Lemonade from Lemons Community Interest Company

23/12/2025

Merry Christmas and. Happy New Year!
Here is our end of year newsletter.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far!

https://lemonadefromlemons.co.uk/what-we-did-2024-2025/

Retirement Villages

A look back over the last year at Lemonade from lemons CIC. What’s included in this newsletter: When Directors Firle, Ben and Nikki met to look back over the last year at Lemonade from lemons CIC, we were pleasantly surprised to see how much we’d achieved. Highlights of year ending December 2025...

22/12/2025

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱: 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
Read our Christmas newsletter for a look back over the last year at Lemonade from lemons CIC.

What's included:
✨ Highlights
✨ Changing the narrative
✨ Our training
✨ Our communities
✨ Your feedback
✨ Looking ahead

Available to read at https://lemonadefromlemons.co.uk/what-we-did-2024-2025/

🎄Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, from Nikki, Firle and Ben!

A look back over the last year at Lemonade from lemons CIC. What’s included in this newsletter: When Directors Firle, Ben and Nikki met to look back over the last year at Lemonade from lemons CIC, we were pleasantly surprised to see how much we’d achieved. Highlights of year ending December 2025...

21/10/2025

19th-25th October is 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.

At Lemonade from lemons CIC we’re working to raise 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 and 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 of a type of hidden disability called 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Communication differences include:
#𝗔𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗮
#𝗗𝘆𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗮
#𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗮.

They are all 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 disabilities.
They can all make 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 challenging - but this is something WE can change.👇

16/10/2025

Lots of engagement with our stall and activities at the Full of Life fair today at the Hillbrow Centre in Eastbourne! 🤝

We're using postcards as a simple invitation for visitors to share their thoughts and ideas with us 👂

🍋

23/08/2025

Want tips on how to make your conversations more inclusive?

On a recent Zoom call with people with , they shared that when they are in a room - they are often EXCLUDED - not INCLUDED - in conversations. 😔 One woman shared she feels "invisible," and others agreed.

👨🏼‍⚕️ Even doctors frequently ignore them and talk to family members rather than the person with aphasia! 😞

🌼 Do you have a friend with aphasia? Do you work with the public and meet people with aphasia?

💡 Please INCLUDE people with aphasia! Make eye contact. Be patient. Slow down!

💪

People with are counting on us! 🤝

12/08/2025

Here is a link to a podcast I recently did with the wonderful Dr Nick Harvey. He spoke to me about creating with people who may have a communication difference after brain injury of illness.

Do have a listen and let us know what you think- anything you find really helpful or anything else we should be bringing to people’s attention?

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-health-wellbeing-podcast/id1752525535?i=1000718676733

I can also recommend his other podcast episodes- 30 minutes of useful information on a whole variety of topics!

Podcast Episode · The Health & Wellbeing Podcast · 23/07/2025 · 30m

29/06/2025

What a fantastic post.

26/06/2025

Love this episode about how babies learn language especially the conversation between adult & 18 month old baby:

👉https://youtu.be/IkV-fKzHPPE?si=yrmGtuPLRdh8dc6f

What a fantastic conversation and one of the people in the conversation has hardly any words!

😴💤It also bring a back memories of early motherhood and that quest for sleep!!

🫂But this podcast is a fascinating insight into how we learn language and the social bonding power of inclusive conversations despite communication differences!

🏓You hear the conversation carrying on through the care taker’s skills as supportive conversation partner (as Michael says like pong pong!):

✅making comments,

✅summarising what they think baby has said,

✅engaging in a topic the other person cares about,

✅making 👀contact,

✅responding to the other person’s intonation, and

🟰they sound like equals 🥰 and are having a great chat!!

What a lovely thing to hear first thing in the morning!!

Found the original video on YouTube if you are interested:

https://youtu.be/IkV-fKzHPPE?si=yrmGtuPLRdh8dc6f

My insta: CustardPot my TikTok: IAmCustardPot Orlas tiktok: OrlasMama72736Orlas & her mums insta: & .g9.6 For all enquiries: ContactBurstIdenti...

