Interviewer:

Could you start by telling us your name, your age, and what member group you’re representing today?

Nichole Wheaton

My name’s Nichole, I am 45, and I’m discussing the Enfield Stroke Friends group.

Interviewer

Okay, thank you so much. And what first inspired you to become involved with Enfield Stroke Friends?

Nichole Wheaton

From the very beginning when we first set up Enfield Stroke Friends, I was involved back in 2019 and we realised that there wasn’t a lot of social things around for people who’d had a stroke, particularly in Enfield. And they’d commented that they didn’t feel that they had anywhere to go socially and activities to do and they felt quite isolated. So we decided to set up Enfield Stroke Friends to support them and get some activities going. So we were able to fundraise and support some of that because obviously some of the people that use the service are on quite low income. We need to be able to run things that were affordable for them and free for them.

Interviewer

Could you talk a little bit about how your position at Enfield Stroke Friends has evolved over time and what the position entails?

Nichole Wheaton

When we set up the group, I was actually the secretary, but I’m now chairman on the committee. But actually more just as a general volunteer, I help with things like the fundraising. We do events, we’ve been for lunches out. As part of Enfield Stroke Friends, we do fundraising for the Stroke Cafe that we run once a week. So every week we set that up. There’s myself and we’ve got other people that help volunteers to set up and at the end of the day clear away. But also in between we sit and chat with the service users, and serve tea and cake. Also, there’s the opportunity if people need any one-to-one advice or support around anything, we can do that. We have things like people bringing in forms because they need help filling them in or if they need a bit of help with something online, we’re happy to help them with that as well.

Interviewer

How do you think that the Stroke Cafe helps stroke survivors?

Nichole Wheaton

Well for some of them, they’re stuck at home. It gives them kind of something to focus on once a week to get a bit of a routine going. So many have said that’s quite good. So they’re not sitting at home bored and on a Tuesday, they know where they’re going and that kind of builds a bit of structure into their week. Secondly, people who are feeling isolated have come out and actually met new friends, and supported each other. So actually, you know, it lifts their mood. They share ideas around their recovery, other activities and just chat in general. Rather than just tea and chatter and the social side, we’ve more recently started doing sort of activities and speakers and learning and exercise and all different kind of things that have sort of brought a new dynamic to the group. So it’s not just tea and chatter, there’s kind of a bit more activity and new things to think about and look forward to.

Interviewer

So, as someone who has been there since 2019, how have you seen the group change over time?

Nichole Wheaton

So when we set up in 2019, we were in a smaller space. The beginning of last year we had to move to a bigger space because we’d outgrown the size of the hall we were using. So we’ve grown. We’ve got some members that have been with us since the beginning who come every week more or less. But actually we’ve always got new members as well all the time coming. We’ve got some people who come every week without fail. But then we’ve got some people who just drop in now and again to say hi, depending on some people go back to work, some people have moved away depending on what other things they’ve got going on. We obviously had to close during the pandemic. So actually we went on Zoom then for, it was about 12 months I think. We did it on Zoom when we weren’t allowed to meet. And actually at first there was a real resistance to that and people didn’t like it. I wasn’t a fan of Zoom at first, but we’ve kind of all got used to it. But actually we found that people, once they got used to it, it was really good. We had new people joining on Zoom that we’d never actually met and then when we all went back in person it was really nice to actually meet everyone face to face that we’d only seen, you know, through the screen. As part of the committee, we’ve got some of the service users that sit on there, which we’re really happy about and we’ve also got people who’ve come to volunteer with us but actually have then either gone off to do other things but still remain involved as part of the committee. And you know, I’m dropping now and again to come and volunteer, which has been really positive.

Interviewer

Do you have any favourite memories or a story about one of your experiences at Enfield Stroke Friends,

Nichole Wheaton

It’s not really about volunteering, but it’s just a memory that we all remember as a group, and sometimes we talk about it. So one of our members, Mike, he’s in his forties, and he had a stroke, and it was quite serious. It affected his mobility quite a lot. He couldn’t walk, he was using a wheelchair, and when he first started with us we were on Zoom so we didn’t actually meet him. Then when we went back to in-person, he used to come in a wheelchair to the groups with his wife, and for quite a number of weeks he was in this wheelchair. And then the first week he came without his wheelchair, he came in on his walking frame, and everyone clapped, and cheered, and everyone was nearly in tears because it was like, you know, we were all following his journey of recovery, and it was like a real heartwarming moment. And we still talk about that now, and Mike still comes, and I’ve known Mike now for a number of years, and he’s still actually still improving all the time with his mobility, with his dexterity in his hands, with his speech, with everything. And it’s just been really nice to follow his journey in terms of having a stroke. He was somebody who was quite young when he had his stroke. He had it when he was forty. So I think it’s been quite, some of the things he shares in his recovery is quite inspiring for other people. People who’ve just had a stroke, and are feeling quite sort of low, and “Oh what does the future hold?” And then they see someone like Mike who’s been through quite a journey, and I think it gives people hope as well that they can improve, and there is life after stroke.

Interviewer

Alright. And then as someone with all this volunteer experience, do you have any advice for people who would like to start volunteering or are very new to volunteering?

Nichole Wheaton

I think if you’re feeling that you want to volunteer, look what’s out there, get involved, apply for things. Some people it’s quite nerve wracking but I think you’ve just got to go for it and be brave. And I think with volunteering you’ve really got to find something that you are interested and you want to do because when you’re giving up your time, it’s got to be something that you really want to do, not just you doing it because you feel you should. And also I think it’s important that the more you put into volunteering and the more you engage with people, the more you’re going to actually get out of it in terms of feeling good that you’ve actually helped somebody. The more you do for them you can see the more welcome you make people feel and the more time you give them, the more you’re going to get back from it.

Interviewer

Is there anything about the Enfield Stroke Friends that people don’t know that you really feel like they should know?

Nichole Wheaton

One thing we’re really pleased about at the moment is the new activities and information sessions that we’ve been running that have been really well received. So for example, we’ve already done once a month seated exercise that the service users have really liked and we’ve got somebody who comes and does that – – a qualified instructor. So it’s all done properly and safely. Then we’ve had speakers in from NHS talking therapies, talking on different subjects such as sleep hygiene, wellbeing, confidence, anxiety that people have found really helpful. We’ve had some things around sort of online safety. We’ve also had some sessions that have been delivered by the service users. So one of our regulars that comes after her stroke, she had a lot of issues with movement in her hands and she did a lot with something called Theraputty, which is like a putty that you move in your hands and manipulate, but you can use it as a form of exercise. And she’s been and delivered a couple of sessions for our members on that. So it’s really nice when we see people who have used the service then come and actually give something back as a volunteer.

Interviewer

That’s awesome. Okay, thank you so much. Those were all my questions. So yes, just thank you so much for interviewing and for all the volunteering work you’ve done. And yes, talk to you soon.