As I mentioned in my previous post RCSLT invited me to be a guest
speaker at a webinar (online seminar) event in London last week and I was honoured
and delighted to attend. The webinar GivingVoice: local heroes make national champions: engaging with MPs, aimed to
share information about what RCSLT has done and is doing to influence parliamentarians
and to share best practice examples of local influencing.
While at the train station I got talking
to a homeless man and I bought him a hot drink as he was so cold. He was so
grateful and was glad that I stopped to have a chat. Conversation is free and I am always happy to talk to people; it
was nice to put a smile on someone’s face so early on a Friday morning when
everyone was just rushing past. It’s sometimes the simple things that mean the
most, and I felt this was the start of a positive day. After our chat I headed
to get my train, enthusiastic about the day ahead.
I wore my
Giving Voice badge on my bag, ready to engage any unsuspecting fellow train
travellers in a conversation about Speech and Language Therapy, but I was sat
on my own so I just read my notes and rehearsed my speech in my head instead!
I have spoken at a number of
events about Speech and Language over recent years but this was my first
experience of speaking at a webinar. Not sure what to expect, I arrived
slightly apprehensive but the staff at RCSLT quickly put me at ease as they
talked through the running order of the day and explained how the equipment
worked. The practice run through of the webinar was useful to listen to the
other speakers before we went live. This was also helpful to get to know the equipment
and get used to wearing the headset and mic.
We had a working lunch and it was
nice to chat more to the other speakers. We also had time for a quick photo
with Kamini Gadhok, CEO of RCSLT.
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| The Webinar speakers with Kamini Gadhok |
The webinar was live online at
1pm and RCSLT members began logging on 10 minutes before, ready to engage in
the session. Derek Munn, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at RCSLT chaired the
meeting and welcomed everyone to the event.
Peter Just, Public Affairs advisor at RCSLT was the first speaker and explained
the importance of engaging with MPs and what RCSLT have been doing and plan to
do to continue keeping Speech and Language Therapy on the agenda.
I was the next speaker and I
shared my experiences of engaging with my MP (Ian Lavery) from the first meeting in
constituency to meeting him in London during a Mass Mobilisation event and
inviting him to local events I organised in constituency.
Rachel Clare, student SLT at UCL
shared her experience of her involvement in ‘The Great Letter Writing
Challenge’ where students from the Giving Voice society wrote to MPs in the
lead up to the general election about the RCSLT manifesto asks.
Janet Cooper, SLT manger, told us
how Stoke Speaks Out engaged with local MPs to help shape the local decision
making and successfully prepare for the future. It was interesting to listen to Janet's experience and how influencing can really have such a positive impact!
I enjoyed taking part in the
webinar, meeting the other speakers and hearing about their experiences too. It
has reignited my passion for raising awareness of the profession and I hope to
continue spreading awareness of the valuable work of SLTs in Leeds also. I am
hoping we can get schools involved in national joke telling competition ‘Voice
Box’ in the autumn term, which is organised by RCSLT and The Communication
Trust. I look forward to sharing future involvement here on my blog.
After the webinar I had a little
bit of time before my train so I went for a walk along London Bridge and had an
ice cream in the sunshine! I always enjoy visiting London and even managed a quick
cuppa with my cousin Kirsty who lives in London, before catching the train back
to Leeds.
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| Tower Bridge |
The RCSLT webinar is available to
view online here if you are interested in finding out more. I hope it inspires you to get involved in local influencing! Don’t forget to
ask RCSLT for any support you need, or to share your experiences with them.
Thanks for reading! Speech and
Language Therapy Transforms Lives
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