For Maggie, setting up this group is deeply personal. In December 2020, the day before her 52nd birthday, Maggie experienced a life-threatening haemorrhagic stroke. She underwent emergency brain surgery and spent months in hospital during the height of the pandemic, much of that time without visitors. One thing she realised along the way was just how isolating stroke can be.

“Sometimes when you talk to people who haven’t had a stroke, you can see their eyes glaze over. But when you speak to someone who’s been through it — who understands — it’s priceless.”

That understanding is exactly what the Derby group aims to offer. A welcoming space. Honest conversations. Shared experiences. A place where no one has to explain the basics of what they’re feeling.

Maggie hopes the group will help others feel less alone and more hopeful about what life after stroke can look like. “If I can sit in a room and say, ‘I’ve been there,’ and someone feels less isolated because of that, then something good has come from all of this.”