A silk napkin found at an auction house in Sandbach forms part of a special tribute to her Her Majesty The Queen and marking King Charles' accession to the throne.

A stroke survivors group in Alsager, with two Winterley residents helping to run it, have been putting together its own special tribute to Her Majesty The Queen and marking King Charles' accession to the throne.

The group meets each week at the Thirteen Club on Cedar Avenue, and was established earlier this year. John Wenlock-Smith from Winterley and his wife Susan Wenlock-Smith help run the group.  

Members join in different activities each week, and last week they had planned to run an arts and craft session.

Following the death of her Majesty, the group decided to create a collage to remember her life and celebrate the new monarch.

It will be sent to Buckingham Palace along with a card which contains the group's condolences to the new king, who is currently grieving the loss of his mother.

The activity also provides a therapeutic benefit to the members, who have all had a stroke or a so-called mini stroke.

The group's aim is to provide a social and welcoming space for people who've had a stroke and to support one another.

The backdrop to their collage is a map of Alsager and surrounding towns, which then has various objects stuck to it – each with a royal connection.

This includes commemorative coins, photos of the royal family, a football match programme and a silk napkin that was made and handed out to schoolchildren in Macclesfield to mark The Queen's coronation.

There's also information about the group and bee stickers in reference to The King's passion for environmental campaigning.

Alsager resident and stroke survivor, Sue Helliwell, came up with the idea of creating a collage.

She said: "Before the sad and tragic death of Her Majesty, this week was for arts and craft.

"So, as I was leading on it, I decided to do a collage to send to King Charles III.

"We're sending it to Buckingham Palace with a sympathy card on the loss of his dear mother."

She said she'd sourced materials for the collage from charity shops in Alsager.

The silk napkin (which was made in Macclesfield and given to local children to commemorate The Queen's coronation in 1953) was found at an auction house in Sandbach.

"What we're trying to do on the collage is have something for each town.

"There's a map on the back of Alsager, and because we're Stroke survivors it's to talk about where we live in Cheshire.

"So we've kept Alsager and Crewe and the surrounding areas clear so people can talk about where they live and where they've been and local landmarks.

"An we know king Charles likes the environment, we've put 'love our earth' on there with some bumble bees.

"Everything on there has a theme connected to the royal family."

She said the group – which meets every Thursday (10.30am-midday) helps people forget their illnesses and cope with the after effects of having a stroke.

Mrs Helliwell said: "We have all different forms of ability. We don't like to be labelled, but when we come here it's a safe space where we can talk.

"It's somewhere safe and nice to have and not feel doom and gloom because there's something wrong with you.

"It's a lovely group, and we're helping each other."

Ian Batt is president of the Thirteen Club, and also a stroke survivor.

He said: "It's a nice place to come – it's very clean and tidy – and it's cheap!"

He added: "I think the benefit to people here is they are not so shy about being in a group, because they see that other pope have similar problems and sometimes the problems are more severe than their own.

"They start to relax because they see that we're all trying to recover and do our best.

"The one thing I was wary of when I came to this was: are we going to be sitting there with a load of old people talking about all their ills and aches and pains – and I didn't want that.

"So, that's a policy that we don't do that – and I think that's a good point because then people are here to participate in whatever entertainment is provided and also to talk to each other."