TALK GROUPS ARE OPEN

In October, we were delighted to resume our face to face groups, giving our members the opportunity to rebuild their friendships with other TALK members, as well as being socially independent again.  It has been truly wonderful to see our members enjoying the company of other people withaphasia whilst at the groups, getting involved and engaging in the sessions put together by our dedicated volunteers and guest speakers.

During the group closures in 2020-21, our staff and volunteer group leaders kept in touch with all our members, having regular phone calls, emails, facetimes and Zoom meetings and quizzes.  Our Groups Coordinator also sent out weekly activity packs, which were differently themed each week, including activities such as quizzes, wordsearches, drawing activities and discussion topics.  TALK will continue to support members who don’t feel ready to return to face to face groups yet, with new and exciting weekly activity packs, regular contact, and we will be constantly exploring new ways to support these members until they feel ready to return.

We have lots of exciting sessions coming up, which include music and art therapy, tabletop gardening, cartoon drawing and much more.  If you would like more information about our groups, please contact ourOperations Manager, Sharon Spurdle on 07718 425 953.

Please read our latest update on how we arekeeping safe at our groups.

Do I need to be vaccinated to attend the TALK groups?

We continue to offer everyone affected byaphasia access to our services.  This way we can continue to support people to live well withaphasia.  We don’t ask the group members we support, our volunteers, or staff about their vaccination status.

But we do believe having an effective vaccine is the best way to protect the most vulnerable, our friends and our families.  We therefore encourage people to attend their vaccine appointment.

Find out more about at:
Stroke and the coronavirus vaccine | Stroke Association

Visit to Brooklands Motor Museum

Our Walton group members and volunteers enjoyed a fascinating trip to Brookland Motor Museum in Weybridge last month.  Thank you to all volunteers, especially Joy, who planned an interesting accessible route round the Grand Prix cars, motorcycles, buses and aircraft.  A big hit was sitting in the cockpit of a Harrier Jump Jet.  The lego full-size McClaren racing car was amazing, but it wasn't a match for Joy's own yellow classic.   We enjoyed a welcome cup of tea and cake in the Sunbeam Cafe half way through our visit.  Thank you to all the Brooklands staff and volunteers for making us so welcome.

Creative times at our Walton group

Thank you to Parul Tolentino and her colleagues from Blue House Art Space in Esher for a creative and entertaining session at our Walton group.  We explored mark making, printing and collage.  We were very pleased with some of our results.

Thank you to Shepperton Studios

A big THANK YOU to Shepperton Studios Community Fund for their generous donation of £2500 to support our work. 

Dan Burton and Paula Edwards from @Pinewoodgroup visited our Ashford group to present us with the cheque. 

Wellbeing and Aphasia Conference

Carol, Trustee, and Anita, Ashford Group member, had a fantastic time at the Wellbeing andAphasia Conference in Warwick on 14^th & 15^th April.  It was great to see so many people withaphasia from across the country coming together.  We were inspired by many of the stories and discussions.   We have lots of ideas to share with all TALK members.

27^th April 2024

THANK YOU to the Edward Gostling Foundation for their generous donation of £15,000 to support TALK's work.

12^th April 2024

Farewell to Jo

We were very sorry to say goodbye to our Fundraising Manager, Jo Matthews, at the end of 2023.  Jo had been with TALK for over 9 years and did a fantastic job ensuring our financial stability.

We will miss her enthusiasm and humour.  Thank you for everything, Jo, and wishing you well in your new job.

National Lottery success!

 
We are very pleased to report that our application for Big Lottery, Reaching Communities funding was successful.  We have been awarded over £143,000 spread across 5 years.  The money will go towards general running costs as well as some exciting new projects.  Watch this space!

Welcome to our new Chair, Phil Welland

We are very pleased to welcome Phil Wellard as the new Chair of TALK.  He will replace Carol Sacchett who stepped down as Chair in February 2024 after 5 years in the role.  Phil will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the role.  You can find out more about Philhere.

   A Captain's Day Success  

 Ashford Manor Golf Club raised over £2000 for TALK on Saturday 22^nd July. 

Paul Dunne superbly masterminded the day and with the support of the Ashford volunteers, all the pieces fell into place.

Thank you to everyone who made the time to support this event.

25^th August 2023

Ashford Manor Golf Club has recently placed a new Golf Captain, Paul Dunne, who has selected TALK to be his chosen charity for the year April 2023 – April 2024.

Not only will this hopefully raise some much needed funds for our small charity, but equally as important help raise awareness about our services, helping TALK reach as many people as possible with Aphasia, who may need communication and social support at one of our groups. 

