Another year over...

Another year is almost over! How did that happen?!

A lot can happen in a year! I for one didn’t see myself moving to another city for a job, but I am so glad I did as I absolutely love the job I am doing at the moment!

I have not blogged even half as much as I would have liked this year (mainly due to Great North Run training and blogging) but I have tried to keep it updated when I can.

Earlier this month I saw that the Leeds Giving Voice choir were doing a Christmas performance. This choir is inclusive for adults with neurological conditions and their carers. It was launched in June 2014 by Speech and Language Therapist, Wendy Neill. The choir is the 2014 winner of the Leeds Community Healthcare Innovation Award.

When I heard that they would be performing some Christmas songs, I decided I would like to go along and support them. I attended with two other Speech and Language Therapists, and we had a lovely evening. The choir began in Trinity shopping centre and we were given song books so we could join in. After about half an hour of festive songs we all moved from the shopping centre into Holy Trinity Church where mince pies and mulled wine were served before more festive songs. It was a lovely evening which made us all feel Christmassy and it was clear to see how much the choir enjoyed their performance.

It’s been a busy year for me, and the highlight of my campaigning this year was the charity night I arranged at Ashington Football Club starring Lost Voice Guy and hosted by Steffen Peddie. I was delighted to hear that Lost Voice Guy won the BBC New Comedy Award a few weeks ago – thoroughly deserved!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year. I am looking forward to my continued (and hopefully more active) role in campaigning for Giving Voice 2015 particularly in the lead up to the general election, both individually and with the Giving Voice Innovation Group.

Media Training

On Saturday 23rd November I was in London with the other members of the Giving Voice Innovation Group for Media training. I travelled to London on the Friday afternoon and met up with Sara and Ruth for a meal. We hadn't met before so this was a nice opportunity to get to know them the night before the media training :) we also had a little look round London after our meal, making the most of our time in the capital.

The training took place in the RCSLT offices and was an enjoyable (albeit challenging) day! The aim of the training was to enable us to be equipped with the skills needed to engage with the media to promote Giving Voice and Speech and Language Therapy.

The training was delivered by Derek Munn, Emma Barnes and Robin Matheou. We practised (via role play!) being ‘interviewed’ by a newspaper journalist, radio presenter and TV journalist (in front of a camera!) This was good practice but I found that I was more nervous in these situations than I was when being interviewed live on BBC Radio Newcastle earlier in the year!

We had opportunity to watch some of the videos that were recorded on the day and this was good experience to see how other SLTs respond to some challenging questions. We learned about what makes a good news story which I found useful and this will definitely be something I think of when contacting the media in the future. Once the training was finished we had a Giving Voice Innovation Group meeting to discuss future Giving Voice plans –particularly ideas around The International Communication Project 2014 (find out more at www.communication2014.com) and sign the pledge here recognising that the opportunity to communicate is a basic human right (I’m sure you’ll all agree with that!) I am excited about 2014 and the International Communication Project – are you getting involved?!



Giving Voice Innovation Group

Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives