Right Side of the Brain

Sarah manages the Greater Manchester Neurorehabilitation & Integrated Stroke Delivery Network, which she helped establish in 2015. Previously, Sarah spent much of her career within the NIHR Clinical Research Networks in senior management roles both in Greater Manchester and in London. 

Cillian is a qualified Occupational Therapist with experience of working in several inpatient stroke and neurorehabilitation settings across GM. He joined the network in April 2022 as a Facilitator as part of a larger service improvement team. The team work in collaboration with local stroke and neurorehabilitation teams into support quality improvement projects which currently include: vocational rehabilitation, motor neurone disease care pathway and discharge processes.

You can find out more about the network at www.gmnisdn.org.uk or on X (Twitter) @GMNISDN

Edmund Hubbard is an independent arts consultant and a trustee for InterAct Stroke Support.  He talks about his life and the circumstances of his stroke with Nirjay Mahindru.  Details about his consultancy work can be found at 
www.hubbardartconsultancy.com 

In 2016, after 10 years working frontline as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Major Trauma, Dr Bahl decided to pursue her interest in Exercise and Physical activity and retrain formally in Sports and Exercise medicine.  She now shares her working hours between being a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Kings College London, working as an Adult and Paediatric SEM Consultant at the National Centre in Loughborough and for UHL, working as a Clinical champion for Physical Activity for the Department of Health and Social care and as a Medical Examiner.  Her specialist interests include Corporate and Conference Health, Performing Arts Medicine, Post Covid recovery and Focused Ultrasound.   She  delivers webinars on wellbeing and personal sustainability for a number of clients, including HEEM and L’Oreal.  She is  a Level four personal trainer. In her non-work time she runs with her dog, dances, does yoga, escapes to her garden and is an Ambassador for InterAct, a charity that brightens up the lives of Stroke patients via live reading.  She spends as much time as possible around her teenagers, getting soundly beaten at any activities they do together, cooking dairy-free, nutritionally punchy meals and making the most of living in London.

Jenny Benson is the Fundraising and Project Officer at Read for Good, a UK charity with the aim of motivating all children to read for fun, because loving reading changes lives. With a background in fundraising and communications, and in young people's mental health and activism, Jenny delights in sharing her love of literature and inspiring children and young people to embrace the power of stories

For more details about Read for Good visit https://readforgood.org/about-us/ 

Ségolène is a Performer and Vocal Empowerment Coach combining voice, language, breathwork and energy therapy to help creatives find their voice in life and in art.She's taken what she's learned from the worlds of wellness, coaching and performance to help people fuel their expression, release limiting beliefs, stagnant emotions and unlock their vocal power.

Instagram: @artfulsego  //  @theartfulathlete

Find out more about my journey: https://theartfulathlete.co.uk/about-me 

The Artful Athlete Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1EtigHRBHSlcKvlEr6eTQV  

The Artful Athlete Podcast on ApplePodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-artful-athlete/id1526058139

Books and methods mentioned:
- The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown
You can sign up to courses and find out more about the science used to improve breath on his website: https://oxygenadvantage.com/about/
- Breathe by James Nestor
- I would also recommend Exhale by Richie Bostock who was my introduction to Breathwork outside of performance

Jacko's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jacko.david.jackson 

Marion Walker is Emeritus Professor of Stroke Rehabilitation at the University of Nottingham and a fully accredited Executive Coach. She has particular expertise in the development and evaluation of complex interventions and has published widely on moving evidence from randomised controlled trials into routine clinical care. She is a strong advocate of patient partnership and co-chaired the Nottingham Stroke Research Partnership Group for 10 years. Marion was a Trustee of the Stroke Association (2009-2019) and is passionate about supporting women in STEM subjects. Marion is an Executive Member of the International Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Alliance and currently leads on the development of Global Centres of Clinical Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation. She is an Emeritus NIHR Senior Investigator and was awarded anMBE in the Queens New Year Honours list 2012 for her service to stroke rehabilitation and stroke survivors. In 2020 she was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from UK Stroke Forum.

Helen Daniels is a former InterAct Stroke Support Office Administrator and has recently rejoined the InterAct family as their Development Co-ordinator. Helen is a British mezzo-soprano based in Bern, Switzerland. She is a member of the Swiss Opera Studio where she is studying with Christian Hilz, and has worked with renowned directors and conductors including Olivier Tambosi and Christoph Campestrini. 

Helen is generously supported by the Alec Turner Music Scholarship (awarded by the General Charity of the City of Coventry).

Helen has performed in masterclasses with Barbara Hannigan and Anna Stéphany; and played roles including Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia; Trinity Laban Conservatoire), Nancy (Albert Herring; Trinity Laban Conservatoire), Didone/Volupia/Hora Terza (L’Egisto; Hamsptead Garden Opera) and Lapak (Cunning Little Vixen; Cambridge University Opera Society).

