COLIN LYALL Founder of Say Aphasia and a peer leader who runs the drop in groups. Expand Colin is the founder of Say Aphasia, with the support of friends who have aphasia. He had a stroke in 2013 which resulted in him becoming aphasic. He began the charity three years later when another aphasia charity ceased to exist. He knew first hand how much of a positive impact a support group has. And so he set up his own charity so that he could continue a much needed support group in his local area. Colin was 50 when he had his stroke, and could not longer continue his career as a Director of a commercially designed building services solution company. He had worked at MTT Consultants for 12 years. After he had a stroke he could not go back to work with his new condition 'aphasia'. He lost his successful career and his house which his wife had recently designed into their dream home. Colin is an extremely positive and determined man, and so, he took it upon himself to set up a charity to help others just like him. The charity has given him purpose, goals to achieve and a new sense of success. He hopes that this charity will become that life line for others too.
Mike Nicholls Selsey Peer Leader Expand I have the privilege of being chair of Selsey Community Forum and stepped in to lead the Selsey group when others were not able to do so. I am married to Di and have three children and eight grandchildren. Retirement gives me time to volunteer and watch cricket .
Mark & Caroline Chappell Mark and Caroline run the Skipton group. Expand Mark had a haemorrhagic stroke in 2012, he has dysphasia and wants to provide a safe, non judgemental, monthly drop-in group for people with aphasia to boost their confidence and help them to engage with life again. There is not much support for people with aphasia in the North of England which is why he was keen to start a drop-in group in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Mark enjoys listening to music and radio comedy and has a great interest in drawing, particularly caricatures. "I had a large stroke in 2012 and have aphasia. I live in Yorkshire and together with my wife run the monthly Say Aphasia Skipton drop in group. I enjoy drawing and listening to music, have a good sense of humour and enjoy promoting Say Aphasia. It is good being a Peer Leader and being able to encourage others with aphasia to communicate and enjoy the group."
Monica Monica runs the Woodingdean group Expand Hi I’m Mon. I’m married and we’ve got three sons and 6 grandchildren, 3 of each!Before I retired I was working for the NHS as an administrator for a community HIV/AIDSteam in Brighton. Because I was office based I seldom had the opportunity to meet ourpatients but I did get to know a lot of them through telephone contact. Over the 18 years Iwas working for the team our caseload went up from 22 to over 350!My husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma about 8/9 years ago and so I became hiscarer until I was taken ill myself with acute Pancreatitis. I was hospitalised for 5 weeks,spending 3 of those weeks in intensive care in an induced coma. I had a further two weeksrehabilitating and at last I was able go home! One week later I had my first stroke!!!As strokes go I know that I was very, very lucky. I had from some initial weakness down myright side, which is fine now, but my speech was not good, and still isn’t, although it hasimproved. ------------------------------------------------------------- I had never heard of Aphasia until I was told what it was by my speech therapist. She alsoencouraged me to join the closest Say Aphasia group to me, which was nearly an hour’s busride away. I saw how beneficial the group could be and when I found out a new group wasstarting up in Woodingdean I was very keen to be a part of it, although I was somewhatsurprised to be given the title of Peer Leader! ---------------------------------------------------------
David Mortimer David run the Chichester drop in group. Expand David had a stroke in 2012, though fortunately he doesn't have aphasia, but the stroke left him half paralyse. He has become a great peer leader for the charity. He was extremely fortunate in that he didn't suffer from some of the usual deficiencies that follow a stroke so has decided to make the most of it. After a lifetime career in the aviation in the industry with Dan Air and then with a small tour operator, he felt well prepared to offer advice to those who find themselves in a similar position, and of course the more unfortunate stroke and aphasia victims. Before his 'incident' David involved himself in a host of different sports, football, cricket, squash, tennis, rugby union, table tennis and when this proved age restricted he turned to golf. His work also provided him with a lot of satisfaction, particularly his time as a manager with an airline which offered opportunities to play on some of the worlds finest golf courses. Involvement with becoming a team leader in the Say Aphasia movement occupied time in his unoccupied life following his retirement from a normal life. The incident left him with a seriously incapacitated right side, however he had the ability to speak, read, write and most importantly to drive. He attends lots of meetings as well as him being responsible for leading the team in Chichester. A busy week.
Tim Charnock Tim helps run the drop in groups in Hove, Worthing and Eastbourne. Expand Tim suffered a stroke, and now has dysarthria. Although he doesn't have aphasia, he finds the charity hugely helpful. And he has supported the charity from day one. Dysarthria often is characterised by slurred or slow speech that can be difficult to understand. Common causes of dysarthria include nervous system (neurological) disorders such as stroke, brain injury, brain tumours, and conditions that cause facial paralysis or tongue or throat muscle weakness. Tim is still okay with reading writing and numbers. The charity helps to keep his mind busy.
Paul Stocken Paul helps with many of our groups and helps with our fundraising events. Expand Former vehicle locksmith, Paul had a stroke in 2008 at the age of 40. He could not return to work and so became a Peer Leader for the drop in groups in East Sussex. He also attends conferences for aphasia, and travels around the country to help raise awareness of aphasia and the charity.
Jez Hodgkinson Jez runs the Winchester group Expand I decided to become a peer leader as I had enjoyed the weekly Say Aphasia Zoom calls and since there was nothing in the area for people with Aphasia, I wanted to help other people in the area and also enjoy the community spirit the meetings provide.
Pete Pete runs the Darlington group. Expand In late 2017 I was involved in a major car accident which left me being air lifted out to hospital, in a coma for 8 weeks and spending a total of 11 months in hospital. Due to the accident I have a head injury resulting in having aphasia & mobility issues. I keep in touch with the speech and language nurses but visiting online Say Aphasia groups has made big and a positive impact within my life. I became a group leader to give something back to the community. Based in Darlington, I had no groups to focus on or to talk to other people who are going through a similar situation about aphasia so I wanted to bring something different to the town and the people who have aphasia, a place to visit, have a coffee, biscuit and to communicate if they have aphasia.
Nick Nick runs the Abergavenny group. Expand I became a peer leader to help other aphasia members. It improves my confidence ,positivity and humour and every one always has a smiling face.
Barry & Stephen Barry & Stephen run the Cardiff group. Expand Prior to his retirement, Barry was an aircraft maintenance planning engineer and had the good fortune to work in a number of overseas locations before returning to his home in the Cardiff area. His wife suffered a stroke in 2018 and although her illness was not as severe as it could have been, she went along to a friendship group to meet other sufferers. When attending the group with her, Barry witnessed first hand the needs of those who have had this life changing event happen to them and learned about the additional communication difficulties that those Aphasia sufferers in the group had. There was clearly a need to offer additional support to them but having been robbed of the ability to easily communicate, they could not do this for themselves. It was at this point that Barry became involved with the set-up of a support group for the Cardiff area to help peer leader Stephen create and run the group. This endeavour has been greatly helped by a Speech and Language Technician at a local hospital who has people she supports that are also attending the friendship group. Through her, a venue for the group to meet in has been arranged, contacts made and with Say Aphasia providing support material, the group has everything needed to make it all happen.