Is Orange (Laynards) The New Black?

Caleb Rixon
Sep 10
2 min read

As part of my Westpac Social Change Fellowship, I spent last week in Tassie at the Australian & New Zealand Stroke Organisation Conference 2025, supporting Genyus Foundation Ltd's mission. I went looking for robust models of peer support and inclusion in post-stroke care, but what I found was a thriving, collaborative community of survivors, clinicians, and researchers fired up for real progress.

A group of twelve people, some standing and some seated, pose together in a lively, well-lit indoor venue during a conference social event. Many are smiling and waving towards the camera. The background shows round tables with attendees, and a large screen displaying the ANZSOC 2025 logo. The atmosphere is festive and inclusive.

Big Wins

Connecting with brilliant peers: Brenda Booth OAM, Adrian O'Malley, Saran Chamberlain, Letisha Living, @Emma and @Kim Beesley, Brooke Parsons, (Toni) Arfaras, @Matt Picone, @Alison Dee, Clive Kempson, Matthew Berryman and Elisha Deegan, all claiming space and sparking new ideas together. Massive respect to ANZSOC for championing lived experience and hosting two survivor-centric sessions.

A true highlight came from Nele Demeyere and her focus on evidence-making, meaningful connection, and the NHS’s new life-after-stroke focus. It’s timely inspiration as I prep for my plenary at the UK Stroke Forum in Scotland—proof we aren’t alone in pushing for lasting change across borders.

Advocacy Bit

👷 Wearing our orange lanyards in a sea of white brought both pride and a subtle sense of “otherness.” The visibility and connection were great—but the distinction sometimes kept folks at a distance. We’re no longer siloed (no more lunches in separate rooms like 2018!), yet we still have room to evolve.

🎤 Maybe it’s time to expand the lanyard rainbow and highlight the value and voices of more groups (Conference organisers, call me if you’re interested!).

👷 Survivor-led sessions were inspiring, but often up against major clinical drawcards, keeping audiences smaller than we’d hoped. The good news? Clinical minds and researchers are hungry for more engagement with lived experience.

🎤 Perhaps plenaries could help satisfy this craving (Happy to chat about this!).

More Highlights

Survivors asking bold questions
Equitable leadership with Elizabeth Lynch, Natalie Fini, Emily Ramage, Sabine Allida, Sarah J. Wallace, Prof David Copland, Simone Russell, Sophie Weaver
Deep dives with Richard Lindley, Dr Natasha Lannin, Dana Wong, Marie Bird, Kate Scrivener, Lauren Christie, Lisa Murphy, Stroke Foundation
A candid plane chat with statistician Freda Werdiger, who confirmed that even ‘numbers people’ crave real stories!
Plugging my Cambridge University Press article, “Connection: Stories Not Statistics.”

If you've seen my advocacy (hello old Twitter screenshots 👇), you know survivor-led change isn’t new—many of us have been banging this drum for years. Thanks to #ANZSOC2025 for taking great leaps forward and leaving healthy room for growth.