The King's Speech

On Monday 12th March, I went to see The King’s Speech at Newcastle Theatre Royal and it didn’t disappoint. All the acting was brilliant and I once again felt proud to be part of the Speech and Language Therapy Profession. The script was superb with some powerful words, particularly the King being “trapped in a body refusing to obey [his] commands.” Something that I am sure many people who stammer (or have other communication/swallowing difficulties) will relate to.  If you get the chance to see the play I would definitely recommend it! :-)

After seeing the success of the publicity around The King’s Speech film last year, I saw the stage show as another opportunity to Give Voice. I decided to email the Theatre Royal and ask if they were able to support the campaign in any way. I initially chose the person that I thought would be most appropriate to email, explaining a little bit about Speech and Language Therapy, Giving Voice and my involvement so far. I then asked if they were able to support us in any way, in terms of giving out leaflets etc. After a week, I hadn’t received a response so I decided to email more of the contacts from the website. I sent the same email again (this time with a little note at the end stating that if I had sent it to the incorrect department would they be able to forward it to the relevant person.) Within 2 days I had heard back from the Chief Executive’s office who asked the Front of House Manager to get in touch with me. (A little perseverance goes a long way!)

The front of house manager was extremely helpful and I explained about the campaign and what we wanted to do. He agreed that they could give leaflets out with the programmes, as well as have 2 volunteers attend at each performance. After speaking to other members of the North of Tyne steering group, we discussed arrangements for the week. We all agreed it would be good to have our ‘pop-up’ banner present, so I discussed this with the theatre and they said that was absolutely fine.





Recruiting volunteers was easy as lots of people were interested in helping out, including students, a service user and a dysfluency specialist. We were able to attend 7 out of 8 performances between us.

The organisation took time but it wasn't difficult and I would encourage others to try and do something similar if the opportunity arises.

I attended on the Monday (opening night) to drop the banner and leaflets off with the volunteers, and I attended to Give Voice at the Saturday matinee. The Giving Voice banner stayed in-situ all week.

The feedback was positive from the volunteers with reports that there was a lot of interest in the campaign. I attended the Saturday matinee performance, we spoke to a few people but the theatre had run out of programmes and so most people were more concerned about that. A few people asked us if we were selling programmes and when we said ‘no, but you can a leaflet about Speech and Language Therapy for free’ we were greeted on several occasions with ‘oh, no thanks, I’m not interested in that’. I was a little disheartened by the comments, but not surprised as I already know that people are often not interested in the profession, unless they have personal experience. It was a shame that the theatre had run out of programmes, as I think the atmosphere was a little flatter than it normally is before a show, so people were harder to engage. That said, we did still give out some leaflets and have a few positive conversations about the campaign – and you can’t win them all!

One man highlighted the importance of speech and language therapy for young children to enhance their educational outcomes.

I estimate that over the week we gave out about 150 leaflets that I designed plus a similar number of pink Giving Voice flyers (that were produced by the North of Tyne team). We also left a further 400-500 leaflets around the bar tables and with the people who were selling programmes, (on all floors, for the whole week) so hopefully some of these were also looked at.

Some of the feedback from the other volunteers included comments from people they spoke to:

“I’m very interested in speech and language therapy. I was a special needs teacher for many years”

“I’m a nurse and we quite often send people to speech and language therapy, so I know it’s very important”

“My son had speech and language therapy when he was young. He is fine now but it was ESSENTIAL”

“I think it’s really interesting. I’ll take some leaflets and pass them onto my access students”

Overall, I think the week was a successful at spreading the word further about Giving Voice. I tweeted the Theatre Royal to thank them for their support of #GivingVoiceUK and @kingsspeechplay  retweeted it!

I read a quote recently ‘Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless’ - I think this is so true and would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who volunteered to Give Voice at The King’s Speech. It wouldn’t have been a success without you all.

Keep spreading the word that Speech and Language Therapy Transforms lives! #GivingVoiceUK

Sunshine, Stammering and Giving Voice

What a lovely Sunny Sunday it is today! I feel like Spring is finally on it's way; I love this time of year!

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been liaising with the Front of House Manager at the Theatre Royal Newcastle, about Giving Voice at The King’s Speech (which opens tomorrow).

I’m delighted that they have agreed to hand out Giving Voice flyers with their programmes and are allowing 2 volunteers to be present before the show begins to hand out leaflets/answer questions about Speech and Language Therapy.

I had a large number of volunteers who wanted to help out with this which is fantastic. I’ve managed to include them all in the rota for the performances (Monday-Friday) and I look forward to hearing back how it goes.

