Raising money for accessible books for people with aphasia

Hi, I am part of a small team of 3 Speech & Language Therapists with a passion for supporting people with aphasia to communicate well, and to enjoy reading after a stroke.

Aphasia is a communication disorder caused by brain damage, often a stroke. Aphasia can affect how people speak, understand others, read and write. Many people with aphasia miss reading a good book, and would love to read again. Unfortunately, suitable reading material is hard to find!

Charity number 1116530

Shaftesbury is the charity that's committed to enabling people with disabilities to live the life they want to lead. We work helping people to tackle the barriers they face and create a livable life. We believe that the people we support have the right to a full and flourishing life.

Shaftesbury Icanho is a specialist community brain injury rehabilitation service based in Suffolk. The service was established nearly 27 years ago and I was one of the original members of staff. As I am retiring this year I would like to raise some money in order to support this amazing service and help them continue this invaluable work.

The Icanho service provides bespoke rehabilitation delivered by an interdisciplinary team working with people once they are home from hospital following a stroke or traumatic brain injury. The team comprises of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Rehabilitation Assistants and a Social worker who works with our families.

Although some of our funding comes from health and social care we are reliant on fundraising by Shaftesbury to support the services we provide.

We are working towards setting up 'Aphasia Libraries' containing accessible, aphasia-friendly reading books and interesting articles on stroke wards in various hospitals in East Anglia, initially. If this goes well, we would look to expand into other community locations. Purchasing suitable books for these libraries is expensive, so we would be really grateful for any donations that will help us to stock our library shelves, and improve the quality of life of people with aphasia!

Thank you so much!