More Support for People in Rotherham with Difficulty Communicating

There's now more support for people in Rotherham who've had a stroke or a head injury and who are having difficulty communicating.

A new drop-in group's starting in the town for people with Aphasia.

It's a condition which affects people differently but usually happens after a stroke or head injury.

For some people it means they struggle with reading, writing or understanding numbers.

For others including, Christine Wellburn, it meant she couldn't speak.

She told us:

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"People you love, you can't really tell them anything important. It's awful having your speech one day and then it's gone forever. When you can't speak it's horrible. Someone I love died recently and I couldn't say how sad, how sorry I was. You feel awful because you can't say that to other people.

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"Even now they say 'Oh you're ok, you can speak' but you can't really. You can't always have the words that you need. They're never there. You have to make do with what you have."

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Christine is now one of the volunteers helping to run the drop-in sessions.

She added:

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"The people who are there, they want to be 'ordinary' again. They want to laugh and to share their ideas and when I'm with people with Aphasia they're lovely because they can understand.

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"They say 'I've never been listened to by anyone until I met you.' You just need to be listened to. Having no-one to talk to, it's as though you're not important. You need to have a voice to feel you are somebody."

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The group, which is free, will be led by people with the condition and supported by volunteers without it.

There will also be a befriending scheme to help rebuild people's confidence and give them the chance to share their experiences.

National charity Connect has been commissioned to run the group.

Emma Burley, from the charity, said:

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"People following their stroke may not be able to return to work, friendships often are affected and people tell us they want somewhere they can go to connect with people who know what it feels like to have Aphasia. For many of those people they may have had their stroke or their brain injury many years ago and so are no longer accessing traditional NHS services. People have told us they feel forgotten about.

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"Communication is something we all take for granted. It's not until you lose it that you realise how important it is. We want to make it as easy as possible to access the service. People can start by askng their GP or they can contact me, or their partner or loved one can.

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"We feel that there is a demand for this sort of support and so does the Rotherham Clinical Commissioning group which has commissioned the service."

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The drop-in sessions will take place every first and third Friday of the month from 10am at the Hub Christina Community Centre on Canklow road.

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