Gregg Oughton is the founder of Kings Park Warriors, a support group who gather regularly around Perth, WA.

Learn more about what inspired Gregg to start a support group, and why he believes peer support is so important.

‍Can you tell us how Kings Park Warriors started?

I started Kings Park Warriors about six (6) months after my stroke.

I did a course over here at the State Head Injury Unit at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. It was an eight (8) week course called Living Well with ABI.

The course was phenomenal, and it gave me the opportunity to connect with other people.

After the course ended, I contacted everyone cause no one else had done it. That’s how we started! A few of us, half a dozen, began meeting every week for a couple of years. It grew from there.

Now we’ve got 60 members signed up, over 200 on Facebook. We’re looking at starting online and regional groups this coming year. It’s pretty exciting.

So you had these phone numbers, what motivated you to make contact? What inspired you to keep connecting with other people?

Well, to start with, it was for my own benefit because I needed the group. I needed someone to talk to who understood—like most peer groups do—where I was coming from almost exactly.

We were able to joke around, have banter, and just connect in a way that made sense.

What inspired me to keep going was seeing the group evolve. As we became more regular, it became clear that it was turning into something bigger. We even changed the name from the State Head Injury Unit Weekly Group to Kings Park Warriors (KPW).

The real inspiration, though, was seeing people grow and come out of their shells. It’s rewarding all the time. The environment just cheers you up.

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There is a separate Kings Park Warriors support group for young adults. What is the story behind starting a young adults group?

I think it was just born out of a need. The younger people were coming to the regular group and they were included and everyone was really protective of them but I realised their experiences were different.

My kids are in their 30s, and I imagined what it would be like for them to have a stroke while they’re still wanting to achieve so much. For young people, there's so much life ahead, having a family, owning a home, going back to work and retraining.

There is still so much they want to achieve. I thought we could really nurture and encourage them if they were together.

I’m happy to sit and have a coffee, but they’re together doing things like going tenpin bowling, going to movies, or just hanging out at someone's house. Every other meeting, they’ll go to a café for some continuity.

As it grows it might need to change a little bit, have a bit more structure, but it’s a long time since I was in my 20s so I want to support them in how they want to do it.

I was surprised to hear you go tenpin bowling and get together to watch a movie. I definitely have some misconceptions about what a stroke support group looks like. What other misconceptions do you think people have about support groups?

That we’re just going to talk about depressing stuff all the time!

Not to say that we don’t talk about that. It’s important for people to get off their chest what’s really upsetting them and share what’s happening. But we try not to dwell on it for too long so the overall catch up isn’t that mood.

In our group, we don’t focus solely on what people can't do or their daily struggles. We make sure it’s not always negative, we always try to have that banter.

Why do you believe in peer support?

You’re asking me that question and I’m tearing up just thinking how powerful it is.

Just the growth and confidence that I see in people, people from all walks of life. Everyone feels like they’re part of the group, no judgement, no discrimination.

A peer group is a real safe haven for people, and that’s why they come back every week. And I just can’t get enough of it, it’s phenomenal.

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