Today started off as any other work day… I snoozed my alarm as
many times as I could before finally getting out of bed and making my must have
cup of tea! I then somehow managed to
spill half a bottle of milk all over the carpet. I was so annoyed but my
grandma always used to say ‘there’s no point crying over spilt milk’ (this time
literally!) so I cleaned it up, didn’t cry and got on with my day. I may not
have started the day quite as successfully as I would have liked but I was
determined not to let it make a bad day for me.
I had a good (and busy!) day at work – my spilt milk a
distant memory! After work I headed to meet Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East
to follow up the letter I sent him on behalf of school a couple of weeks ago.
I arrived at Corpus Christi Club at 5pm with a copy of the
letter, Giving Voice pens and a leaflet. There were a few people there waiting
already so I sat down and waited. I began to feel a little nervous while I was
waiting but I was excited too!
When Mr Burgon arrived he greeted us all and the first thing
he noticed was my Giving Voice badge! (asking what it was). I always like to
wear my Giving Voice badge as people often ask me about it which gives me
opportunity to tell them about Speech and Language Therapy.
I waited about an hour before it was my turn to go in but the
meeting was worth the wait! I explained that I had written to him a couple of
weeks ago about being a judge for Voice Box at the school I work in as part of
my NHS role. I explained that I wanted to meet him in person to explain what
the competition is about. I told him about the national competition and the
grand final being held at Westminster. I also invited him to be a judge at our
school Voice Box and also the Leeds final competition that we are also hosting.
Mr Burgon was interested in the competition and also my role
as a Speech and Language Therapist. I told him about Giving Voice and how I
have been involved since the beginning of the campaign, including my involvement
with my MP back home. He correctly guessed that home was the North East (I’ve
no idea what gave it away… ;) ) He then tried to guess the MP (and after I
narrowed it down to Northumberland he quickly guessed correct with Ian Lavery.)
He told me he is good friends with Ian
Lavery and has known him for a long time (Since before they were both MPs) –
small world!
I gave Mr Burgon a Giving Voice pen (he was very pleased with
this…everyone loves a pen!) and left him with a copy of the letter and a Giving
Voice leaflet. I was delighted that he has agreed to attend both of our Voice
Box competitions and I look forward to meeting him again next month.
Planning for Voice Box is going really well - I had my first
lunch time joke club yesterday with 11 children from year 4 and year 6. Tilly
and Tom helped us and enjoyed thinking of jokes too (you can find them here on
Facebook and here on Twitter). The children really enjoyed it – we spent time
thinking of and looking for jokes. Each child chose their favourite one and
shared it with us at the end of the club. We are also doing joke workshops on
our No Pens Day next week to continue to inspire the children!
I tweeted Mr Burgon (and Mr Lavery) when I got home and I
look forward to welcoming him to our school in November. I was excited to see that Mr Burgon tweeted about meeting me this evening!
We also have other exciting
guests at our school competition and I am really excited about how well it is all
coming together. The staff in school are really embracing it and the children
keep stopping me in the corridor to tell me jokes. I love how much it is getting
everyone talking and thinking of jokes.
I love my job and the lovely children I work with. Speech
and Language Therapy Transforms Lives <3
To find out more about Voice Box and to get involved visit
the Giving Voice website. Also why not invite your own local MP to the competition. I am so
glad I decided to go along and meet our local MP this evening – a brilliant ending
to a day that started off a little sour!
