SEASONAL CRAFTS CREATE HOT TOPICS AT APHASIA CAFE

In October, Tabea Powell and Sasha Williams dropped in to visit the Aphasia Café project to see how our HARIBO Happiness Together funding is supporting local individuals with aphasia, which is a lack of speech and communications skills following a stroke or damage to the brain.

This project is facilitated by the charity, Speak with IT, and a group of young volunteers studying for their Speech Language Therapist qualification. During this drop-in session, which takes place every two weeks, attendees enjoyed getting to know each other over seasonal crafting.

Getting hands-on with creating Christmas cards and paper wreaths was a fun and informal way of helping all guests to socialise. It also encouraged guests to speak about their experiences and backgrounds, helping everyone understand how they cope living with aphasia.

Speech and Language Therapist, Shorufa Yasmin commented: “The Aphasia Café has got off to an amazing start. We loved welcoming the colleagues from HARIBO and the Community Foundation and giving them the opportunity to see our project in action.”

James Major, CEO at Speak with IT added: “For some of the attendees, this was the first crafty activity they had done in a long time and for others, it was the chance to rediscover their passion for art and creativity, which was great to see.

“It really was a great session to be a part of. It helped us to understand how important this project is and reinforced how creating fun, shared experiences brings generations together in a meaningful and supportive way.”

HARIBO Happiness Together Fund is delivered in partnership with the Community Foundation Wakefield District, and The Aphasia Café is just one of seven that kick-started this summer.