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Registered Charity Number 1166424
- Announcement: Picture
- 2024 November
WOW how are we in November already? This year is going so fast, to think that we came up with the idea of getting stroke survivors back into employment with Eddie’s Club and since July 2024, we have managed to get employment for Ben, Matt, Dan, Rhian, John, Steve and now Mandy so thats 7 (Seven people) with a sense of worth and belonging once more.
The word of StrokeInformation is growing and we are reaching stroke survivors all over the world, which is quite apparent as we have just celebrated a few days ago “World Stroke Day’ yes I know we are not going to reach out to all the 17 million or so stroke survivors each year but if we at least let some of them know that there is hope out there, then we are winning. Our “WhatsApp” group as now reached nearly 100 members, who would have thought that when we started?
WE have also won another benefit appeal for one of our service users which is just goes to show that we really do care because we’ve been there.
So please let people know about Eddie’s Club and by becoming a member they can not only get a load of merchandise, which includes a special edition wax framed certificate, air fresheners, pin badges, signed book, pens and coming soon a beanie toy Steady Eddie. However thats not all, you will as be able to partake in awareness sessions, fundraising tasks, discounted social events and all safe in the knowledge that your contribution has got another stroke survivor back in employment once more.
SAVE THE DATE FRIDAY 4th APRIL 2025 – Courtesy of Eagle Build, we are pleased to bring to you Eddie’s Easter Eggstravangza which will celebrate our 9th Birthday of being a registered charity. Please reserve your seat / table now.
- 2024 October
October 2024, wow, where has the year gone? Eddie’s Club is proving to be a fantastic success – How would you like to enhance your corporate social responsibility? Yes, a monthly subscription to StrokeInformation and we will guarantee to get another stroke survivor back into gainful employment
Matt, one of our superb co-ordinators says “Working for a stroke information organization as a stroke survivor brings a deep sense of purpose and connection. Having experienced the life-altering impact of a stroke firsthand, it allows me to use my own journey of recovery to help others facing similar challenges. I can empathize with their struggles, fears, and triumphs in a way that only a fellow survivor truly can. This role isn’t just about providing medical or recovery information, but about offering hope and encouragement to those in the midst of their own healing process. Sharing my personal experiences allows me to inspire others and show that recovery is possible, even when the road seems uncertain or difficult.In addition to sharing stroke recovery information, my work includes leading men’s mental health groups, where I focus on addressing the emotional and psychological effects of surviving a stroke. These groups are vital spaces where men can openly discuss their mental health, often an overlooked aspect of recovery. Many men struggle with feelings of vulnerability or frustration as they adjust to life after a stroke, and these groups provide a supportive environment where they can express themselves without judgment. By facilitating these discussions, I aim to break down stigmas around men’s mental health, fostering a sense of community and resilience among those who may feel isolated in their recovery journey.Our newest employee, Mandy, adds "I had my stroke in October 2021, I thought I would be back to work within two to threemonths, but February 2024 I was ill health retired. My journey and recovery is ongoing and I found stroke information, talking and messaging in the group has given me hope and inspiration, as well as the Monday zoom meeting, they understand the journey,feelings because of being stroke survivors. Im now a coordinator for Stroke Information, I want to reach out to other stroke survivors and inspire them to think positive and celebrate their achievements no matter how small or big. This role has made me realise I have much to offer and helps me to feel valued once again. Thank you Stroke Information. My aim is to attend coffee mornings that the stroke rehabilitation team offer within Somerset, to tell other stroke survivors the aims of the charity. Also to let the rehabilitation team know that this charity exists and the ways in which we can support others. I support one particular individual as a bespoke counselling service with Nick, the founder of StrokeInformation via our WhatsApp group focusing on the positives of his recovery rather than the negatives. Others may have given up but we dont. Im here to give support and help to others on their journey and recovery.
- 2024 September
Towards the end of last month we met with Phil Worthington, director of WPMS West pro media services who specialise in getting your name and brand out there with assistance on your google business to get genuine reviews for your organisation. To be totally honest, Its been a game changer and we can now ask people to tap their phone or scan the QR code and it will take them to the review site where they can comment on our services. If you would like to know more please check out www.westpromediaservices.com
Phil said “Delighted to be able to support Nick Clarke 💚, CEO and Founder of StrokeInformation to help increase the awareness of the important work the charity undertakes to support stroke survivors. We first met Nick at a recent BNI Vision Stockport meeting and were impressed with the important work he undertakes to increase awareness of the charity.
