Giving Voice

Sunday 25 August 2013

Meeting a Dragon? I'm in!

Last night I went out in Newcastle with my friends. I only decided yesterday afternoon that I would be going out and I am so glad that I did!!

As it was raining we decided to head to The Gate as its all indoors and this would minimise the amount of time we would get wet! When we arrived at Bannatyne my friend informed us that Duncan Bannatyne himself had just been in! We decided to hang around there a while longer in case he came back, and to our delight he did. We asked him for a photo, to which he happily agreed! About 5 minutes later we decided to go and see him again to get some more photos and to have a chat with him. He was more than happy to chat to us and I gave him a Giving Voice pen and told him that Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives. I was delighted that he put the pen in his pocket!
About an hour later I was ordering a drink in another bar and found myself standing next to Duncan again. He said hello and I took the opportunity to raise some more awareness of SLT.
Me: “Did you know that 2.5 people in the UK have speech, language or communication needs?”
Duncan: “I did know that. How do you know?”
I told him that I am a speech and language therapist and he told me about his involvement with Operation Smile UK and his recent trip to Mexico! Click here to find out more!
It was a pleasure to meet him and to have the opportunity to engage in a speech and language therapy related conversation – especially as it was totally unexpected! I always carry a Giving Voice pen with me (even on a night out!) as you never know who you might bump into to spread the message one person further that Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives. Wouldn’t it be great if we see him use his new Giving Voice pen on the next series of Dragons Den?! (haha)
Me and Duncan just before I gave him the pen :)

On another note, just one week to go until afternoon tea! I am looking forward to raising awareness of Giving Voice and some much needed funds for the North East Trust for Aphasia, supporting people with language and communication difficulties following a stroke or other brain injury. I emailed the News Post Leader last week about the event and was delighted to see a short piece printed in this week’s edition! Contact me if would like a ticket :-)
News Post Leader


All in all a very exciting couple of days!  


Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives

Tuesday 13 August 2013

A day out at #edfringe

Welcome to my 80th blog post! I didn't think I'd still be blogging now, when I started this two years ago and I am delighted that it has exceeded 19,000 views! Thanks to everyone who reads and shares it to help us spread the word that Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives!

Last week my friend and I had an unplanned day off together so the night before when we were deciding what we might like to do, we randomly booked train tickets to Edinburgh so we could check out The Fringe – including a free afternoon show with Lost Voice Guy and Emily Wood.

We were lucky that the weather in Edinburgh was fabulous all day long and this was a great venue for a girly day out! When we arrived in Edinburgh we spent some time strolling the streets (wearing our Giving Voice badges and me with my Giving Voice bag!) exploring the street entertainment. We decided to go to a free show before lunch which was good. After lunch we wandered round some more then began to look for the venue where Lost Voice Guy was doing his gig. Anyone that knows me (and indeed my friend Rachael) will know that our sense of direction is not our strongest point! However, we managed to use the map and find the venue without too much difficulty (only a few wrong turns, and using the longest way possible to get there – but still! We did find it!)




We sat in the bar with a drink and while we were waiting we saw Lee Ridley arrive (Lost Voice Guy). We had a brief chat with him and it was great to hear how well his gigs are going at The Fringe this year.

The gig ‘Are you a technophile?’ - about growing up and living in an era of modern technology, was great! Lost Voice Guy was as funny as ever and I heard some of his jokes that I haven’t heard before J I would have loved to see his evening show too - Voice of Choice - but unfortunately we only planned to go for the day. After the gig we spoke to him again and got some photos too. If you've never seen Lost Voice Guy before and you are going to be at The Fringe this month – then definitely check him out!!


Lee Ridley and me

Rachael and Lee


Emily Wood

Hopefully people noticed our Giving Voice bag/badges as were wandering the streets of Edinburgh enabling us to spread the message a little bit further.

On another note, we are still buying lots of Jelly Babies for the Great North Run (we’ll be handing them out wearing Giving Voice t-shirts) just before the 11 mile mark. My sister and brother-in-law are both running for NETA (and both got their numbers this morning!). If you can help them to support people in the North East with Aphasia (communication difficulties following stroke and other brain injury) then please do so here! I’m really excited to be going along to support this fantastic event again this year!


Only two weeks on Sunday until afternoon tea at Crossroads CoffeeShop, Ashington. Contact me for tickets if you’d like to attend and are in the area! Tickets are selling quite fast so let me know asap if you want to attend this event. I did invite Wansbeck MP, Ian Lavery, but unfortunately he is busy with other constituent business on the day.

Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives