News
Find out about the latest news from Connect. Click on the headings below to find out more.
27 September 2007
Connect is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Jocelyn Cornwell as Connect's new Chair of the Board of Trustees.
24 September 2007
People with aphasia came together at Connect on Monday 24th September in a joint event with Speakability to feedback views and ideas about the Draft National Stroke Strategy.
17 September 2007
Health Talk, a communication resource to help health care professionals and patients with communication disability understand one another better, has now been tried and tested in London and Bristol.
17 September 2007
Connect was delighted to be invited to present a Symposium at the recent British Aphasiology Society Biennial International Conference in Edinburgh.
17 September 2007
Sally Byng, Connect's Access to Life in Cornwall Project Director, was delighted to be invited to an Aphasia 'Think Tank' in Canada this month. The 'Think Tank' called 'Living Successfully with Aphasia: Intervention, Evaluation and Evidence' is being organised by the Pat Arato Aphasia Institute in Toronto.
17 September 2007
Over forty women took part in the Hydro Active Women's Challenge on 16th September to raise funds for Connect.
31 July 2007
The draft National Stroke Strategy was published on 9th July 2007. We are now in the Consultation period - a time for everyone to give their views.
31 July 2007
Connect have been working with Stroke Northumbria to develop some long term, low cost events for people with aphasia. The aim is to develop local networks where people with stroke and aphasia and carers can come along to share experiences, ways of coping and to learn about services that can assist them. Connect worked with Annie Laverty and her team at Stroke Northumbria to help them present a range of information days for people with stroke and aphasia and their relatives.
31 July 2007
Members of the 'hubs' in Cornwall enjoyed a two day trip to Connect in London. The aim of the event was to meet people with aphasia and their relatives at Connect's London centre and to share ideas about how stroke services can be improved in Cornwall.
17 July 2007
Connect and the Modernisation Initiative have launched a new book/DVD for parents living with stroke and aphasia.
08 June 2007
Cornwall now has twenty five people living with aphasia trained as Conversation Skills Trainers, thanks to the Speech and Language Therapy service and Access to Life in Cornwall Project.
11 May 2007
Over 20 people with aphasia and their relatives met across Cornwall at the beginning of May 2007 for the first local 'Hub' groups in Cornwall.There are three 'Hubs' in Cornwall covering North & East, Central and West Cornwall which are all part of the Access to Life in Cornwall Project. The 'Hubs' are groups of people with aphasia who meet monthly in Launceston, Kingsley Village - Fraddon and Helston to share their experiences of stroke services in their area.
08 May 2007
People with aphasia and their family members from Speakability groups in the Yorkshire area gathered at Eggborough Power Station for a Connect-for-a-Day event called “Better Conversations”.
03 May 2007
Two years ago the Mid-Essex Speech and Language Therapy team had long waiting lists for out-patient services and feedback from people with aphasia reflected a high level of frustration with the service offered. The service looked to Connect for inspiration and a way to rethink their service. Six members of the team attended “Groups Work” and now therapists feel more supported and satisfied, they are working together more and above all the feedback from service users is much improved.
24 April 2007
Connect were delighted to have two runners in the 2007 London Marathon on 22nd April who between them have raised over £3500 for Connect. In spite of the record temperatures, Trevor Dolan completed the gruelling 26 miles in four hours forty minutes and Liz Lewis was just behind him at four hours fifty eight minutes.
24 April 2007
“Imagine what it would be like if your Mum or your Grandad couldn't read you a story”. That's how 12-year old Luke Mann explained aphasia to his friends at Westminster Under School who went on to raise over £5300 for Connect.
10 April 2007
Over the last year, Connect has been working with local people living with aphasia in Cornwall to identify what they think about the services and opportunities available to them. We have held a number of events across the county, asking what people liked about services, what they didn't like and what they felt was missing. At Alverton Manor Hotel in Truro on March 26th, we fed back the results of these listening and involvement events.
23 March 2007
Getting involved in volunteering in your local community can be both exciting and daunting for people, regardless of whether or not they have aphasia.
19 March 2007
Liz Lewis and Trevor Dolan are supporting Connect by running in the London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April 2007.
02 March 2007
Being a parent is difficult enough - but after a stroke all those difficulties become even more of a challenge. Often support and advice is hard to find. So, the 'Having a Stroke – Being a Parent' Project (in collaboration with the Stroke Services Modernisation Initiative and funded by Guy's and St Thomas' Charity) is working with parents who have had a stroke, their families and carers to make a resource to help other parents and carers in the same boat.
23 February 2007
Over twenty five people with aphasia and their relatives attended a special event for people with aphasia at Connect on 5th February 2007.
23 February 2007
Staff from Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Greenwich joint programme attended a two day training day event at Connect as part of the Reaching Out Project. The training package will be incorporated into a new postgraduate diploma in Speech and Language Therapy which starts in March 2007.
02 February 2007
Every stroke unit in England has been sent a free copy of Connect's Stroke and Aphasia Handbook and Stroke Talk, courtesy of the Department of Health.
04 January 2007
The UK Stroke Forum Conference took place on 7th and 8th December 2006. Over 1200 delegates attended and Connect's Chief Executive Sally Byng was a key note speaker and chaired a parallel session called "Long-term support in the community: Whose responsibility?"
14 December 2006
Emmanuel Godis has been honoured with a special “Southwark Star” award by the Volunteer Centre, Southwark, for successfully completing 100 hours of volunteering work. Emmanuel has been living with aphasia since 1999 when he had his stroke and volunteers regularly with The Bankside Open Spaces Trust.
23 November 2006
Access to Life in Cornwall is a project that will enhance and extend the range, length and choice of opportunities and services for people living with stroke and aphasia and other long-term conditions in Cornwall.
20 October 2006
"In Tune with Heaven" was the title of a feast of choral and organ music which was performed at St Barnabas Church in Dulwich on Friday 17th November. This concert, which was part of the 10th anniversary of St Barnabas celebrations raised over £2,000 to support Connect.
20 October 2006
The Salisbury pub in Covent Garden raised over £200 at a Halloween charity night in support of Connect on Friday 27th October. Jas Teensa, the Salisbury's landlord, who regularly organises charity nights for Connect organised collections at the door and in the bar. The Salisbury has just won a "Pub of the Year" award and can be found at 90 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4AP Tel. 020 7836 5863.
26 September 2006
Justine Everson had her stroke aged 29. She is now one of ten new “befrienders” who, as part of Connect's Conversation partner project, will be supporting people with aphasia at different stages of their recovery journey.
26 September 2006
We are delighted to announce that Carole Pound, Director of Innovation at Connect has been appointed a fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
04 September 2006
The Hydroactive Women's Challenge took place in Hyde Park on Sunday 3rd September. The event was amazing – 25,000 women ran altogether, 44 in support of Connect! The atmosphere was electric, the weather couldn't have been better and everyone really enjoyed taking part. The Connect Team's original target was £3,500 and we're delighted that it looks as if we're going to DOUBLE that target, raising an amazing £8,000!
26 June 2006
On 1st June 2006 Redcross Gardens, just around the corner from the Connect London Centre, was officially reopened by HRH Princess Anne following a period of regeneration undertaken by Bankside Open Spaces Trust.