The 2013 Giving Voice Innnovation Awards
The RCSLT launched the Giving Voice campaign in 2010 to show the positive impact speech and language therapy has on thousands of individuals with speech, language and communication needs. The campaign also aimed to show how speech and language therapy can release value to society and the economy.
On 10 October 2013, we hosted the third Giving Voice awards ceremony to celebrate your campaign achievements since November 2012. The focus of this year’s awards was innovation and the four winning entries are testament to the dedication, imagination and sheer energy that is evident in so much of the profession.
We would like to thank all of those who entered this year’s competition and to RCSLT President Sir George Cox for taking the time to present this year’s awards. Giving Voice will continue into 2014, and we hope that more and more speech and language therapy colleagues will become involved in the campaign, inspired by this year’s amazing award winners.
The ’7 Signs treasure trail’ team
Ruth Crampton and the team from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust found an innovative way to launch the ‘Seven signs of speech, language and communication disorders’ booklet for GPs. They held ‘Seven signs treasure trails’ across Northern Ireland and encouraged local communities in six different towns to take part. Therapists from each of the five health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland worked together to ensure the day was a great success.
The De Montfort University Giving Voice Team
The De Montfort University Giving Voice Team organised a week of Giving Voice activities, including cake stalls, mass-tweets, a balloon launch, video recording and an awards ceremony that recognised the achievements of local therapists, students and service users. Teams around the UK have since copied this model. The week of action inspired De Montfort students to engage with their profession and encouraged many to support Giving Voice as newly-qualified practitioners.
Gillian Rudd
Gillian has been promoting the importance of speech and language therapy across Birmingham and the UK since the campaign began. This year she received three nominations from therapists and Giving Voice champions. Gillian has used social media extensively to raise awareness of the campaign and participated in the Birmingham City University ‘Giving Voice flashmobs’. She is also a member of the Giving Voice Innovation Group. Her peers describe her as ‘an inspiration’, with a ‘contagious enthusiasm and dedication to the campaign’.
The Provide Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Team
The team from Central Essex, now called Provide, held a Giving Voice week in April 2013. They organised events, including ‘awareness raising stands, speech and language activities, and collaborations with local schools. One of their local commissioners attended their ‘Meet the therapist’ session for parents and decision makers – one of the first therapy teams to achieve this. Their chief executive, who attended one of the events, described the team as a ‘credit to the profession’.