by founder Adrian Robson
A stroke in 2020 leaving me with a severe left sided weakness, a damaged heart and a significant brain injury.
Why I set up the KDAF
During my stroke recovery I was a regular visitor to the Knaresborough Facebook page and through posts and conversations I realised it was not the right portal as there were a lot of people facing similar challenges in life but having no voice or place to talk candidly with others safe in the knowledge that they won’t be judged, bullied or harassed.
How did it start?
It started life in late 2024 as a private group. However, my earliest members wanted to be able to share it with others; something you can’t do in a private group. I always had a golden rule that it was for the town I love and not for people living miles and miles away. But as there was a need I created a public version of my early Facebook page so that they could become their own community. It was then that I posted its creation on the Knaresborough Facebook page and membership started off slowly. I had 6 members by the end of 2024. Since being in the HDDF and NYDF I have taken a huge amount of inspiration and encouragement from their work, so I set about filling the page with hints and tips as well as creating a group chat, allowing members to post things, after all it wasn’t all about me!
Bringing you up to date and April 2025 membership has grown to 36. I am being a lot more proactive regarding administration of the site and making sure I recognise others, we have our very own logo thanks to ChatGPT. (I had never used it but one of the group had for her business!). Another member has now created this website which will allow us to reach people who don’t use Facebook. I am also starting conversations with groups like Knaresborough Connectors and the Chain Lane Community Hub amongst others.
Plans for 2025
Keep prioritising my energy on the Facebook group, getting the website up and running, create an interactive map (Maggie and I must have been on the same page when Ripon’s was set up as it’s my #1 objective for the website.)
Also trying to stay positive!