We have provided a Google Review Device to allow the charity to quickly collect Google reviews and have also provided advice on Services and service descriptions that will help increase the charity’s brand and visibility in Google.
Please share with anyone to help promote the important work the charity undertakes.”
Mandy Cooper
Staying with great news, we are absolutely thrilled to be able to introduce our newest member of Staff, Ms Mandy Cooper, a single parent bringing up her granddaughter under a special guardianship order. She previously was working full time (31 hours) in secondary education. her life was busy, used to walk to work, on average day, she would walk between 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day especially when at work. October 23rd 2021 the day her life altered. Mandy’s aim was to try to get back to work and were pleased to announce that she has, Mandy starts with StrokeInformation on the 1st September 2024 just short of 3 years after that day none of us remember fondly. So, my message to all stroke survivors don’t give up, keep trying, celebrate your achievements no matter how small. Life is for living and I’m grateful for every day I wake up……. Mandy Cooper
September will also see us hit 10 members of Eddie’s club, so effectively we have 3 members join a month which enables to add more stroke survivors to the workforce providing them with a use, making them feel worthy once more. If you or anyone else you know are interested in about finding more on Eddie’s club please get in touch. I promise you won’t regret it. Finally on the 10th September 2024, I will be celebrating my 12th (Twelfth) StrokeVersary, im living proof that you can rebuild your life after such a traumatic event.
- 2024 August
Yes August see’s Eddie’s Club has been running for exactly 1 month and we have had a great response with organisations joining up to be officially a member of Eddie’s club supporting Stroke survivors back into employment. If you own a business or work for a company who wish to improve their corporate social responsibility then look no further help us get the stroke survivor out of their shell and feeling worthy once more.
We can only really do this with your help, so please contact me for more details; Nick@strokeinformation.co.uk and thank you to everyone who has signed up already, you have no idea what difference you have made to someone who effectively was written off previously. Thank You. The names of OUR supporters will be credited in our brand new podcast “The Wobblers” coming very soon. It was great to attend a workshop recently which was run by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in collaboration with Healthwatch Stockport entitled ‘Keeping it Real” whereby the health and social care sector acknowledges the need for lived experience to help the sector re-establish itself, as they say there is NOTHING BETTER THAN LIVED EXPERIENCE. Why not join us on this journey?
- 2024 July
, welcome to July, I am delighted to announce our latest employee, Dan, he is one of the most inspirational guy Ive ever met both pre and post stroke. a relatively young stroke survivor and someone that was told that he would never walk again 2 years ago, well guess what, he has proved all the doubters wrong and really promotes what hard work determination, spirit, fight and not giving up really embodies.
Too many people impacted by Stroke are given up upon and we are slowly changing that mindset. Welcome DAN……
Eddie’s Club launches TODAY…..Yes this is also amazing news and open to any business or organisation who can become a member, receive some StrokeInformation merchandise
Official Certificate of membership with special edition wax seal to display at your premises
Free MerchandiseSteady Eddie ™️ pin badges.
Steady Eddie ™️ car air fresheners.
Car StickersA personalised thank you from the charity founder
Whatsmore for every member that joins enables StrokeInformation to employ another Stroke survivor to real empower others.
We are hoping to add another new employee very very soon and I have no doubt that they will be a fantastic asset to our charity. With others to follow because we care because we’ve been there.
Please complete this form if you would like some help.
- 2024 June
June
Welcome to June, yes a warm welcome to our new wobblers who have joined our special band of brothers and sisters, please remember we care because we have been there. Im also pleased to announce that we have just been recognised in our local community as we have won an award with the Vernon building society community stars scheme. Receiving any recognition is an amazing feeling because we must be doing something right.
Whether you are in contact via telephone, email, WhatsApp or social media we will always look out for you and try and assist you in being the best version of yourselves. No matter what anyone says, they can and do get proved wrong, so DONT GIVE UP trying. Over the years since our inception we have seen it many times where the so called professionals have said “Oh, you won’t be able to do this again” or indeed “you won’t be able to do that” remember a ver special three letter word and that word is simply YET. As I mentioned last month, our WhatsApp community is growing and we now have several WhatsApp groups, including a general one, a football one which might be a tad quiet until the Euro’s start and a fantastic ladies only chat which was the brainwave of Jackie, what a brilliant idea?
