An arts and crafts and information fair took place in Deptford to raise awareness about strokes.
Staff and volunteers at the Stroke Association in Lewisham hosted the event which had a bouncy castle, face painting and more at Deptford Lounge last Saturday (May 31).
The aim was to raise awareness about stroke prevention and mini-strokes, or Transient Ischaemic Attack, which many people put down to a “funny turn” but are a medical emergency.
The ‘FAST’ test to recognise the signs of a stroke are: 'Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech problems, Time to call 999.'
Coordinator from the Stroke Association in Lewisham Rachel Morrison said: “We hosted this event to give information to residents of Lewisham on how to reduce their stroke risk. “There is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding around mini- stroke; a third of people who had a mini-stroke dismissed the symptoms as a ‘funny turn’.
“Someone in the UK has a stroke every three and a half minutes, we need to do everything we can to change that.”
The event marked Action on Stroke month. To find out more visit stroke.org.uk/strokemonth
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