Local MP Julie Morgan spoke about the Bercow Review, recognising its importance for Wales.

Around 90 people packed into the hall of St Marks Church in Cardiff last September for the third of our Open Days in 2008, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of BSA. The day was organised by John Evans.

Julie Morgan, the local MP for Cardiff North, spoke about the Bercow review of services for children and young people. The review related to England, but she clearly appreciated the importance of issues such as the postcode lottery for Wales as well.

Dr Rosemarie Hayhow gave a thoughtful and enlightening keynote speech, drawing particularly on Personal Construct Psychology to look at how stammering may develop to become a way of life. She introduced ideas from different models of change to suggest better ways of managing stammering. (Link to the speech: Connect or divide?)

Organiser John Evans 'interviewed' workshop leaders at the front of the room before participants split off into workshops, giving people a better idea which workshop they would like to attend. Workshops included 'Things I wish I had known about stuttering when I was younger' (Alan Badmington), NLP, McGuire Programme, Starfish Project, Learning how to speak in public, and Stammering and the workplace.

In the afternoon Harry Dhillon (below) gave an inspirational keynote speech, 'My road to acceptance', and the day concluded with our traditional 'Open Mic'.

From John Evans, organiser

Looking back on the Cardiff Open Day, the word that comes to my mind is "hope".

We all know that stammering can be such an isolating thing. It can tend to take over our lives, turning us inwards on ourselves. It can cut us off from other people. It can even isolate us from other people who stammer: we know that deaf people form communities so readily, for example, but people who stammer do not.

But at the Cardiff Open Day, I saw people treating each other with real love and respect, and receiving it in return. I saw people understanding, sometimes for the first time, that we are not alone, that others really do understand how we feel. I saw how stammering can become something that unites us, rather than isolates us. And in the wonderful kindness and energy of the speech and language therapy students who volunteered to help us, I saw part of the future of the stammering movement in this country.

To paraphrase what Rosemarie Hayhow said in her opening keynote speech, we need to see stammering as a journey, not as a hurdle. And when we journey together, we journey in hope.

From Harry Dhillon, keynote speaker

I was thrilled when John Evans asked me to be one of the two keynote speakers for the Cardiff Open Day.

In the days leading up to the Open Day, I experienced a whole whirlwind of emotions. Fear, excitement, self-doubt and pressure all competed with each other. 'Can I hold the audience's attention?' I thought. 'Am I worthy of the role I've been placed in?' But when the time came, the butterflies quickly dissolved, and in spite of stuttering quite noticeably, the feelings of joy and exhilaration were undeniable.

What did I gain from this experience? Well, a significant part of me has changed as a result. My level of self-esteem has increased, my belief in what's possible has changed, and I can feel the shackles of stammering becoming a little weaker. I would, therefore, encourage everyone to take the stage at a BSA event, and to experience first hand what an amazing feeling it is to speak in public.

From Phil Slater

I have a stammer! Two weeks ago, I would hardly have admitted that let alone commit it to writing. So why admit it now? Well after attending my first BSA open day at Cardiff, I now have a sense of belonging.

I have struggled with my speech for forty years and I can truly say that the event was one of the best days of my life so far; it was fun, informative, emotional, uplifting and very well run. The keynote speeches were motivating and the workshops excellent.

So hats off to all who helped to organise the event, and a special thank you to John Evans.

From the Winter 2008 edition of Speaking Out, page 4