Organising this, took a little more planning and preparation than I expected it to, but I am thrilled with the response from the theatre. Hopefully, we will be able to make lots more people aware of Giving Voice, SLT and stammering this week! I believe this is a popular show and most performances are sold out, therefore the audience is potentially quite large! How exciting!!

I’m going to watch The King’s Speech tomorrow evening and I’m really looking forward to it. I look forward to reporting back how it goes!

When the pressure changes...

This morning I found myself back in the King George VI Building at Newcastle University (where my Giving Voice endeavors started just over a year ago!) I was there to attend a session with Ele and Creek from RCSLT. This was a good opportunity to share some of my Giving Voice experiences with some final year students.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to talk! They also know that I love to talk about Giving Voice!  (I’m not such a fan of talking in front of large audiences but 2 out of 3 isn’t bad!)

I prepared what I was going to say over the weekend and practised in front of an audience of 8 on Sunday evening (my lovely family!). I was pleased at how interested they seemed to be (especially my 6-year-old niece, who looked enthralled!) I didn’t know which parts of my involvement in Giving Voice would be most relevant to the final year students, but hopefully something was interesting/useful. I was pleased that I also got some new Giving Voice highlighters, which  look forward to giving away in my Giving Voice activities this year!

I was looking forward to presenting this morning, but once I got into the lecture theatre the butterflies started to form in my tummy! (It made me appreciate the effort of every single one of my lecturers throughout my four years at uni – as it was a little intimidating looking up to see a lecture theatre full of faces all waiting for you to start talking!) I think I started off quite confident (my butterflies were flying in formation!) but part way through the talk the nerves started to kick in again – I think I’d tried to be over confident by not looking at my notes, and when I looked back I realised I’d lost my place! I think I recovered reasonably well and the experience, overall was enjoyable. I also enjoyed listening to the RCSLT talk, as it is still relevant to me now, less than a year after graduating.

The whole experience made me more aware at how difficult the process of talking actually is; particularly when the pressure of the situation is increased (i.e. in my case, a lecture theatre of students waiting to listen to what I had to say!) I felt nervous and I was conscious that I had to know exactly what I wanted to say in order to deliver the speech effectively. Every day, people with communication difficulties face such challenges in situations which, for most of us, are a lot less stressful. For example, a person who stammers wanting to order their food in a restaurant, or a child with word finding difficulties telling their teacher what they did over the weekend. Communication really isn’t as easy as we might first think, and I know that it is still something I (like most of us) take for granted. It isn’t until I am in a communicative situation that is outside of my usual comfort zone that I really see that I do take it for granted every day. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to Give Voice for those that are unable to do so themselves.


 

On another note, I’m still enjoying reading the updates from Charis and Jenny in their Chewless Challenge – it looks like they are doing really well!! I especially liked reading about their pureed food party!! If you haven’t already checked out their blog, then I’d definitely recommend taking a look!! (HERE) I’m pleased to see that they are getting close to their target of £300.

Now I’m off to get ready to go and see Kaiser Chiefs tonight (making sure that I don’t scream too much as I would still like to have a voice in the morning!)

Bizarre to Brilliant...

Following on from the conversation I had at work a couple of weeks ago (about my ‘bizarre’ choice of career) we have engaged in a number of other conversations relating to my search for work. Today, the same person told me that he told his partner about what I studied at university as he thought it was so interesting. He said she hadn’t heard of it either, but they both agree it sounds like a brilliant career choice! I can’t help but feel a little bit proud of myself for making this man more informed and changing his view point on the profession! J

I also had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues this afternoon about Speech and Language Therapy. He had not heard of Giving Voice – but he has now! J Spreading the word one person at a time…

This week has been a busy one, exchanging email and telephone calls with a number of people regarding Giving Voice. This has included speaking to people at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle about the possibility of raising awareness of Giving Voice around The King’s Speech. A few details still need to be finalised but so far I’ve had a positive response. I have also been in touch with someone from the British Stammering Association to discuss ways we might be able to able to collaborate in our awareness raising mission. I will update in the not to distant future (I hope!!)

