GMMH speech and language therapist lands national award
Laura Cole receiving her award from Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Chief Executive Officer Steve Jamieson (Photograph: Jonathan Goldberg)
Speech and Language Therapist, Laura Cole, has won a national award for her work with the homeless for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).
Laura, who works with the Trust’s Homeless Hub, triumphed in the category ‘Championing the value and impact of speech and language therapy’ – at the annual awards run by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT).
The nomination cited Laura’s role in ‘incorporating speech and language therapy into the Greater Manchester mental health homeless service, providing access to the vulnerable homeless population’.
After receiving the award, she said:
“I was thrilled to receive this award in recognition of the need for speech and language therapy provision in homeless settings. Thank you to all involved who made this happen.”
Adam Clayton, Service Manager for GMMH’s Homeless Services, said:
“Laura has excelled in this role, receiving national recognition for the work she is doing to support people who face multiple barriers to accessing and engaging in services.
“She has supported our staff and partners across the sector to better understand the speech, language and communication needs of the people we support. This has been invaluable in enabling better understanding of unmet needs and highlighting the hidden challenges people may face when engaging and communicating with services.”
In her work, Laura specialises in helping service users who have difficulty accessing support services because of communication issues.
She said:
“There are important links between homelessness and speech, language and communication issues. The service users we see are disadvantaged at multiple levels, often with a history of trauma and may also be neurodivergent - for example Autism, ADHD, literacy issues, head injuries and/or learning difficulties.
“Our work is centred on giving the necessary support to help address difficulties with communication and help people on the pathways away from homelessness.”
Laura was on a shortlist of four, joining other guests and award nominees at the ceremony in Birmingham.
Her success follows her participation in another high-profile event where she was invited to speak about communication needs in homelessness settings hosted by the charity 'Change Communication'.
The event, to mark World Homeless Day, was held in one of the rooms at the House of Lords. Also in attendance was Adam Clayton, Service Manager, and Sarah Assen, Operational Manager, along with a wide range of health, housing and support organisations. At this event, a new policy statement from the RCSLT and Homelessness Clinical Excellence Network regarding speech and language therapists working in homelessness settings was launched.
This RCSLT policy statement is designed to highlight the links between homelessness and speech, language and communication needs, how people experiencing homelessness who communicate differently or with difficulty can be identified and appropriately supported; and the role of speech and language therapy in supporting both people experiencing homelessness and those working with them.
Laura said:
“I was pleased to speak at this event. The hope is that, in addition to raising general awareness of the issues, the policy statement will inform service planning and improvement in homelessness settings in relation to speech and language therapy.”
Leigh Andrews, Head of Speech and Language Therapy Development at Change Communication, said:
“There is clearly a need for homelessness systems to better understand diverse communication styles and positively respond to communication differences. We stand ready at Change Communication to support developments with clinical expertise and a class informed approach.”
Mandy Pattinson, Lived Experience Programme Manager for ‘Pathway’, also speaking at this event, said:
“It was a light bulb moment when I realised that I shouldn’t have to try and change my communication, but that services should change theirs to better communicate with me.”
