In 2025 my work with Different Strokes, a stroke charity for working age stroke survivors led to prominent national media coverage of three stroke survivors’ stories in The Sun (in print and online), Mailonline, Yahoo Life , Metro and The One Show.
Alicia’s story
I created a pitch for Alicia Kember’s story about surviving a stroke aged 23. The pitch profiled the impact of a Different Strokes Instagram post “50 things stroke survivors wish people in their lives knew about stroke” . The story was a big hit with major national news outlets, leading to well received coverage for Alicia and Different Strokes in The Sun , Mail Online and Yahoo! Life. Reaching millions of readers!
Anthony’s story
Different Strokes asked me to help promote a story about Anthony Bryan and his work with Different Strokes producing bite-size exercise videos to help stroke survivors with their physical recovery. When I met Anthony, as we talked through his story he told me about his stroke aged 6 and how he had been inspired by ‘Baz’, a stroke surviving body builder who ran fitness classes for young stroke survivors for Different Strokes in the 1990s. Aged just 7, Ant attended classes with Baz for a couple of years, encouraged on by Baz’s mottos. “No pain no gain!’ And ‘When you feel the burn … that’s when you’re building new strength!”
Before he met Baz Ant struggled desperately with low self-esteem and even wished he’d never survived his operation. But seeing Baz’s muscles and knowing that he was a stroke survivor too changed everything. Ant had found a role model. Ant went on to train as a disabled footballer and athlete. He won gold medals for Team England in the Cerebral Palsy World Championships in Barcelona in 2018. And in 2024 he broke the world record at the London Marathon for fastest time by an athlete with cerebral palsy. Along the way Ant has built a career in the fitness industry , with a focus on providing accessible in-person and online training for people with disabilities. But, he lost touch with Baz when he was 10 years old – the two hadn’t met in over 25 years so it was time for a reunion! Watch what happened with F1 Presenter and stroke survivor Jennie Gow on The One Show’s One Big Reunion!
Tayler’s story
Tayler Laycy’s friend Mel’s stroke awareness saved her life after she had a stroke while home alone with her baby son. Tayler often talked on the phone with Mel for hours. It was during one of those conversations that Tayler’s speech suddenly became garbled. One of Mel’s close relatives had a stroke a few years before so she knew that they needed to act fast. Within minutes ambulance staff were at Tayler’s house, by which time she was unconscious. Tayler’s moving story of that day, her ongoing recovery and the support she received from other stroke survivors through Different Strokes Facebook group was a big hit on Metro’s website. It was profiled as a trending post, receiving over 900 reactions on Metro’s Facebook page. In the article Tayler described her volunteer work as an ambassador on Different Strokes Black and Asian Stroke Survivors (BASS) Project. An information box gave key messages from Different Strokes about stroke awareness and the signs to look out for.
It’s an absolute joy working with Different Strokes- they have so many great stories! I relish the opportunity to talk to stroke survivors and explore around their story and experience, collaborating to create a pitch that they feel great about. You can read about some more stories I’ve worked on with Different Strokes and other charities on my news page .
I’m on the look out for another charity or two to work with! If you’ve got lots of great stories let’s talk about what national media coverage we could achieve with 2 – 4 days of PR input a month. Get in touch on richard@diversitypr.co.uk or come and say hello on Linkedin.