Two final year students (Charis and Jenny) at Newcastle University are going to be completing a 1 week ‘Chewless Challenge’ (eating soft/pureed food) to raise awareness of Dysphagia (difficulties swallowing) and money for SCOPE. Check out their brilliant blog http://chewlesschallenge.wordpress.com/ (and donate if you can). I think this is a brilliant idea, and will hopefully raise lots of awareness of Dysphagia. I think more people are becoming aware of the role of speech and language therapists with communication and speech, but still less so in terms of the role of SLTs with Dysphagia. I wish both girls the best of luck and look forward to keeping up to date on their blog :-)

During the mass tweet on January 17^th, my mam tweeted Dan Whiston (professional dancer on Dancing on Ice) and he retweeted to more than 21,000 followers! J (although this would have been visable to his followers, it was not visable when clicking on the #GivingVoiceUK hashtag as when my mam tweets (using any hashtag) they don't appear with the main ones - we do not know why this is, so if anyone has any idea how we can fix this please do get in touch! :-) 

An Inspiration - Johnson Beharry VC



Johnson Beharry VC



Just a quick note but I feel the need to share with you that I tweeted Johnson Beharry VC and he replied! I watched him in Dancing on Ice 2011 (and shook hands with him at the end of the live show in Newcastle last year) and think he is truly inspirational. At the time I thought about writing to him and telling him about Giving Voice (and to ask if he had speech and language therapy following his heroic war injuries) but I couldn’t find an address to send the letter to. I did buy his book though (Barefoot Soldier) in order to learn more about him and his experiences.



I decided to tweet him this evening to ask if he had speech and language therapy and I shared the link to the Giving Voice website. He replied to say that he did. Unfortunately he did not mention GV in his reply but it made my night to get a tweet from him all the same! I might tweet him again at some point to ask him for his support with Giving Voice (I don’t want to pester him though!)

Below: two photos I took when I went to see Dancing on Ice Live 2011 at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena.



Johnson Beharry




Johnson receiving his scores :-)



Keep tweeting and spreading the word that Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives. (#GivingVoiceUK)

Spreading the word one person at a time...

“Speech and Language Therapy?? That’s a strange thing to study at uni….I guess there isn’t much need for it or many places to look for work…”

This was part of a conversation I had whilst at work this morning. I won’t say who said it as I honestly don’t think he meant any harm by it, he just obviously, like many other people, doesn’t understand the value of Speech and Language Therapy.

It made me feel a little disappointed and frustrated that the profession is still so misunderstood, however I’ve encountered this enough times now not to be surprised. I’m sure he wouldn’t think it was a strange thing to study if he knew someone who needed the specialist support of a Speech and Language Therapist.

He asked what made me choose Speech and Language Therapy so I took the opportunity to tell him a bit about the profession and how I want to help people communicate as everyone has the right to a voice.

It has actually led to more than one conversation, today, about the profession and my search for a job. He commented that he thought it was a 'bizarre' thing to study but after I explained about the variety of work we do and how fascinating I found the course, he agreed that it does sound quite interesting. I found myself quoting some key facts (such as ‘Speech and Language Therapy saves £765 million per year’, ‘one in three stroke survivors have speech, language or communication needs’) and he found these quite interesting, so it's worth memorising a few of these in case someone asks more about the profession :-). He seemed surprised there was such a need for speech and language therapy and was even more interested once I started with the key facts! Spreading the word one person at a time!

It was lovely to see so many people involved the Mass Tweet (#GivingVoiceUK) on Tuesday from 8pm. I think this was a great idea (thank you to Helen - Facebook admin of Support Giving Voice Campaign – Stop Speech and Language Therapy Cuts). Hopefully it helped to spread the word a little further.  I don’t know if we got #GivingVoiceUK trending but lots of people got involved – it’s not too late to start tweeting if you don’t already! I didn’t think I’d ever be able to understand Twitter and only properly started using it last year, despite having had an account for almost 3 years. I have actually surprised myself and found it’s not as complicated as I first though and I also quite enjoy it now! (so don’t use ‘it’s too complicated’ as an excuse until you’ve given it a proper chance! :-)

I came across the following picture through facebook and twitter and thought I’d share it here. Thanks to Claire Johnston for creating and sharing it! :-)

A time to reflect...

December has been such a busy month that I haven’t had the chance to blog about my Giving Voice activity! That’s not because I’ve forgotten about Giving Voice, it’s just that I’ve had little time to sit down and type about it.

At the beginning of the month I was pleased to see that ‘A Creeful of Coals’ printed a Giving Voice update: a full page ‘A Quiz, some chocolate and a Ukulele’ detailing the afternoon Liz Panton and I went and spoke at Newbiggin Ladies Club. It’s a good article, with info about the afternoon, and facts about speech and language therapy and the Giving Voice campaign. There are also two photos from the event and details of the GV website (and my email address, should any other groups like me to do a similar talk). ‘A Creeful of Coals’ is available in many local North East shops and via mail subscription (UK and overseas).

