Anne-Marie's story
Before her stroke, Anne-Marie was a busy mother of three in her 50s working as a librarian. Afterwards, she joined the 250,000 people who every year have to live with disabilities caused by stroke. She was at home one Sunday evening when she collapsed and found herself unable to call out, to move, to summon help in any way.
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Mark's story
"Coming to Thrive helped me come to terms with my new life and allowed me to look to the future, rather than the past." Four years ago, Mark’s life changed forever when he was seriously injured in a road accident, which is something that could happen to any of us.
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Ade's story
If you visit Thrive’s Carry on Gardening website, you’ll recognise Ade Baker. The photos of Ade used on the website and in many of Thrive’s publications, show his considerable skill in gardening from a wheelchair and his unfailing 'try anything’ attitude.
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Sarah's story
Although Sarah enjoys many different hobbies and interests ranging from golf to sailing, she hadn’t considered gardening until she went on one of Thrive’s weekends to help blind and partially sighted people start or continue gardening.
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Jimmy's story
It wasn’t long ago that Jimmy was a quiet and withdrawn young man whose mental health issues meant that to him, life felt rather dark. He came across as uncooperative and difficult to get to know.
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Colin's story
At 19 years old, just as he was starting out on a career in horticulture, a stroke robbed Colin of his mobility, dexterity and memory. He could hardly write or draw, the right side of his body just didn’t want to work.
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Ian's story
Before his stroke, gardening was Ian’s passion and he ran a landscaping business to support his young family. He was 40 years old when his stroke left him paralysed all down one side.
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Gavin's Story
"I used to get bad mood swings but going into the garden and having a purpose in life has helped to reduce those" Gavin has achieved fantastic progress during his time at the Thrive Battersea Garden Project. He first came in 2001, 12 years after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
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