It feels rather odd to be creating a whole post 'about me'; somewhat egocentric.
I do, however, believe that people should be able to know a bit about the people who are leading research studies and what they bring to the table.
Whilst research is frequently painted as an objective, arms-length affair, research can also be considered to be highly personal, with researchers often personally and professionally invested in the topic, methods and outcomes of their projects. Researchers are therefore encouraged to reflect upon what has led them to where they are now through an ongoing process of considering positionality and engaging in reflexivity (Shepherd et al, 2022). Part of this process has been and will continue to be reflected within my written work and through my conversations with supervisors but it's important to me to continue this process as I start to share this work more publicly. So, a bit about me.
Despite having had speech and language therapy (SLT) support as a child, I first considered SLT as a career when it was presented as one of the top 5 suggestions in a careers quiz I took in college. I was lucky enough to secure a week of work experience shadowing speech and language therapists in a range of settings and from that point, my course was set. I trained at the Manchester Metropolitan University 2002-2005 and initially worked in the NHS in Lancashire, before moving to the West Midlands, continuing to work in the NHS but also engaging in some independent work. Most of my time was spent working with children and young people with communication needs in community settings, such as clinics, nurseries, schools and homes, but I was also fortunate to secure a part-time (0.2 FTE) post working with adults presenting with stammering and/or cluttering.
I enjoyed my clinical work and saw the positive difference that speech and language therapists could make on a daily basis, but become frustrated with some of the systems and processes that negatively impacted upon the services that SLTs were able to offer, and upon people's experiences and lives more generally. I therefore began looking for opportunities to make a difference at a broader level; a shift of focus that McKinlay (1975) might describe as a move to balance "downstream endeavours" with "upstream factors". Around the same time, there were two key events: the launch of the National Year of Communication (Communication Matters, 2011) and the creation of Giving Voice, a Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' (RCSLT) campaign aiming to raise awareness of the impact of communication and swallowing needs and the value of speech and language therapy support (RCSLT, n.d.a). Both initiatives provided me with invaluable opportunities to learn about campaigning and influencing, to develop my understanding of policy and politics and to connect with others interested in the same issues.
In 2013 I commenced a PG Cert in Education with The Open University and in 2014 I moved to a full-time University post, excited by the opportunity to develop my knowledge, skills and experience in a new role and to contribute further upstream to the development of the profession. This role also afforded me the opportunity to further lean into my campaigning and advocacy work and to complete my Masters in Education, with a particular focus on academic practice in higher education. I am still in this role, teaching across multiple courses but holding particular responsibilities for the pre-registration MSc Speech and Language Therapy course.
Over the last ten years, I have particularly tried to focus on initiatives that centre and uplift the voices of people with lived experiences, as well as those that celebrate, challenge and improve the services that support them. Here are some highlights:
- In 2018 I led a campaign to raise awareness of the Bercow: Ten Years On report and tabled a petition asking Government to implement its recommendations which achieved over 11,000 signatures and was discussed in a Westminster Hall debate on 4 July 2018.
- Between 2018-2024 I had the privilege of being a Trustee for STAMMA, a small but mighty charity that aims to "create a world that makes space for stammering. Where a stammer is embraced as just a difference. Where no-one judges us on our stammer or the way we choose to deal with it" (STAMMA, 2025).
- In 2021 I tabled the #FundSLT petition together with amazing parent campaigners, Dave Harford and Steve Hermon, achieving 16,102 signatures and a written response from Government.
- Between 2022-2025 I have served on the RCSLT's Professional Practice and Policy Committee (PPPC). The PPPC "considers and makes recommendations upon matters relating to professional development and practice, standards, policy and public affairs" and "debates current and future cross-cutting issues in sufficient depth to inform policy decisions by the Board" (RCSLT n.d.b).
- Since August 2024 I have been a Trustee and more recently the Vice Chair for The Lily Mae Foundation, a West Midlands-based charity that supports families after the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, medical termination or neonatal death. I benefitted from the support of the charity after the loss of my second daughter in pregnancy in 2020 and I am grateful for the opportunity to give back and support others.
- Since early 2024 I've been a member of the #InvestInSLT campaign team, led by the brilliant Mikey Akers. Mikey's Government petition reached over 13,188 signatures and resulted in a Westminster Hall debate on 27 January 2025.
- In 2024-2025 I was involved in reviewing the written submission from the Inclusive Parliament coalition to the Modernisation Committee Inquiry and subsequently provided oral evidence on behalf of the coalition on 24 June 2025.
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Communication Matters (2011) Say 'Hello' to the National Year of Communication 2011. Available at: https://www.communicationmatters.org.uk/news/2011-say-hello-national-year-communication/ [Accessed 04 July 2025]
McKinley, J.B. (1975) A Case for Refocusing Upstream: The Political Economy of Illness. Applying Behavioral Science to Cardiovascular Risk. Available at: https://iaphs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IAPHS-McKinlay-Article.pdf [Accessed 04 July 2025]
RCSLT (n.d.a.) Giving Voice: campaigning and influencing. Available at: https://www.rcslt.org/get-involved/giving-voice/ [Accessed 04 July 2025]
RCSLT (n.d.b.) Professional Practice and Policy Committee. Available at: https://www.rcslt.org/about-us/professional-practice-and-policy-committee/ [Accessed 04 July 2025]
Shepherd, J., Noble, E. and Parkin, J. (2022) Positionality and reflexivity for early career researchers and postgraduate researchers. Available at: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/positionality-and-reflexivity-for-early-career-researchers-and-postgraduate-researchers [Accessed 04 July 2025]
STAMMA (2025) Our mission. Available at: https://stamma.org/about-us/what-we-do/our-missionhttps://stamma.org/about-us/what-we-do/our-mission [Accessed 04 July 2025]
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