We are the best! - Andrew Ball, Campaign Director

Good news, The Communication Trust consortium has been shortlisted for a Third Sector Excellence Award. The Trust is a finalist in the Charity Partnerships category, which is for partnerships between two or more charities that have enabled the partners more effectively to deliver services, communicate, reach new groups or reduce costs.

The award period covers the past 12 months, a year in which amongst other achievements we increased our income by 148%, saw our membership grow by 27%, successfully lobbied for an increase in communication awareness training for the youth justice workforce, developed a number of speech, language and communication units for the Qualification and Curriculum Framework and successfully bid to run the national year of speech, language and communication. All these and more realised great benefits for our members and more importantly for many of the millions of children and young people that struggle to communicate.

Being shortlisted is great external recognition and endorsement for the hard work of everyone involved with the consortium and in particular for the drive, vision and leadership shown by Anita Kerwin Nye to bring the consortium together and to keep it together. The Communication Trust is all about collaboration: we believe that working collectively and in partnership delivers the right results.

So, although we are delighted to have been shortlisted, we would also like to congratulate the other nominees (the Better Banking Coalition, Macmillan Cancer Support & Citizen’s Advice, Navca, the NCVO & the Public Law Project and St Mungo’s & Marie Curie Cancer Care) as partnership working in our sector is not an easy thing to do but it is an essential thing to do if we are going to deliver the change that our respective beneficiaries rely on us achieving – perhaps now more than ever.

Communicating about communication – easy right? – Laura Smith, Media and Campaigns Manager

Daniel Boorstin once said ‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.’ It has always been ironic to me that my chosen profession - public relations– suffers from complete and utter misunderstanding amongst the wider public.

On saying I work in PR, I immediately get ‘So you are a spin doctor?’ or jealous exclamations of ‘I watched Ab Fab, wish I went out partying with celebs’. Erm, so do I!

PR is defined as ‘the practice of building mutual understanding and creating a dialogue between an organisation and its stakeholders’. Oooh fancy! Fundamentally it is about communication – the currency of the 21st century world. And whilst many can consign PR to celebrities, products and crisis management (BP anyone?), it is so so much more than that.

The irony increases that the thing I am passionate about ‘PR’ing’ is the overlooked, misunderstood and taken for granted subject of supporting children’s speech, language and communication needs. In the UK today, 2.7 million children are living with some form of communication difficulty. This can affect them severely and for life.

I am constantly reading about ‘children’s behavioural difficulties’, ‘youth reoffending rates rising’ or ‘young people lacking basic skills in the workplace’. The consequences of not supporting children’s communication are played out in front of us on a daily basis. But the fundamental link that ‘communication equals life chances’ has not yet permeated the public consciousness.

Why not? Because it is too simple to suggest communication is important? Too obvious to support parents and professionals in this area? Well, sometimes we need to shine a light on the simple things in life. Chatter really does matter. This is why 2011 will be a National Year of Speech, Language and Communication.

This year will not be a PR exercise based on column inches; it will be about affecting real change for thousands of children and families. It will be about listening to others and getting information directly into the hands of those who need it.

So to come back to Mr Boorstein’s quote – all children are born with great potential, children with communication difficulties can, with support and understanding, achieve greatness and too many are currently suffering in silence. Creating a seismic shift in the way this issue is understood really would be ‘absolutely fabulous’.

Want to find out more? Got a view on how we do it? Let us know at enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

Austerity we know what it means now let’s make it work - Guest slot, Cara Evans, Operations Director

I have to say if I see austerity in one more magazine article or on a newspaper article I may scream. We get it, we all need to tighten are belts, make the pennies go futher. I totally agree with that. What I want to see now is action not just talk. At the Trust we have been cost saving since day one, not only that we are building the capacity of our partners.

As you know The Communication Trust is a coalition. Having worked in the voluntary sector for 15 years there is nothing more depressing than seeing new charities set up when ones already exist and are doing a good job. Just having additional overhead costs that don’t need to exist is simply wrong. Don’t get me wrong if there is a need for an additional charity that meets the needs to the users I have no argument.

So how does a our coalition work? The Trust and its partners have a common aim, to help children and young people who need support with their communication. We employ a very small core team, for every project we assess what we can achieve within the core team, and when we need extra support we turn to our partners and commission them, identifying who has the best expertise to get the job done, paying them a fair rate. We share accommodation with one of founders, thus sharing overheads costs. We have jointly tendered and won contracts. We share marketing and publication costs.

We have built a considerable amount of trust in our members to ensure we have their interests at heart, but ultimately it is using the best resources in the most efficient way to help the children and their families who need it most.

Something to Shout About - Guest slot, Andrew Ball, Campaign Manager

After months of anticipation the waiting is over. Over the coming weeks the country will witness the public humiliation of 11 individuals, as they gloriously fail to make a name for themselves in the full glare of millions of people. Anyway, enough of Big Brother – the World Cup is here and in my book that is a very good thing.

Whether or not you like football, I can guarantee that at some point during the tournament you will be drawn into the drama and excitement of watching England win the World Cup for the first time in 44 years (yes you did really just read that – and depending on when you logged on that prediction will be appear either prophetic or pathetic). There will be twists and turns along the way – injuries, upsets, even the odd missed penalty –but one thing’s for sure the tournament will get the country talking. And that’s part of the joy of the World Cup and other similar events that create widespread interest (even Big Brother for some bizarre reason) – they give us something to talk about.

