Extremely Exciting!

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!

Time flies! (and so did I!)

I can’t believe so much time has passed since I last updated this blog! My Great North Run blog (and indeed training for the Great North Run!) took over my life the last few months and I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write. In addition to the running, I also relocated from Northumberland to Leeds for a Speech and Language Therapy position at the end of September,  so to say life has been a little hectic the last few months, is an understatement! (If you are interested in reading about my journey to the GNR raising funds for the North East Trust for Aphasia you can read about it here – www.jollyjuliesjogging.blogspot.com)

Just because I haven’t been blogging doesn’t mean I have forgotten about Giving Voice. I am absolutely loving my new job (working in a mainstream primary school) and take every available opportunity to tell anyone who will listen about what I do!

I even jumped off the Tyne Bridge last month and travelled by zipslide to the Gateshead side of the Tyne! I was of course in Giving Voice colours and was wearing a Giving Voice badge. The man that checked my harnesses before I jumped asked me about it and I took pride in telling him about Speech and Language Therapy and how we transform lives. This was a very welcome distraction to take my mind off the fact I was about to jump off the bridge! I was absolutely terrified until I was ‘flying’ through the air, by which point I actually quite enjoyed it and wondered why is has taken me a quarter of a century before deciding to try something so daring!

I tweeted @ZipslidesUK after the event and used relevant Speech and Language Therapy hashtags including #givingvoiceuk and they retweeted it J

In September I attended the RCSLT Mind the Gap Conference which was an enjoyable and educational two days. It was lovely to meet so many passionate SLTs and I managed to catch up with some of the other Giving Voice Innovation Group members. I was also recorded for the higher education roadshows, talking about my experiences since I graduated and my involvement in Giving Voice. I hope it inspires some more students to get involved in campaigning for the profession.
 

Over the summer I was working in an admin job and felt a little detached from Speech and Language Therapy, and apart from applying for lots of SLT jobs and running for the North East Trust for Aphasia I wasn’t really doing much related to Speech and Language or Giving Voice and I really missed it. I am so pleased to be working as a therapist again. To any students/new graduates reading this don’t ever give up on finding the job of you deserve (and use other opportunities to gain other skills).  I feel so lucky to be excited about going to work every day and knowing that I am making a difference to the lives of the children I work with.

I am also lucky to be part of a lovely team and have already met some brilliant therapists in the short time I have been there. I had a spare copy of the 2014 Giving Voice calendar which I gave to my new team. This is now proudly displayed in the clinic office and has enabled me to have some Giving Voice conversations with the other Speech and Language Therapists. The adult team in the service where I work have just won an award for the Giving Voice Choir they set up.

October 18^th marked 3 years since Mass Mobilisation in London where SLTs descended on the Houses of Parliament to tell MPs the importance of SLT. I can't believe how the time has flown! This is still up there with one of the most exciting experiences of my life to date, and I tweeted my MP Ian Lavery to thank him once again for his support, to mark the anniversary of this day. I am looking forward to getting involved in the campaigning around the lead up to the general election 2015, and hope lots of other SLTs do too.

I promise not to leave it so long before I write again!

Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives