Meet our Committee

I am a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in the Swindon stammering service, currently working for Swindon Borough Council. I’m passionate about working with people who stammer especially through group work. With my colleagues we developed the Swindon Packs, which we offer ongoing training for.

I love all things outdoors, especially rock climbing and surfing. I am a firm believer that being in the outdoors has huge health benefits especially for boosting mental health, building confidence and self- esteem. I find it hugely rewarding to witness the effects of the powerful combination of outdoor adventure and group therapy, which is seen to be so effective in supporting young people who stammer. I became a trustee of The Fluency Trust charity to help continue to raise funds to provide the residential aspect of the courses, as well as to help raise awareness of stammering in a positive way.

I have been involved with The Fluency Trust since its inception in 1995. I had just started working alongside Claire McNeil with children who stammer, having been a speech and language therapist for a couple of years.

Since then I have been involved in the courses most years in some capacity. It is a great privilege to run these courses and to see the changes in young people’s communication skills and confidence.

I have run both Blockbusters and Teens Challenge, and love the way that they can be run side by side, incorporating the outdoor activities to create a unique course.

Speech and Language Therapist

I am 51 and a mother of 3 children, Luke 21, Harriet 16 who has Downs syndrome and Charlotte 12. I have lived in numerous counties across Britain working for the MOD and following my husband’s career as an IT Consultant. I now live in Wiltshire with my noisy family.

Luke always had a stammer but at secondary school he found it was holding him back in class and socially. He started Speech and Language therapy and then attended a Fluency Trust course which gave him the confidence to cope with his stammer.

After the course we were told the Charity needed funds. As my only skill is organising Charity Balls, I am just about to hold my 3rd Ball in November 2018 and I am currently Chair of the Trustees.

At the last Ball Luke stepped in to do the welcome speech with only five minutes to prepare and a quick pint. He gave the most amazing and moving speech. He could not have done this without the Fluency Trust. This is why I give my time and support to such an incredible group of people who make such a difference to young lives.

Treasurer of The Fluency Trust

My name is Louise Campion and I am recently retired. I joined the FT as a trustee when I became Manager of the Swindon SALT service in 2001. Following changes in 2007 linked to the national NHS changes to provider services, I moved to a Manager's role across a wide range of children's services in health, education and social care in the Local Authority.

I have maintained my trustee role in the FT since then to help me keep a link to the importance of good communication for everyone and especially for children. It has helped me keep my speech and language professional focus.

I enjoy the team work involved in fundraising and publicising the FT work as a trustee, hearing about the development of the courses and the positive impact on the children and young people and their wider families. I think the way we work in partnership with the local authority SALT service is especially important. It's unusual for a charity to work in this way but it adds value to the service offered and makes a real difference.

Trustee.

Growing up, I had a stammer that came and went, as I grew older, I became more aware of it. By the time I got to secondary school, it had got to a point where it was annoying me, and I wasn't able to get my words across when talking in groups with friends. I said to mum that it was becoming a problem, and she took me to the local speech therapist.

The speech therapist pointed us in the direction of The Fluency Trust and the courses that they run. We started to look into it, and I went on a course. The course was terrific! It opened my eyes to other people having a stammer, I realised that I wasn't the only person, and there were other people like me with a stammer and some worse off than me.

The course taught me many techniques on how to control my stammer and get my words across. It also helped me change my attitude towards stammering and gave me a lot more confidence. Since the course, I still stammer from time-to-time, but it no longer bothers me. It's allowed me to stand up and do presentations in school and college, as well as give a speech at one of our Fluency Trust charity balls in front of nearly 200 people (almost all of them strangers).

I now work as a duty manager at a leisure centre, and a lot of my daily work is spent talking and interacting with customers and staff. Without The Fluency Trust, I never would have had the confidence to get to this position.

I am a farmer & wildlife enthusiast. I have lived on the Marlborough Downs all my life! I have always had a stammer which was very difficult for me as a child & growing up.

I eventually decided to do something about it & met Claire McNeil who transformed my life! I still have a stammer but it very rarely troubles me now...

I still put the techniques into place I learnt many years ago! Claire McNeil & I, together with a couple of others, formed The Fluency Trust in 1995 to help children with speech problems.

The importance of children & young people getting speech therapy within a friendly environment is as important today as it was then. I am immensely proud to have been involved with The Fluency Trust for the last 23 years!