Getting the public talking is one thing we want the national year to do next year. Talking about and realising the vital role that communication plays in everything we do. Because you’re reading this you’re probably already switched on to the notion that communication is the fundamental life skill – what we (as in everyone that works in this field) need to do next year is join forces to spread this message as far and as wide as we possibly can. So, ask not just what can the national year do for me but what can I do for the national year (to paraphrase badly!).

Guest slot, Eve Wagg, Programme Manager

Why on earth would you be interested in what I have to say?

This I feel should very much be your sentiment as you embark on reading my first blog as Programme Manger at The Communication Trust. I'll give it to you; I'm not very interesting, or witty or astute. I moan...a bit. I talk...a lot. I also enjoy the sound of my own voice. But the one (ok I am being slightly dramatic here) thing that is genuinely interesting about my existence now is my involvement in the Trust.

I have come from a stint in the "not so glitzy and glamorous" event world. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun with parties, networking and live events. But, it showed me the variety and complexity of skills needed to succeed in the world that many people are not lucky enough to pick up through life, education and relationships.

Assimilating into different environments, understanding social nuances and being able to express and articulate yourself are fundamental skills that ensure a happy and successful future. Many of the children and young people we work to support are unable to do these things for a variety of reasons. They face challenges at every corner. During my role as an Event Manager the importance and sophistication of communication has never been so apparent. These skills you are not born with. It is the Trust's role to ensure everyone understands how they as a parent, teacher, friend or grandparent can assist in this vital journey.

As I read and attempted to sign 'Aliens Love Underpants' to my nephew this morning I realised what a vital role we play in this narrative. I very much look forward to ensuring everyone has access to the information they need to help every child reach their full potential.

So on that note, I'll stop talking, which as you know I do a lot, and leave you with a great short nursery rhyme to sing and sign to your nephew/niece/daughter/son/grandson/granddaughter/friend/student/neighbour (please delete as necessary). Please click here http://www.makaton.org/khxc/gbu0-prodshow/free-macdonald.html

Guest slot, Dave Mahon, Programme Manager

I’m all talk...

...and language...

...and communication now.

Hi, I’m Dave Mahon and I’m two months into my role as Programme Manager at The Communications Trust (TCT).

I’ve spent the last ten years working in the local government field, at the Electoral Commission for six and a half years and the National Association of Local Councils for three and a half. Both jobs were challenging in their own way and provided me with many exciting opportunities, the highlight being nine days monitoring elections in Georgia. However, after ten years I felt due for a change and due a new challenge. I’ve found both!

My knowledge of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) was basic before I joined the TCT but the range of needs, the effort that goes into supporting young people and the gaps that still exist has been eye opening. Presently I am overseeing our youth justice programme which is focusing on raising awareness of SLCN across the youth justice system, providing awareness training and developing networks to enable youth justice workers to access information and share experiences. Having met and spoken to people across the youth justice system I am greatly encouraged by their dedication in what are often very challenging roles. It is also encouraging to see that the importance of recognising SLCNs is already a key issue for many across the youth justice system.

Research suggests that at least 60% of young people in the youth justice system have communication needs compared to 10% in the general population. I’m no mathematician but these figures should be a cause for concern. Over half the young people in the youth justice system may not easily understand what is being said to them or may struggle to be understood, this can cause problems around their behaviour, affect their confidence and influence their relationships with other people. Where a greater understanding of these needs exists strategies can be put in place to help the young person and help build better relationships with youth justice staff. We would hope that in the longer term this could have a positive effect on reoffending by young people as their needs are better recognised and catered for at all junctures of the system.

Check out the new Sentence Trouble website, join the forum and let’s start talking more about how we can support young people in the youth justice system. www.sentencetrouble.info

A well kept secret... - Guest slot, Wendy Lee, Professional Director

I’ve had the privilege of working with some pretty remarkable individuals over the past 20+ years in my job as an SLT. Though I have worked with some brilliant, wonderful colleagues (present company very much included), the most amazing individuals (by quite a long way – sorry guys) are children with SLCN.

Without exception, these children have been amazing... Incredible...Remarkable... wonderful (look up amazing in a thesaurus and you will get the idea).

They live in a world where pretty much every aspect of life depends on their ability to understand and to talk. For many, just listening to the language filling the air around them is a challenge. These children are often judged, misunderstood or just missed! ... and often they can’t let people know.... Frustrating really doesn’t cover it!!

Walk yourself through your average day without the ability to talk and you get a flavour...
My job as a practising SLT meant that I got to work with these children - and it is really hard work (for them, not me). For many, I saw them develop, talk more, express themselves, make friends – I saw the anxiety that sits over many of these children dissipate. What an amazing thing!

For other children it meant a tougher route, a more difficult challenge and the acceptance that this was always going to be difficult – that they would always need to work harder than the child next to them to get to the same place and despite monumental effort may never get to that place – and that very few people around them would really “get” that.

I’d love for this well kept secret to be shared – for everyone to “get” SLCN, for these kids to be understood, no longer misjudged, misinterpreted or missed, for people to feel, as I do that they are amazing, wonderful.....you get the picture.