AGM Highlights
On Monday 5th October, we brought people together at The Art House in Wakefield for our Annual General Meeting (AGM). It was a chance to celebrate everything Aphasia Support has achieved over the past year, thank the people who make our work possible and share our plans for the future. We were delighted to welcome so many people, both in person and online, to be part of the occasion.
Our Chair of Trustees, Rubina Rashid, led the session. We’ve summarised the key highlights and plans shared at the AGM below.
A year of record-breaking progress
The past year has been an exciting one for Aphasia Support. We've grown our services, welcomed more volunteers and reached more people than ever before.
Here are some of the highlights from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026:
- 304 people received support from Aphasia Support - the highest number in our charity's history.
- 88 volunteers joined us, up from 55 the previous year.
- 97% of clients were satisfied with the support they received.
- 100% of survey respondents were happy with how their Aphasia Café is run.
- Seven new Aphasia Cafés opened, and we now have four regional branches, helping us reach more communities.
- Our Aphasia Impact Questionnaire showed positive progress, highlighting improvements people have made with our support.
- We visited Parliament twice to raise awareness of aphasia with MPs and champion the needs of people living with the condition.
- Our income grew by 53% to £434,209, up from £284,227 the previous year.
Behind every number is a person, a family or a community benefiting from greater understanding, practical support and opportunities to communicate with confidence.
These achievements reflect the hard work of our growing team and the generosity of everyone who supports our charity. We're proud of how far we've come, but we know there are still many people with aphasia who need support.
Our plans for the future
At the AGM, we also shared our plans for the next three years (2026 - 2029). Aphasia Support's new strategy sets out how we want to build on this progress and make support available to more people.
A key priority is to grow our services across Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and the North West. We want to reach communities where people may face additional barriers to accessing support, including working-age people with aphasia and their carers on low incomes.
We're also committed to broadening our reach and representation. This means supporting more people from ethnic minority backgrounds and recruiting more volunteers and staff from these communities.
Alongside growing our services, we'll continue to develop our branch network, expand our successful training programme and raise awareness nationally. By working with local communities, volunteers and partner organisations, we hope to help more people understand aphasia and the challenges it can bring.
How we'll reach more people
We plan to build on the services that already make a difference while exploring new opportunities to reach people who might otherwise miss out on support.
This includes:
Aphasia Cafés and Total Communication groups
Our speech and language therapist-led groups give people with aphasia and their carers opportunities to practise communication, build confidence and meet others with shared experiences. We'll look for opportunities to develop these services in new areas, using accessible community venues.
Aphasia Awareness Training
We'll continue developing our training programme, delivered by speech and language therapists and people with lived experience. By working with businesses, charities and other organisations, we can help more people understand aphasia and feel confident supporting someone who has it.
Home-based iPad therapy support
We want to help more people access speech and language therapy tools at home. With guidance from our speech and language therapists, trained volunteers can support people to use iPads with therapy software and apps, helping them practise communication in their everyday lives.
Home-based communication support
We'll also explore opportunities to provide support for people with aphasia and their main carers at home, focusing on supported conversation techniques that can make everyday communication easier.
Together, these approaches will help us reach more people, respond to local needs and build a stronger network of support.
Thank you for being part of our community
We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the past year and excited to build on this progress as we turn our plans for the future into reality. As a growing charity, we know that we couldn't do this alone. Every volunteer who gives their time, every partner who works alongside us, every person who helps raise awareness and every supporter who donates helps us move closer to our vision: a world where every person with aphasia has access to support and can communicate with confidence.
Thank you for being part of Aphasia Support. We look forward to reaching more people and making an even bigger difference together over the next three years.