13/05/2025

Just caught up with Chris Moyles' chat with Chris Kamara on the radio – well worth a listen: https://youtu.be/jLIOlScD59U?si=B09ry1s6XNHx9T9D

Chris was on to raise awareness for and – both brilliant resources supporting men’s mental health.

Many will know Chris lives with apraxia of speech – a condition affecting the coordination of speech movements. He’s been remarkably open about the impact on his mental health, sharing powerful insights like:

“The moment you accept yourself, you start to get better”

We need greater awareness and acceptance of communication differences like apraxia. Research shows people with conditions such as aphasia (a change in the ability to use and understand language most commonly after stroke) experience fading friendships, as conversations become harder to sustain.

Common challenges include:

– Being interrupted or rushed and or

– Assumptions of low intelligence

All of which can result in shared interests falling away.

This , let’s make a real effort to connect – especially with mates who have communication differences.

Give them time to speak. Don’t shy away from silences – they’re part of the process. And importantly, don’t confuse speech or language challenges with a lack of intelligence.

affects speech movement.

affects language.

Neither affect intellect.

conversations are all of our responsibility.

Retirement Villages Healthbox CIC

Chris Kamara gives a health update, talking about his experience with DrinkAware and Andy's Man Club.Never miss a beat (or riff) by subscribing to Radio X! ?...

06/05/2025

May is National Stroke Awareness Month.

Everyday in May 240 people will wake up to the life changing impact of stroke.

64% of those people will find they suddenly have a communication difference (Mitchell et al, 2021).

That's 153 people per day suddenly unable to talk, read or write how they used too.

That's 153 people suddenly unable to have conversations in the same way with friends, family, medical professionals, work colleagues or the person in their local supermarket or bank.

Suddenly being unable to use and understand words after a stroke is called Aphasia.

Suddenly being unable to physically speak as a result of problems co-ordinating or controlling your the muscles you need for speech is called Apraxia (co-ordination differences) and Dysarthria (muscle weakness).

Acquiring a communication difference can feel like life giving you lemons. Together, we can make lemonade.

Lemonade from Lemons offers customer facing businesses a unique and fun half-day training course in becoming inclusive conversation partners - and making yourselves and your business accessible to people with communication differences.

Check us out here https://lemonadefromlemons.co.uk/customer-facing-businesses/

There are also other amazing charities and organisation offering direct and indirect support to people living with communication differences after stroke for example:

Say Aphasia
Dyscover
North East Trust for Aphasia ()
Stroke Association
Aphasia Re-Connect

Please share this post with anyone you know living with communication differences after stroke or your boss or colleague if you want to be part of making the world more communication accessible, one conversation at a time!

Expert disability and inclusion training focusing on communication differences after brain injury. Raise staff awareness and confidence with making reasonable adjustments to make accessible communication a part of your business.

30/04/2025

Plenty to think about after day 1 at .

Highlights from today:

💡The app that stores photos of people’s life stories to act as a conversation starter between resident and staff .

💡chatting to Lynne and Prof Vic Rayner from the about The Care Innovation Challenge where people with innovative ideas and awareness of gaps can collaborate to make a real difference to the care sector.

💡Hearing about the amazing grassroots work with young people with disabilities and their families being undertaken by Ltd. in Wembley.

💡Meeting the developer of The Resident Experience Tool that enables care home and residental village members to connect with each other and family using a single accessible app for messaging, video calls and reminders about timetabled activities

What an inspiring day.🤓

Really looking forward to day 2 tomorrow 🤗!

29/04/2025

So exciting!!! We are heading to Care Show London at the ExCel 30 April-1 May 2025.

It is our first dip into the Care Show community.

We can't wait to:
🤩 meet lots of fab new people,
🤩 learn all about recent innovations and best practice and
🤩 share our knowledge about communication differences after brain injury and illness & inclusive conversations

Do stop Firle for a chat if you'd like to find out all about our Inclusive Conversation training for front line staff.

The scientific links between wellbeing, social connection and being included in conversations is there! Small changes can make a huge difference to peoples lives- we'd love to chat to you about it!!