Big shout out to Frank and Elaine, thanks Matt for seeing if we could help with their notability car issue, just to say that we care because we’ve been there and we managed to intervene and educate a few people about the impact a stroke can have on a person and their family……guess what? Frank & Elaine will be getting their hands on a brand new vehicle imminently.
Do you fancy supporting what we do?? How would you like to be in with a chance to win £5,000!!💷
The Superdraw will take place on Friday 28th June 2024!!
For every £2 we receive £1.20 to support StrokeInformation 💚
The sooner you sign up the more chances you have to win!! 🤞Sign up here for your chance to win ➡️ https://giantcashbonanza.online/strokeinformation/
You’ve got to be in it to win it.
- 2024 May
MAY 2024, I am extremely pleased to announce that we have been awarded under the disability confident committed scheme and the award is until 22nd April 2027 this is a fantastic achievement as it recognises the fact that we do exactly what it says on the tin. We now employ more stroke survivors under out tagline We Care Because We’ve Been There. Just because we have had a stroke doesn’t mean that we dont have a use anymore.
Our WhatsApp group has also grown from strength to strength with new people added from all over the UK, so if you know someone who needs our help, please introduce us to them. We are also seeing an increase of people impacted by Stroke not being treated fairly and with compassion and would encourage that if you know of any occurrences please let us try and help. There is no fee, just support.
- 2024 April
Well hello April, it seems a while since we had lighter nights and better weather but hopefully we are now emerging into warmer weather.
Sign up here for your chance to win ➡️ https://giantcashbonanza.online/strokeinformation/
Our drop in sessions are becoming really popular now, every Monday, either in person at 23 High Street, Stockport, Sk1 1EG or via Zoom, please contactus@strokeinformation.co.uk for the link and access details. We also now have grown our WhatsApp community to be an all inclusive group, a football related group and a ladies only group for all the ladies that just want to chat lady only subjects. I believe it has become abundantly clear that we have got something special within our community of STROKE life, yes we know that we cannot help every single person but we can try and make you the best version of yourself. Recently I have been asked to undertake a presentation to highlight what makes us so different and I asked the group members to post photos / videos to me to represent how they were post stroke and how they continue to improve in their own recovery journey, oh my word, the results are phenomenal, truly inspiring and it really proves that there is no such word as can’t.
One thing that is hard to understand is the tiredness or as we Stroke survivors call FATGUE but its actually more than fatigue its NEURO FATIGUE, after a stroke, your brain needs to rest, recover and regenerate, pretty tough right? Imagine having to do that whilst the brain is juggling all the other things that it does, like control bodily temperature, ensuring breathing, swallowing, maintaining toilet habits, ensuring the body gets the correct nutrients the list is actually endless. Therefore it is probably easy for non stroke survivors to use the phrase LAZY, were not lazy we just have an awful lot to contend with. Another common paraphrase is “Oh you don’t look like you’ve had a stroke” Why? What should we look like? never ever judge a book by its cover they say, well its no more true than when dealing with a stroke survivor unless you’ve walked in their shoes and that is what makes StrokeInformation so different.
If you know someone impacted by Stroke no matter where they live then we would love to hear from you to let us try and help you / them.
- 2024 March
How would you like to be in with a chance to win £10,000??
The Spring Superdraw will take place on Friday 29th March 2024!! 💷
The sooner you sign up the more chances you have to win!! 🤞
For every £2 we receive £1.20 this helps us provide support for anyone impacted by a stroke.
Sign up here for your chance to win ➡️ https://giantcashbonanza.online/strokeinformation/
March 2024, Spring is officially here, days will be getting longer and lighter, new lambs, daffodils are emerging, in one sense its very much a question of new beginnings and whilst on that subject and relating it to stroke, I would very much like to give a huge shout out to DH, almost 2 years ago, you had your stroke and none of us knew what the future may hold for you but you my friend are one hell of an individual, not only have you proved the so called professionals wrong, when they indicated that you probably won’t walk again you’ve defied those odds and have stuck up those two fingers in their faces and said “let me show you” and you did and continue to do so. Most people dont get what we do, they dont understand that is unless they have been though a similar journey themselves. What StrokeInformation has done to so many people impacted by Stroke since its inception is truly incredible but the success isn’t down to one person, me, its is success is without doubt because we are all there for each other. So if you are reading this and have been impacted by Stroke, give yourself a massive pat on the back, you chose not to give up.
