HEALTH bosses have signed a historic pact with Bury-based Speakeasy which provides vital speech therapy to stroke sufferers.

The agreement between Bury NHS Primary Care Trust and the charity will safeguard Speakeasy funding and strengthen speech and language therapy services.

Tuesday's (Jan 27) signing set the seal on the end of the first year of working in partnership.

Speakeasy, which offers aphasia therapy and support to people who have lost the voice after a stroke, has been operating for 21 years. Funding has always been a mix of charitable monies with support from the old health authority.

But to move with the times, Bury NHS Primary Care Trust set up a partnership with Speakeasy which will offer financial security to its staff and members.

Links with speech and language therapy departments at Fairfield Hospital will be enhanced and, in return, Speakeasy will guarantee high quality service for all the people of Bury into the foreseeable future.

The key element of this new partnership is that funding is guaranteed for at least three years.

Mr David Morton, chairman of the Speakeasy trustees, said: "This removes one of the biggest headaches for any charity, security of funding for more than 12 months.

"This solid funding stream will allow the workers and volunteers to focus on their primary key task, enhancing the provision of high quality support to people with aphasia and their carers and increasing awareness of aphasia among health workers and the public."