Mrs Joy Cornell

We are the UK’s leading charity dedicated to conquering stroke. We deliver stroke services across the UK, campaign for better stroke care, invest in research and fundraise to expand our reach to as many stroke survivors as possible.

There are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK with 100,000 strokes happening in the UK each year. That’s one stroke every five minutes.

Even though you are now twice as likely to survive a stroke compared to 20 years ago, stroke is still the fourth single largest cause of death in the UK.

We know we need to change how people think about stroke and challenge the myths surrounding it. We push for greater awareness of stroke and its warning signs and campaign for better stroke care.

We believe:

strokes can and should be prevented
everyone has the right to make the best recovery they can after stroke
research has the power to save lives and ensure people make the best recovery they can.

In 2001 the League of Friends of QVM Hospital and the Friends of Danesbury amalgamated to form the present Friends. Both organisations date back for more than 50 years.

Today Danesbury and Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital provide some of the best care in the country for patients who may have a variety of conditions such as Stroke, MS, Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease or who simply need rehabilitation following a stay in an acute hospital.

When a new hospital was needed to replace the original Danesbury Home, the Friends stepped in and offered to provide help in funding a new, purpose-built hospital. The Danesbury Appeal secured almost £1 million towards the cost of the building work which was completed in 1993.

In December 2010 we celebrated the opening of a new Day Room at Danesbury, now a Neurological Centre. At a cost of around £190,000 this major project was funded entirely by donations and money raised by our shops. The first in the heart of Old Welwyn village was opened in 1992. A second shop, which has now closed, occupied a prime position in Knebworth high street.