might take you. 

Howard in Norway
Crawley Peer Leader and Hove member Howard has recently been on an incredible trip to Norway.

He saw the northern lights, the fjords and lots of incredible scenery. We’re glad you had a fantastic trip Howard.

  

 

Happy Easter
Finally, we wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter with another wonderful creation from one of our resident artists, Mark Chappell.

See you next time!