 For more: https://www.helendanielsmezzo.com/

Nirjay Mahindru in conversation with Cassandra Hugill, founder of the UCL World Stroke Day Forum and Public Engagement Manager at the Department of Imaging Neuroscience, UCL, discusses the importance of having lived experts voice in shaping stroke research and rehabilitation. Cassandra has been working with people with neurological conditions for the past five years, ensuring that research is accessible and more tailored to the needs of patients. To find out more about the forum, and to watch some short documentaries about the stroke research taking place at UCL, please visit bit.ly/UCLWSDforum   

UCL World Stroke Day Forum

A free Forum run by UCL for stroke survivors and their loved ones will return in 2022.
Now in its fifth year, UCL World Stroke Day Forum aims to empower stroke survivors to influence the future of stroke research at UCL.
The forum, sponsored by The National Brain Appeal, encourages an open dialogue between researchers, clinicians, charities, stroke survivors, carers and loved ones.
Since 2020 the Forum has been held entirely online due to the pandemic. For the first time, UCL World Stroke Day Forum 2022 will be a hybrid event.
Online sessions will be held in the two weeks leading up to an in-person event at Church House Westminster, London on Friday 28th October.
The forum will build upon previous years successes, where in 2021 over 500 stroke survivors, loved ones and carers signed up to our online events.
UCL research groups will team up once more with stroke charities to deliver panel discussions, interactive talks and workshops.
The exciting programme of free events will include a series of online panels with leading stroke experts starting from the 17th October 2022.
These events will lead up to the in-person event at Church House, Westminster, London on Friday 28th October 2022.
The full day event will provide people with the opportunity to engage with researchers and charity partners in an open expo space, and learn more about post stroke support, research and rehabilitation in a series of talks and hands on workshops.  Tickets can be booked at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-person-event-ucl-world-stroke-day-forum-2022-tickets-418048653777
Online sessions can be booked at https://engagement.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/projects/wsdforum/ucl-world-stroke-day-forum-2022/

Konstantin and Francis share their experiences of developing the hugely successful podcast Triggernometry.  Konstantin Kisin is a Russian-British comedian, podcaster, writer and social commentator. He made international headlines in 2018 by refusing to sign a university “behavioural agreement form” which banned jokes about religion, atheism and insisted that all humour must be “respectful and kind”.

Konstantin is the reigning Jewish Comedian of the Year and has won a number of other comedy competitions, awards and prizes. He has played some of the UK's biggest comedy clubs and has supported Geoff Norcott, Shazia Mirza and Andrew Doyle on tour.

He took his debut hour, Orwell That Ends Well, to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, receiving a host of positive reviews.

Konstantin is a regular contributor to BBC, ITV and TalkRadio. Frequently described as an "objective voice from the centre of the political spectrum", he regularly writes for a wide range of publications, including the Telegraph, Spectator and Quillette.

He is also the creator and co-host of the TRIGGERnometry YouTube show where 2 comics interview economists, political experts, journalists and social commentators about interesting, controversial and challenging subjects.

Konstantin is a regular host at Kilkenomics, the best economics and comedy festival in the world.

Francis Foster is a comedian and teacher. He has taught in both primary and secondary sectors with a specialism in Drama and English. Francis graduated from the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama and away from the classroom he is a stand up comedian who gigs regularly in Europe and beyond. He supported Eddie Izzard on his latest Force Majeure Tour. Francis is the regular co-host of the Triggernometry podcast.

TRIGGERnometry is a free speech YouTube show and podcast. Comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster create fun-but-serious conversations with fascinating guests, including former Presidential advisors and political experts, leading economists, psychologists, journalists, social and cultural commentators, YouTubers and others.

Torin Douglas is a highly respected former BBC media correspondent for over 25 years who has also worked for the Independent and the Times.  He is one of the founders of the Chiswick Book Festival which starts on Wednesday 7th September.  Details of the festival can be found here

Christable Flight is the founder of Silver Sunday, an event celebrating older people that occurs on the first Sunday in October. She was a Westminster councillor for 17 years.   Further details about Silver Sunday can be found at https://silversunday.org.uk/

Eleanor Caird is an actor that started working for InterAct during the early days of the charity, seeing the plethora of changes that has occured within the charity over the years, and was an active participant in community based projects that encouraged the creativity of stroke survivors.  

Actor Ross Foley talks about his experiences working for InterAct Stroke Support, including hospital settings, and the InterAct at Home virtual delivery service.

Professor Judith Mottram talks about her work as an Arts professor at the University of Lancaster, the relationship between Art and creativity and also arts and health.

An English actor and voice artist, born and raised in Wiltshire, UK.  Sartaj began as theatre actor in Shakespeare and contemporary productions. Performed in Scott Rudin's 2015 production of "Behind The Beautiful Forevers" at National Theatre. Other theatre credits include Royal Court, Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and Bush Theatre in UK. Has worked with Sean Connery, Andrew Garfield, Archie Panjabi, Sheridan Smith, Omid Djalili. Hollywood debut in League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Has also appeared in Indian feature films Tezz and Desi Boyz. Best known for playing Jasper Choudhury in Season 2 of Nickelodeon's hit teen drama "House Of Anubis." Holds Finance degree, is a qualified mediator and an experienced martial artist.

Sartaj Garewal is best known in the US for playing "Jasper Choudhury" in hit teen gothic drama House Of Anubis for Nickelodeon.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts - FRSA.
Founded high performance leadership development consultancy, Dynamic Presenting Ltd.
He runs Dynamic Presenting Ltd, a leadership consultancy, which adapts improvisation and rehearsal exercises to create experiential learning for business executives.

Fellow podcast host Megan takes to the other side of the Mic as she is interviewed by Nirjay Mahindru.  Megan is an actor, poet, drama facilitator and highly experienced InterAct reader.

Nirjay Mahindru in conversation with actress Rula Lenska. Rula talks about her childhood, her journey within acting,  and her support for the various charities she feels passionate about.  

In conversation with former footballer and stroke survivor Nick Clarke about his stroke and how and why he set up Stroke Information.