September 2023 Newsletter Hi there. Welcome to our Autumn issue. While the warm weather fades, our fundraising efforts certainly do not. Our wonderful supporters continue to face challenges to raise money for Say Aphasia. Read on to hear about the astonishing fundraising efforts. Trafalgar Square to Portsmouth Hospital A massive thank you to Andy, Mike, Paul, Emma, Mackayla, Janet, David and Jen. This amazing bunch walked from Trafalgar Square, London to Portsmouth Hospital! They raised a whopping £10,660! See some of their journey here. WHO? Queen Alexandra Hospital stoma care team. WHY? One of their much loved team members Joel, suffered a stroke in 2022 and subsequently acquired aphasia. WHY SAY APHASIA? Joel discovered Say Aphasia, finding their help and support very valuable throughout his recovery so far. Click here to donate. Jordan Desert Trek Oh my goodness, what a challenge Lucy has taken on! WHO? Lucy's husband suffered a brain haemorrhage which subsequently left him with aphasia. WHY SAY APHASIA? While searching for information about the condition online, she came across Colin and the Say Aphasia Hove drop-in group. She says: ‘they do amazing work in raising awareness and providing a safe space and much needed support to people with speech and language difficulties…my husband always comes home from the Friday morning meet-up with a smile on his face.’ CHALLENGE SUCCESS! "It was actually a lot tougher than I expected - mainly due to the heat which stayed consistently at 40 degrees! Around 10 people had to be picked up by a 4x4 on the first day as they were suffering so much. I felt quite delirious for a couple of hours, but fortunately managed to keep going. The best bit about the trek was meeting the people in our group who came from all over the world - China, India, Cuba, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, the US, Canada and more. We had such fun and everyone supported each other when times were tough. We shared our life stories, our ambitions and laughed a lot." Night Time Sea Dive We cannot believe how brave Sarah has been. She set herself the challenge to scuba dive in the dark! WHO IS SARAH? Say Aphasia's new Fundraising and Grants Coordinator. A speech and language therapist Loves swimming and scuba diving WHY A NIGHT DIVE? Diving is a challenge due to Sarah's balance problems On a night dive she cannot use her eyes as much. A night dive is frightening for Sarah Maren and Calypso Diving Centre know Sarah well and will help her to do the night dive. WHY FOR SAY APHASIA? We can all help conversations work when talking to someone who has aphasia, but a lot of people do not know about aphasia. Say Aphasia works to raise awareness of aphasia Sarah has visited some of the groups and seen first hand how the groups can help people living with aphasia: See that they are not alone. Have conversations with people who understand. Try out different ways of communicating. Grow in confidence. Have fun. Make new friends. Take on new roles, e.g., volunteers, peer leaders, befrienders. CHALLENGE SUCCESS! Sarah says "Night dives are terrifying, but we saw some amazing creatures! I quite enjoyed it!" DONATE NOW Sarah would love your support to make her dive worth while. You can donate here. Bournemouth group opens its doors Our new group in Bournemouth had a successful grand opening with 30+ people. The peer leaders welcomed people with aphasia, as well as carers, friends and family. Aphasia Music Tour A big thank you to UCL and Oedipa for the Aphasia New Music Tour with seven of our support groups. We were all delighted to see that those who usually take a back seat or are more reserved due to their communication disability, came out of their shell during this music tour and were able to be involved through music. As it was a great way for everyone to take part, we will apply to get funding next year, so that we can do the tour at more of our groups. Woodingdean Carnival Our Peer Leader in Woodingdean has been busy raising awareness of aphasia and the charity at their local summer carnival. Manage Cookie Preferences