World Stroke Day: 29 OCT 2025

Every year World Stroke Day is recognised globally because stroke can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

It is also a time to celebrate recovery, resilience, and the collective effort that helps people rebuild their lives after stroke.

Listening, Caring, and Sharing for Life After Stroke

At Burwood Academy Trust (BAT), we believe recovery goes beyond survival. It’s about living well — reconnecting with identity, community, and purpose. Our approach to research is grounded in partnership with people who have lived experience of stroke, and with the clinicians and researchers who walk alongside them.

Listening to Lived Experience – JOURNEYS ŌTAUTAHI

Every stroke recovery journey is unique. Through projects such as Journeys, we have listened to people share their stories — the moments of fear, hope, adaptation, and strength that follow life after stroke. These stories shape our understanding of what meaningful rehabilitation looks like in real life.

We know that when people with lived experience are part of designing the research, the outcomes are more relevant, inclusive, and empowering.

Movement, Motivation, and Music

Our Movement to Music [M2M] project explores how creativity, rhythm, and connection can support recovery. Music-based movement sessions have been shown to improve balance, confidence, and enjoyment, helping participants engage in physical activity in new and uplifting ways. The project is a wonderful example of how innovation in rehabilitation doesn’t always require expensive technology — sometimes it starts with a song, a smile, and shared human energy.

Clinical Research at the Frontline: Emily Timothy’s Work

One of the strongest bridges between research and real-world clinical practice comes through the work of Emily Timothy, a Clinical Researcher jointly connected with BAT and the Community Stroke Team.

Emily’s role exemplifies how clinicians can blend hands-on patient care with research and evaluation — ensuring that the lessons learned in practice inform the evidence, and that research findings flow directly back to support better clinical care.

Her projects focus on improving the recovery experience after stroke, strengthening collaboration between health professionals and community partners, and identifying ways to make rehabilitation more person-centred and sustainable.

By supporting roles like Emily’s, BAT helps clinicians develop research skills, access mentorship, and build the evidence base for rehabilitation in Aotearoa New Zealand — ensuring that research remains grounded in the realities of care.

Venn diagram with three circles; We Listen, We Care, We Share.Working Together for Impact

BAT’s collaborative model connects clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience to co-design projects that matter.
Our shared goal is to make knowledge usable — to transform research into real-world impact that improves quality of life after stroke.

Through our values, we continue to ask:

  • How can rehabilitation feel more personal and motivating?
  • How can lived experience shape what “good recovery” looks like?

Together, We Make Recovery Visible

Stroke recovery is not just a medical journey — it’s a human one.
This World Stroke Day, we celebrate the people living with the effects of stroke, their whānau, and the clinicians, researchers, and communities who stand beside them.

Every project, every conversation, and every partnership brings us closer to a future where people don’t just survive stroke — they thrive beyond it.

 Burwood Academy Trust – We Listen, We Care, We Share

How You Can Help

  • Learn the signs of stroke – Think F.A.S.T
    F – Face: Drooping on one side
    A – Arm: Weakness or numbness
    S – Speech: Slurred or strange
    T – Time: Call 111 immediately
  • Please share this message — awareness saves lives
  • Support stroke research and rehabilitation through community and clinical partnerships

Stroke Aotearoa NZ: https://www.stroke.org.nz/