22nd May 2025

Your Healthcare celebrates Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ anniversary

Your Healthcare speech and language therapy leads were delighted to celebrate the 80^th anniversary year of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, on May 21st. Children’s speech and language therapy lead Carmel Brady, principal speech and language therapist for neurodevelopmental services, Deborah Green, and Cath Lowry, operational lead for children’s speech and language therapy, joined colleagues from around the country at Southwark Cathedral for a moving and inspirational service.

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists now has a membership of 22,000, from the modest 200 founding members back in 1945. The College supports speech and language therapists by providing leadership and guidance, facilitating research and promoting better education and training. Speech and language therapists provide therapy support and care for people of all ages who have difficulties with speech, language, communication, eating, drinking and swallowing. Using specialist skills, they work directly with clients and their carers to assess, treat and provide tailored support. They also work closely with teachers and other health professionals, such as doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and psychologists, to develop individual therapy programmes.

Commenting on the anniversary service, Carmel Brady said: “It was a very, very special event and it made me very proud to be a speech and language therapist. There were so many things to take away from the event, but possibly the one that struck me most was hearing from a cancer survivor who had had his voice box removed. He described the immense impact that his speech and language therapists had on his recovery, and ended his talk with a moving quote – ‘It’s the surgeons who remove your cancer, but the speech and language therapists who give you your life back’.”

Deborah Green added: “It was wonderful to be in the company of so many colleagues past and present. The service was incredibly moving and uplifting and reminded us all of the immense progress made over the years; speech and language therapy has become a well-respected and sought-after profession and the first allied health professional group to move to graduate status.”

Cath Lowry commented: “It was fascinating to hear that the profession originally carried out what doctors prescribed. For many of us – autonomous clinicians with a growing research and evidence base – this was hard to believe! The service offered real insight into how comprehensive and person-centred our approach is now and provided a great deal to celebrate.”

Your Healthcare provides speech and language therapy support for children and adults, and offers a dedicated service for adults with a learning disability.