Newbiggin Ladies Club

On Christmas Day, after lunch, we had a kind of secret santa for my family and I. My sister opened a present of 6 Giving Voice pens (it probably wasn’t very secret who they came from!) and she was VERY excited! She uses them at work (as a Nurse on an Elderly Care ward) and I usually give her them sparingly as I try to save them for people who haven’t already heard of Giving Voice. However, as it’s Christmas and she uses them in her work environment I decided to be extra generous! I’ve also recently started mentoring a young person. She likes pens so I gave her a Giving Voice one and she was interested in hearing about my profession. She also told me that she had speech and language therapy when she was younger. 

I’ve recently started learning how to play the Ukulele (not something I have EVER thought about before!) Liz Panton, (and her fantastic Ukulele song about Speech and Language Therapy) inspired me to do something different and I’ve met some lovely people at the Ukulele group that I now attend fortnightly! I’ve had a number of speech and language therapy related conversations with some of the other group members, some of which have had contact with Speech and Language Therapists and appreciate our important role.

I cannot begin to describe how this year has been for me. In January, when I attended the first session about Giving Voice at Newcastle University with Ele Buckley (then Ramsey) I never imagined it would have led to such a brilliantly productive and enjoyable year.



Flashmob



Ashington Street Fair

 It is safe to say that I have learned a lot in 2011, both through university and Giving Voice. I have gained experience and actively sought to develop my confidence in situations that have been important in taking the campaign forward. For example, I have begun to build a good working relationship with local MP Ian Lavery, following the 1:1 lobby in June, which to be honest is not something I ever saw myself doing! I’ve always had an interest in politics and I now enjoy using this interest to try to influence the government (even if that is just meeting with my MP and local councillors to discuss the importance of Speech and Language Therapy). The day of Mass Mobilisation is certainly up there in the best days of my life so far, as it was a wonderful to be part of something so powerful.

Mass Mobilisation - me with Alison Proudfoot

It is truly humbling when people tell you how fantastic they think the profession is due to personal experience. I have had an exciting and motivating year and I am proud to have been part of a brilliant campaign. I would never have described myself as someone who is likely to campaign, but I would describe myself as enthusiastic and passionate, and Giving Voice has allowed me to tailor that enthusiasm and take it forward to raise awareness of Speech and Language Therapy. It has been amazing to see just how creative and proud the profession is in our quest to ‘shout about’ just how good we are! Also, RCSLT have done an amazing job!

My initial interest in getting involved in Giving Voice was to raise awareness of what Speech and Language Therapists do as throughout my training, like many other SLTs,  I have been faced with lots of questions that demonstrate that the profession is little understood. I want to spread the word to the public, one person at a time to increase awareness of what we do.

I also got involved to raise awareness at a higher level, with the government, to ensure that they understand the important role of SLT services. This is important to ensure that SLT services remain there in the future, both so that newly qualified SLTs can get jobs and more importantly to ensure that people with communication and swallowing difficulties get the specialist support that they need to be able to participate fully in their everyday lives.

Communication Chain on Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Communication is absolutely vital to be able to form and maintain relationships with family, friends and society. Whether this is a child just starting out and finding their way in the world, or an older person trying to maintain those relationships following a brain injury or degenerative disease; communication is key. I have personal experience of family members with communication and feeding difficulties, so I understand a bit about how these difficulties impact on family life. Therefore it is vital that people can access the SLT support they need.

It’s been fantastic to be involved in so many Giving Voice events throughout the year and seeing some of these reported in local media. I started this blog to share some ideas and report on my own involvement in GV and I can’t believe there’s been over 2000 page views in just 5 months! I don’t know who reads it but I appreciate that people are interested in what I have to say. I will continue to blog into the New Year J

I cannot begin to describe how much I have enjoyed being involved in Giving Voice and I look forward to seeing what the New Year brings for the campaign and the profession! Hopefully 2012 will be an even greater year for Speech and Language Therapy (and see me getting my first post as an SLT!). I’ve met some wonderful people through Giving Voice this year (both on and off line) - and it has even led to me learningto play the Ukulele! and I am extremely proud to say I am part of the profession and have been part of this brilliant campaign.

Wishing you all the very best for 2012 – thank you to everyone who has been involved in Giving Voice this year – for me it truly has been a year to remember!

Speech & Language Therapy Transforms Lives

*~*~*~* For Grandma - the woman who taught me that life’s not always easy or fair but we have to fight for what we believe in – and we’ve got to laugh or else we’ll cry! *~*~*~*