26^th April 2023

Spreading the word      
Mayford Women's Institute 

Thank you to Mayford’s WI, for hosting a talk by Trustees Clive Moon and Gill Simmons about TALK's important work and our support groups.  We have since received feedback that the Mayford WI are very keen to help spread the word about our charity and raise awareness.  We are also very grateful for their £50.00 donation to TALK.

17^th April 2023

Spreading the word  

Thank you to Woking Rotary Club for hosting a talk by Clive Moon (Trustee) and Carol Sacchett (Chair) about TALK's work.  There was a lot of interest in what we do and inaphasia.  We are also grateful for their £50.00 donation to TALK.  

We're keen to spread the word to raise awareness of TALK andaphasia.  If anyone has ideas of local groups or clubs to approach,  please let Jo Matthews know by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

4^th April 2023

We are looking for more Trustees
...can you help?

We are seeking new Trustees to help lead our charity and make a real difference to people’s lives.  The Board currently consists of seven Trustees and we are looking to recruit up to four more. This is an exciting time to be joining TALK as we develop our services post-Covid to ensure we meet the needs of people withaphasia in our local community.  You will be joining a friendly, committed and active Board and training will be provided.  Please open the link here to see full details, thank you.

Trustee advert details

TALK and the Aphasia Alliance 

Carol Sacchett, our Chair, recently attended the Aphasia Alliance meeting on Zoom.  The Aphasia Alliance is a group of UK organisations that work together to:

• raise awareness of aphasia   
• encourage collaboration
• promote good communication
• exchange ideas and resources          

We are very pleased that TALK is a member of the Aphasia Alliance. It's so important to keep in touch with other similar organisations and to speak with one voice.  

You can find out more about the Aphasia Alliance here 

Goodbye to Alison 

We also recently said 'Goodbye' to Alison, our Group Coordinator. She has been a fantastic member of the TALK team and all the Groups will really miss her. Here she is with some of her leaving gifts.

Thank you from all of us at TALK.

Thank you for your Donations

TALK is very grateful to have received the following donations:

• September 2021- £500 received in memory of Dorothy Baillee from her sister Chloe Armstrong
• September 2021 - £612 donated by Nick & Nicky Flew from the sales of their 'Lockdown' book
• November 2021 - £2000 donated by the Guildford RVS Onward Stroke Club
• December 2021 - £100 donated from the Thornbury Rotary
• January 2022 - Sadly one of our valued volunteers Steve Hand, passed away in January.  He had volunteered at the Walton-on-Thames group for a number of years and will be very dearly missed by volunteers and members alike.  His wife Jan and their children very kindly nominated TALK as their chosen in memoriam charity.  We are very thankful as this has raised over £2500 for the Walton group. 

#Rocking Aphasia

As part of Aphasia Awareness Month in June, all four of our groups took part in the #RockingAphasia campaign.  This international campaign aims to raise awareness of aphasia and its impact.  Our members had great fun painting their rocks.  They will put them somewhere public for people to find.  Look out for one near you.

Ride London 100 success!

Well done to our three riders, Carol, Jacqueline and Owen for completing the 100 mile Ford Ride London cycle ride on 26^th May.

They raised over £3000 for TALK between them.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored and supported them. 

18^th June 2024

 Thank you

A huge thank you to the family and friends of Jennie Coope for their generous donations in memory of Jennie.  They raised over £2500 for TALK.

Jennie was a long-standing member of our Walton group.  She sadly passed away at the start of this year.  

We all miss her smile and wonderful sense of humour.

18^th June 2024

Ride London

On 26th May 2024 Carol, our Trustee and Walton Group leader, is doing the Ride London 100 mile cycle ride to raise money for TALK.  She will be joined by her friend Jacqueline and her son Owen.

You can donate toCarol's JustGiving page by clickinghere.

JustGiving sends your donation straight to TALK Surrey CIO and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.

Thank you for your support!

27^th April 2024

Raising Awareness aboutaphasia in June 2023

Did you know that June isaphasia month?

TALK organised two Street Collections to spread the word and raise funds.  At Walton we raised £324 and at Brooklands shopping centre £417!! 

A huge pat on the back to our amazing volunteers, who did brilliantly in very hot conditions. 

27^th June 2023

TALK raised over £2200 (& counting) as 22 walkers Walked for TALK at Shalford Park, Guildford, on Sunday 21^st May 2023.

The weather was kind and a big thank you to Rotary in Guildford for organising such a lovely event.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who walked, sponsored us or turned up on the day.

If you are organising your own fundraising event for TALK, please let us know so that we can support you and help publicise details of the event for you.

Please contactJo Matthews via the contact details page.

    Clickhere to see what's happening at TALK?