Christina Meacham started as the new Chief Executive for Different Strokes on 6th June 2005

Christina has been working in mental health for the past 10 years or so, although her main interest is in psychology and neurology, so Different Strokes is an excellent place for her to be! Christina's mother had a stroke at the age of 45, so she knows something about the problems of stroke survivors, and she is married to someone with MS who was thought for quite a while to have had a stroke as his symptoms are very similar. Christina is keen to learn as much as possible about the different and unique problems which come with every stroke, and looks forward to broadening her experience and expertise as she meets more and more Different Strokes users and contributers.

Christina originally trained as a musician many years ago (before doing a degree in psychology and a masters in social policy) and still plays oboe and viola for fun in her spare time.

Christina says that she has two main objectives for her first 6 months: to raise money so that we can continue the services we already provide and develop new services for stroke survivors; and to raise the profile of the charity and of the problems suffered by younger people who have experienced stroke. She also has a personal aim to DESTROY the '6-month rule' - Christina is a great believer that our own developments and achievements are increased or limited by what we expect for ourselves.