TALK Surrey CIO

In addition to being a Trustee for TALK I am also the Volunteer Group Leader at Knaphill TALK.

My background is in teaching and I retired from teaching modern languages at secondary school level in 2011.

As I have always been interested in language and communication, I looked online for opportunities to explore these areas further during my retirement years and discovered TALK!  Volunteering with TALK has allowed me to pursue my interests while giving me the chance to offer practical support in the community.

I began as a volunteer in 2014 and in 2016 took on the role of Volunteer Group Leader.  Then, in 2017, I became a Trustee for TALK and feel that, in my capacity both as a Group Leader and as a Trustee, I am well placed to understand and communicate the needs of those attending a typical TALK group in order to ensure that they receive the best possible support.

Since retiring I have started learning to play the piano and have joined a Spanish class as I love learning new languages and trying them out when I travel abroad.  In my spare time I also enjoy listening to classical music and reading / watching crime fiction.

I’m Fred, and I worked for 35 years in finance before retiring in 2016.  My first roles were in chartered accountancy and international auditing and corporate finance.  This was followed by 25 years in investment banking, fund management and private client wealth management.  Throughout my career, I was closely involved in the not-for-profit and charitable sectors, from the point of view of both auditing and management of funds.

I am delighted to have taken on the role of Treasurer for TALK Surrey, having previously held a Treasurer and Trustee role for a charity which focused on brain injury.  The dedication of the TALK volunteers and the personal support given to members is inspiring, and it’s great to be involved.

I live in Woking with my family, and I spend a lot of my time looking after the garden at our home in Ireland.

I work in the IT Network Communications industry and thoroughly enjoy working with a variety of people and across a wide range of projects.  My drive and passion have always been focused on how people achieve their goals – whether that be at work or in their daily life.  I joined TALK as a Trustee as I wanted to use my skills and experience to support the running of the charity, so that people living withaphasia, and their friends and families, have access to the amazing support provided by TALK.

I really enjoy spending my time with my family and friends, sharing experiences, and creating memories.  I love being active outdoors and I am always willing to try any sport or activity!  I live with my husband, son and our two very lazy rescue dogs.

I’m Clive and have extensive business experience in market research and strategic planning, gained from working at Unilever, various ad agencies and from running my own business.  I have also held Trustee and Governor roles in the past and I’m currently a member of the Woking DoE Forum, a Committee member of a musical theatre company in Woking and Chair of Sport Woking.  I’m used to presenting and public speaking.

I was immediately struck by the work TALK does with communication as the aim, something I hope I can help with.  I was born and brought up in Somerset, went to the University of Birmingham and now live in Worplesdon with my wife.  We’ve got two grown-up children and four grandchildren. My main interests include music (classical guitar and musical theatre), and sport.  I used to play hockey, cricket and badminton; more recently though, I’ve taken up spinning which I really enjoy.  I also love walking, reading and travel.

I’m the Group Leader at our Walton Group.

As a speech and language therapist, I’ve been involved in supporting people with aphasia throughout my 40-year career. I worked in the NHS for about 18 years, in hospitals and in the local community.  I then became a lecturer at University College London, where I worked for 22 years, before retiring in April 2021.  As Director of Studies, I was responsible for the speech and language therapy training course.  I also carried out research into aphasia therapy.

I joined TALK in 2003 as a volunteer at the Walton group. For some years, I delivered training for our volunteers and provided professional advice to the staff and trustees of TALK.  I became a Trustee myself in June 2017 because I wanted to become more involved in developing TALK’s work.  My main role as a Trustee is to liaise with local speech and language therapists and other organisations that support people with aphasia.  I feel privileged to work for TALK, helping to provide the best support possible for our members.

I live in Walton with my husband.  We have two grown-up children.  I enjoy travelling, cycling, walking, reading, knitting and going to the theatre.  I recently took up stained glass and have started to sell some of my creations at Hersham Village Market to raise money for TALK.

I joined TALK in 2012 when I retired from work as a nurse after seeing an advert in Woking for ‘TALK’ volunteers – and thought that might just be for me!  Seven years later, I’m still attending the sessions as a volunteer and have met the most incredible people.  It’s amazing to see the recoverers overcome their many difficulties and how much they enjoy the sessions – it’s wonderful to see their personalities emerge.  As volunteers, we learn something new every week.

When I discovered TALK was looking for trustees, I wanted to see how I could help.  I discovered just how much organisation and work is needed to support even a small charity like TALK – the amount of legislation is phenomenal.  I’m delighted to have been accepted as a trustee and hope in my role I can continue to help this amazing charity.

Hi, my name is Janette.

I joined TALK 4 years ago as a volunteer when I retired as an independent advocate.

I have spent many years in the voluntary sector advocating for adults with mental health, learning disabilities, complex needs and acquired brain injuries such as stroke.  I welcomed the opportunity of joining TALK where I hoped I could use my communication skills to the full.  Since joining TALK I look forward to every week with our members and have come to appreciate the fantastic job that the groups do in providing a safe stimulating environment where our members flourish.

In November I was accepted as a trustee in the hope that I could support this valuable charity to grow and in time support more members.

I'm Mike. I became a trustee of TALK in 2024, having been a member of the Knaphill group since my stroke in 2020.

My skills are basically IT related, although since my stroke I have trouble concentrating on topics for a while, although things are getting better.  My professional life has been in IT & sales, but my personal life is very much sport related.  I have played most sports including hockey at the National League level and now play golf and constantly improve my ability in the pool since the stroke.  Over the last 40 years I have been responsible for organising events, tours, days out, dinners, sports groups, golf, football, cricket and hockey groups.  I was Secretary of Hoebridge golf club for 15 years and Club Captain in 2016, I also worked as a volunteer at the London Olympics, managing teams of volunteers and security staff at the hockey centre.  I have had numerous posts on sports committees over the years and developed a golf scoring application for a golf society which has been used for the last 30 years and has stored over 15,000 records. I still follow most sports either on TV or attending live events.

During my professional career, I held various leadership positions.  I was a successful sales and account manager with a track record of complex high value solutions sales in a wide range of sectors throughout the world.  I lived and worked in various countries including Japan, USA, Middle East & several European countries.