Helen Campbell
Helen's London Marathon for Speech and Language UK
Fundraising for Speech and Language UK
Story
As you will probably know, our youngest son Jack has a phonological speech disorder and articulation difficulties, meaning that despite being almost 5yrs old and having good vocabulary, he is often very difficult to understand - this is even for us as parents and particularly when he is talking out of context.
It's been so tough seeing Jack struggle with being understood by his friends, family and strangers, but fortunately Jack's happy and social personality continues to shine through.
When it comes to facing a difficult speech and language journey, we have been the lucky ones for sure - we have been supported by an amazing NHS Speech and Language Therapist, Emma, who has been seeing Jack for almost two years. And this January has seen the start of a new exciting chapter, where Jack has started at a specialist speech school 30 mins drive away three days a week. We know he will thrive there and get the support he needs thanks to the dedicated staff and impressive pupil/staff ratios which will allow for Jack to receive regular dedicated speech coaching.
So whilst I am not a long distance runner at all (I ran the Great North Run half marathon ten years ago and hated it, saying 'I will never run that distance ever again'), I am running the London Marathon to raise funds for Speech and Language UK as they really need more funding to continue the amazing work they do.
We feel confident that Jack would not be having the support he is if it was not for the work of this charity. Speech and Language UK create tools for schools and nurseries, give advice and guidance to families and importantly put pressure on politicians.
It's heart breaking to think that over 1.9 million children in the UK struggle to talk and understand words, and so by helping raise money for this charity, we are helping ensure more children like Jack get the support they need from every angle.
But don't just take it from me... this is what Jack's Speech and Language Therapist says...
I wanted to become a Speech and Language Therapist to support, help and empower children and their families to reach their full potential with their communication skills. I continue to be passionate about this every day and have worked for my community paediatric speech and language team for 18 years.
As an NHS Advanced Speech and Language Therapist it is great to have Speech and Language UK as a place to advise parents, carers and other professionals to go to for further information and support. It feels very reassuring and empowering that Speech and Language UK are raising awareness among politicians and other decision makers about the challenges faced by children who struggle with talking and understanding words.
And the Lead Teacher at Jack's Speech and Language School says...
We also absolutely love that Speech and Language UK acts as an advocate for all those who have a link to this huge issue for so many children.
I often recommend this charity to other settings when they want information. We are always hugely in favour of anything that promotes the understanding of Speech and Language and provides support and information for parents and professionals.
Thank you for any amount of money you are able to donate, I truly appreciate it as this cause is a very personal one and will make a huge difference to children like Jack and families like ours.