Two men have brought their love of Spanish-style cooking to Tauranga Farmers’ Market to raise money for the local branch of AphasiaNZ.

Aphasia is a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. It can occur suddenly after a stroke or head injury, or develop slowly.

Brothers Locky and Scott Mulholland have been cooking paella in their spare time for years and recently moved to the Bay to be closer to family. Their father has aphasia, so when the pair came up with the idea of fundraising, the local support group felt like the right fit.

“AphasiaNZ is not government-funded, it’s purely a charitable trust,” says Lockie.

“The club here in Tauranga is absolutely tremendous in keeping people together, understanding what the condition is and how to deal with it. From a family’s perspective it’s very important to us.”

Locky describes aphasia as having your mind functioning 100% but your speech or writing being impaired.

“You can get the thought out but it takes longer. As a family member, patience is the key,” he says.

“Sometimes Dad can be very quick and then other times he finds it hard to link the words together.”

Scott and Locky are using produce from other stallholders to cook paella fresh at the beginning of each market; one traditional version with seafood and chorizo, plus a gluten-free option with chicken and chorizo.

Farmers’ Market manager Megan McVeigh says the brothers’ food stall Bella Paella has fitted in well with the weekly event.

“It was just what the market needed,” she says.

“The market itself is non-profit and we’re very community-minded so we really love that they’re raising money for AphasiaNZ.”