TWO years of hard work from an enterprising group of students has led to them producing communication passports for stroke victims. The business studies students from the Meridian School launched the passports, which have been given to members of the Roys

TWO years of hard work from an enterprising group of students has led to them producing communication passports for stroke victims.

The business studies students from the Meridian School launched the passports, which have been given to members of the Royston stroke club, this week.

Mandy Byrne, from Royston stroke club: "All the members of our club have aphasic problems stemming from their stroke, which means the part of the brain used for communication is damaged and not working properly.

"The passports are small documents which they can carry with them as they go about their daily lives to help them communicate effectively with other people.

"It's a fantastic project and the students work will be a big help to the members of the club," she said.

The students have been working on the project since 2008, which is part of their business course. They were joined at the launch by Dr Michael Firth, head of the Meridian School, and Royston MP Oliver Heald.

Judith Hamilton, head of business at the school, said: "An enterprise project is part of the business course, so when Mandy got in touch with us we thought this was a good opportunity to do something which would have an impact in the community.

"They've really taken the project to heart, and made regular visits to the stroke club so that they could ascertain what the users wanted.

"It's pleasing that the end result is an ongoing project which will make a real difference in people's lives," she said.

Mr Heald added: "This is an excellent project from an enterprising group of young people. I'd like to congratulate them all on their hard work.