Who are Action for Stammering Children?
Action for Stammering Children is the UK charity for children and young people who stammer, their families, and the communities who support them. We are a small charity, founded in 1989, but one that punches above its weight and with Dr Ria Bernard, who joined us as Chief Executive in 2022, we have big ambitions!
We’re here to make sure that every child who stammers has the support, respect and confidence to live the life they want to lead.
We support and empower parents, caregivers and professionals; facilitate and champion research; and campaign for changes in policy and societal attitudes
What do we do?
Information, community and support
We provide resources, advice and guidance for children and young people who stammer, their families, and the professionals who support them.
Changing policies and attitudes
We make sure the voices of children and young people who stammer are heard. We work with politicians and other decision makers to ensure the unique needs of children who stammer are reflected in public policy. But we know we can’t stop there. That’s why we campaign to challenge prejudices and misconceptions, seeking to change how society treats stammering and promote acceptance.
Championing research
We support and promote research into childhood stammering in order to build understanding and feed into our advocacy work, informing positive changes in policy and practice.
Our team
ASC currently has a staff team of three (one of whom is part-time) but we hope shortly to recruit a part-time book-keeper and an events co-ordinator, in order to be able to deliver on our ambitious strategic objectives.
Our Board of Trustees has been chaired by Dame Jane Roberts since 2021. With a number of trustees having come to the end of their term, we have had a number of trustees join the board recently including a new Company Secretary and two new trustees who had previously been members of ASC’s Youth Panel. With the Chair, the Company Secretary has been reviewing our governance to ensure that we conduct ourselves in line with best practice in charity governance. The Youth Panel is made up of young people who themselves stammer and who inform our strategic direction as well as engage in projects of their own. Our Annual Report for 2022-23 is available on the Charity Commission website, in addition to Trustees’ Reports for previous years.
Executive and Non-Executive, we are a professional but friendly bunch who would extend a warm welcome to a new Treasurer as well as ensure that there was a generous handover period with the current Treasurer.