Charities & VolunteeringNewsFunding allows pioneering stroke charity to deliver its service over the Christmas period Funding allows pioneering stroke charity to deliver its service over the Christmas period
15/12/2011
InterAct Reading Service are pleased to announce that generous support from The Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation will enable the charity to deliver it’s award-winning service in ten hospitals over the Christmas period.
InterAct Reading Service was founded in 2000 on the basis of an innovative idea: using professional actors to deliver live, witty and inspiring short stories to people who have had a stroke.
The charity currently reads in 21 hospitals and over 50 stroke clubs in the UK and in October 2011.
The generous support from The Ernest Hecht Charitable Trust will see the charity able to continue reading in the following hospitals in the weeks before and after Christmas; Birmingham Moseley Hall, Charing Cross, Chelsea & Westminster, Wythenshawe Manchester, Mile End, The National, Royal Sussex, St Ann’s, St Mary’s and St Pancras.
Readings in all 21 hospitals will then resume as usual on Monday 9th January.
The Ernest Hecht Foundation was set up some years ago by Ernest Hecht, now in his 60th year as one of England’s major independent book publishers, with the aim of helping the disadvantaged and promoting the advancement of the arts and education.
Stroke is now the second biggest killer in England and Wales and the number one cause of serious disability in the UK. A stroke can affect anyone of any age from any background. A patient suffering from the effects of a stroke may spend several months in a hospital stroke unit. Rehabilitation is a long and exhausting process which continues after the stroke patient has left the hospital. It is during and after a hospital stay that InterAct makes the difference.
“This is better than four months' medicine”
InterAct Reading Service is dedicated to supporting stroke recovery and the readings are designed to speed recovery by improving mood, stimulating the brain and providing much needed entertainment.
The length of time the InterAct actor spends with one individual depends on the patient's wishes. This can vary from one minute to half an hour. We make every effort to provide reading material that will stimulate patients from every walk of life and that will suit their varying levels of comprehension.
“If your brain is slow, this wakes it up”
Ten years since being founded, InterAct Reading Service has become the recipient of multiple awards, all recognising its pioneering work in the field of stroke rehabilitation. Most recently, in 2009 the charity won a Guardian Charity Award, and has been praised in 2010 by Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, as a charity that has “gained a well deserved reputation for the services it provides to stroke survivors and the qualitative research done in this area shows how well those patients respond to the readings you offer”.