Press release -
Stroke Association launches new project to improve wellbeing in North Devon
The Stroke Association is celebrating after being awarded a grant of National Lottery funding to launch a new project: Active Lives After Stroke. The charity has been awarded £213,620 to support four projects across England, including North Devon.
The grant, awarded through Sport England, will support stroke survivors in becoming and staying more active after their stroke.
Sonya Webb, Support Coordinator for the Stroke Association in North Devon said: “A stroke can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time and it turns lives upside down in an instant. For some people the effects of a stroke may be relatively minor and may not last long, while others may be left with more serious long-term problems.
“We all know being active is important. We also know it can be daunting getting active again after a stroke. This new project is here to help local stroke survivors get back into being active at their own pace with other stroke survivors.
“Being active can improve both your physical and mental wellbeing. It could help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, increase muscle strength and flexibility and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.
Active Lives After Stroke is a project funded by Sport England to support stroke survivors to become active and stay active through peer support groups. Sessions are designed with stroke survivors to get people moving in a fun and friendly environment. We work with local activity providers and make sure all abilities are included in the sessions.”
The Stroke Association is one of eight Richmond Group of Charities that Sport England is supporting with a total of £1.3 million of National Lottery funding to launch unique pilot projects to help prevent and manage long-term health conditions and enable people to be more active.
Sport England's Executive Director, Mike Diaper, said: “Support groups like this one in North Devon play an important role in increasing and maintaining levels of physical activity amongst stroke survivors while at the same time helping them self-manage their condition.
“The learnings we will gain from the project will be extremely valuable and used to benefit even more people with long-term health conditions across the country.”
The Richmond Group of Charities is a coalition of 14 of the leading health and social care organisations in the voluntary sector which works together to influence health and social care policy and practice.” The Richmond Group of Charities is a coalition of 14 of the leading health and social care organisations in the voluntary sector.
If you’re a stroke survivor or carer and want to find out more information about joining Active Lives After Stroke, please contact Sonya Webb on sonya.webb@stroke.org.uk or 07717275759. The project is also looking for volunteers, so if you can spare time to support Active Lives After Stroke please get in touch.
Topics
Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.
It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active - like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.
