'Speech and language is something we take for granted'

"Speech and language, communication, is something we all take granted, and it's something you don't think about losing until you've lost it."

Aimee Williams provides speech and language therapy at Headway North Staffordshire, a charity that supports people with brain injuries.

The Stoke-on-Trent centre's specialist speech therapy and counselling services are set to end in January 2027 unless £44,000 can be found.

That would have a massive impact on people, as "they can't access these services readily anywhere else," said CEO Neil Macleod.

Jess, who had a stroke in June, said the charity had helped her find her words and voice.

"It just didn't help me talk again, it gave me back my confidence in a future I thought I'd lost," the 32-year-old said.

Williams said at any one time the charity had up to 20 people receiving speech and language therapy.

Often it is about helping people achieve specific goals, she added.

"It might be picking up the phone to make a doctor's appointment, it might be reading a bedtime story to their children," she said.

"To know that wouldn't be accessible any more is just a huge shame and so disappointing."

Some of those who have received support had previously finished treatment on the NHS and the charity said they might be forced to look again at their options if the funding could not be found.

Jess said before receiving speech therapy following her stroke in June all she could do was swear.

"And doing a tour guide job for a living and sales associate job for a living I can't go swearing at my guests and customers, I really, really, really can't!"

She said too many people relied on the services through Headway, adding it "changes lives".

Macleod said counselling and speech and language therapy were integral to the rehabilitation work the charity does.

The services are currently being paid for out of the charity's reserves after previous funding ended.

"We can only do that for a limited period of time, so in the next couple of months that money will run out and we'll have to close the services if we don't raise money," Macleod said.

The charity launched its appeal for help in August, and so far has raised about £2,000 of the £44,000 it needs to keep the two services running for 12 months.

David, 64, had a stroke in January 2022, and goes to Headway North Staffordshire four days a week.

His wife Karen described how initially he was "just grunting and the odd swear word would come out" and the speech and language service had made a "massive difference".

Having walked into the centre as clients, she said they had "walked out as family".

Meanwhile, in Shropshire, the charity is celebrating the reopening of its headquarters.

Headway Shropshire has spent £600,000 to turn its base in Shrewsbury into a wellness hub, which includes a wheelchair-accessible kitchen, an art room and an IT suite.

£475,000 came from the National Lottery's Community Fund, which the charity's CEO Nia Rossiter said she was "extremely grateful" for.

"[The National Lottery] came out to visit us to understand why we were asking to renovate our building," she added.

"Ultimately, it first opened and was incorporated in 2002 and nothing had been done since.

"The building wasn't suitable for all the needs, it wasn't adapted appropriately throughout and there was not enough space or circulation space for wheelchair users."

Chuk, from Shrewsbury started attending the groups after he was in a serious accident in 2003.

He goes three times a week and said he doesn't know what he would do without the centre.

"I could not walk or nothing before and I was broken up pretty bad," Chuk said.

"I went and had an operation in London and stayed down there for a few months.

"I came back and started coming here and here has been really good."

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