Link to short film on Mark Ware winning Life After Stroke Award

Here's the link to see the short piece made on Mark following his Life After Stroke Award victory last month!

http://www.stroke.org.uk/campaigns/life_after_stroke_awards/2010_winners/adult_courage_award.html

Fantastic Swim by Dan Crowder in aid of InterAct!

Dan Crowder completed his sponsored swim raising money for InterAct in a time of 33 minutes - 34.23 is his official time but he had to be treated for cramp when he finished so he's quite rightly knocking a minute off!! Dan also said the following.

It was a fantastic day and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes to swim.
My final total looks like £650 although a few more people have said they'll visit the justgiving page and donate. I'm really pleased with the amount. I'd be very interested to know how the money has helped as I understand you have to raise a small fortune every year to keep going. Well I had such a great time I'm sure I'll be doing some more in the future so I'll keep you posted as I think It's a smashing way to raise money for InterAct.



Thank you Dan for your wonderful effort and brilliant spirit of generosity to InterAct!

Three Monkeys project at Whittington Hospital

The Three Monkeys project performed at Whittington Hospital on Friday 2nd July. The project is a joint venture between InterAct and the Manor Gardens Heart and Stroke Project and is composed of 3 parts. The 1st part is the 12 minute play It Couldn't Happen to Me a two hander exploring the consequences of stroke on a couple. The 2nd part is a 12-15 minute piece devised by InterAct actors Christine Collins, Eleanor Caird in conjunction with stroke survivor Sally from Manor Gardens Stroke Club, and Josephine Robespierre, a carer who has been working at Manor Gardens. The final part is a Q n A with the audience.

The Whittington audience consisted of pharmacists, occupational and speech therapists. Some of the feedback included the following comments.

"Makes me think about my own practice in relation to stroke"
"Good to highlight the plight of carers"
"Would be very useful for nursing staff and care staff on the ward, and social services staff eg social workers, to improve their understanding of life on the other side".

Bringing joy as best we can.

2 years ago Eva Haddon did a talk about the work Interact was doing at the church where Harry (Eva's husband) is music director. On that occasion Harry was asked to which charity he would like the evening's collection donated, so Interact was chosen. Eva has just heard that recently a lady who had been there that evening remembered and contacted Interact after a dear friend of hers suffered a stroke, and since the service was not provided at the hospital where her friend was a patient, she asked if someone could possibly go in to read. All credit to Interact, this was done, and the patient was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Mark Ware wins Life after Stroke Award 2010

Patron Mark Ware won the 2010 Life after Stroke Courage Award after being nominated by InterAct Reading Service. The award was presented by actor Rupert Graves whose father died of a stroke. The awards ceremony was held at Claridges, and Mark's wife Sarah, along with Nirjay Mahindru from InterAct were present to celebrate with him.

Daniel Crowder InterAct Fundraiser!

We're really happy to announce that Daniel Crowder has kindly chosen to raise funds for InterAct by entering the British Gas Open Swim.

The event takes place on Saturday 3rd July in Victoria dock, London.

If you would like to sponsor Daniel, just go to his Just Giving page here:

http://www.justgiving.com/dancrowder

Follow us on Twitter!

Hi everyone, we have just updated our Twitter page and will be regularly tweeting and posting stories of interest. If you would like to follow us, go here: http://twitter.com/InterActReading