We also introduced another part time employee, Rhian who does a fantastic Stacy impression from the hit comedy show “Gavin and Stacy”, Rhian had her stroke whilst she was 6 months pregnant, this mum of two is a brilliant addition to the team as we plan to continue educating so many about the many many misconceptions of Stroke. Welcome to the growing team Rhian 👏🏻
**These case studies are real life situations where StrokeInformation registered charity 1166424 have helped people impacted by Stroke in Stockport and beyond.
In every case the real identities for each person have been changed to protect their identity, however the scenario has not been altered in any way shape or form.
George came to see us at our drop in clinic at Disability Stockport, 2 Weeks post Stroke and 1 week after his Wife, Mavis came to us in absolute distress and despair and she had no idea of who to turn to talk about George’s recovery, initially Mavis was having to drive up to a hospital our of our community and came to us because she had heard about the services we offer in that we give true peer support, both George and Mavis are 66 years of age and were hoping to go ahead with their mini break to Denmark in May 2016. We gave them dedicated support and encouragement with regards who to talk to from a medical perspective and then once the consultant had given George the all clear to travel (Fly) we set about putting the couple in touch with our travel insurance partner who specialise in travel insurance for stroke survivors and their families. George had speech issues and although he can get his words out, we encouraged them that it will get better over time and we arranged for some business cards to be made to advise people that he has had a stroke and to bear with him. With this kind of unique service, we know that we have and will continue to help others like George & Mavis.
Deborah a lady in her sixties has always had her stroke disputed despite consultant’s confirmation notes and therefore she has never been entitled to any financial help via benefits. We managed to complete paperwork on her behalf and with a letter of authority we managed to get the relevant hospital consultants to confirm everything to launch an appeal and not only were the details accepted by the relevant authorities, we managed to convince the parties to back date any awards to the date when the stroke happened.
Cath used to visit the gym and this is where StrokeInformation hold a weekly drop-in centre and she advised that her good friend Chris has had recently had a stroke and wasn’t coping at all, he had basically gone backwards and didn’t want to mix with anyone, even his beloved Manchester City took a back seat. We contacted Manchester City and explained about Chris and what had happened, and that Chris felt a burden to his fellow supporters as they had to drop him at the stadium then it would take a while to meet up, not only did we arrange for a season long car park space within the stadium complex we also arranged a pick up and deliver solution for him and his party to attend the matches.
Johnnie was in his thirties when he had his stroke, he had just lost his long term, partner Lucy who had recently passed away after a complex operation. Leaving Johnnie, a single parent to his 3 young children, as if matters couldn’t be expected to take a turn for the worse, Johnnie mother passed away whilst he was in the stroke ward. Johnnie came to StrokeInformations drop in, we discovered that he wanted to stay active so we arranged for him to attend a local gym, we organised a special day for him and the children to Manchester United, Old Trafford, where he was treated to a fabulous tour of the stadium, lunch with the children and some special VIP’s and during the dinner Johnnie admitted that he wanted to make something of his new life by learning to drive and also start applying for employment. StrokeInformation applied for a motability grant for him and managed to get him forty driving lessons which he is still enjoying at the time of writing this case study along with a bespoke CV with a difference to entice any future employer.
Arnold, we met Arnie whilst volunteering on the stroke ward, Arnie was married with 2 young children but he was in a bad way, he was in a side room at the hospital but we persuaded him to go on the main ward and compete with other patients by encouraging him to be determined to get better for his children and he did, we started off with small goals and gave him specific tasks to complete like playing dominos. Arnold’s wife came to StrokeInformation explaining that she was in bits and couldn’t see a way out. It was clear that Arnie wouldn’t be going back work anytime soon and she did not know what they were going to do for money, Christmas was fast approaching, and the bills needed paying including the mortgage for the family home. We intervened and secured a letter of authority and wrote to their mortgage provider, explaining the situation they were in that only someone who had been in a similar situation would be able to completely understand, the mortgage provider agreed with Arnie’s wife to grant them a 6 month payment holiday, leaving them with one less thing to be concerned about.
Listed in the Stockport Directory Contact number : 0330 055 2197
Other websites specialise in rehabilitation and if you are in the Woking or surrounding area or know of those impacted by Stroke in that area, feel fret check out :- https://wokingstrokeability.com/