If you haven’t visited Different Strokes’ HQ, our tiny 7m x 8m office based in Wolverton Mill is where our staff team of 6 (5 part-time) and our 3 wonderful office-based volunteers work.

From this base, which we lovingly refer to as our ‘cupboard’ Different Strokes operates a National Information Line – which supports over 1,000 people a year! We send out information to thousands of stroke survivors, support families affected by stroke and work with 120 amazing community-based volunteers. These volunteers (many of whom are survivors themselves) operate our national network of exercise & support groups. We are working on growing our group network so that more stroke survivors can recieve support and advice where they live. We support our online community, fundraise, sit on panels advising on younger stroke and all the usual stuff; social media, update our website, campaigns etc., – you get the idea!

As with all charities the current financial climate is a difficult one. We receive no government funding and therefore rely on grants, generous donors, and our inspiring fundraisers to ensure that we can continue supporting younger stroke survivors for years to come. Due to this we are very careful with money to ensure it is used for services and support and not spent elsewhere. So, for the last ten years, we have sat on chairs that were once rescued from a tip, our administrator Gill has been without a desk of her own and we fight an ever losing battle with storage. This was all until two weekends ago…. when our knights in shining armour arrived, clothed in Sainsburys high-vis jackets during very heavy snowfall caused by the now infamous ‘Beast from The East’.

Last September we were delighted to have become Sainsburys Logistics Charity of The Year after being nominated by stroke survivor Jim Honeyman-Bristow.  The team are now busy trying to fundraise £20,000 which will help us to create resources and support for childhood stroke survivors and their families.

Jim regularly pops in to our office and hadn’t failed to notice that we were in desperate need of more suitable furniture. So, when he found out his colleagues at Argos HQ were refurbishing, his first thought was to secure some better furniture for Different Strokes. The shopping list included storage solutions, smaller desks and chairs that could provide better support for all who sat in them! Argos generously said they would help and allowed us to pick out suitable items. The Sainsburys Logistics team arranged transport and we were all set to undergo the transformation on Saturday 3^rd March 2018.

That Saturday arrived but with it a snow-storm. The roads were a nightmare! Understandably the Sainsburys Logistics team were struggling to get to us, whilst heroically trying to keep their own services going through such adverse weather conditions. We called Jim in a panic, worried that our office would be without furniture….but Jim and his husband James came to the rescue! They braved the snow on their day off, hired a van within the hour and had set out on the mission to get the furniture to us.

After two runs and a particularly hairy half hour when the van got stuck in the car park, Different Strokes office has been transformed! Our new furniture is in and we now have more space, more storage and our administrator Gill finally has a desk to call her own! We would love to extend a huge thank you to Jim, James, The Sainsburys Logistics Team and Argos for going above and beyond to help us. We are so delighted to be working in partnership with them and to have their support.”

Here are some pictures of our happy band of merry people ‘modelling’ our new furniture.

For those who were wondering here is Gill’s new spot!