Our current team of trustees consists of AAC users, parents, role models, and speech and language therapy professionals.

Collectively, the governing body has vast experience in the field of AAC, and combine their knowledge and experience to further the aims of the charity.

All members of the governing body are passionate about supporting those with communication needs.

We’re always looking for more trustees to get involved - email us if you’d like to help support 1Voice as a Trustee.

Helen set up what is now known as 1Voice Lakes and Bay in March 1996, and has been involved in 1Voice since the start in 2000 .

“I have loved all 1 voice events but my favourite themes have to be Harry Potter and 1Voice 1Vote. Potentially my most exciting, and to a certain extent terrifying, 1 voice experiences have been with Lakes and Bay at Bendrigg Lodge – until we first went there I had never climbed, abseiled or canoed. Canoeing through ice has to be one of the standout experiences and I love the zipwire.

In other things I am secretary of our village hall committee. I am a member of a Rotary club – also the fault of 1Voice as I did a talk there hoping for some money and ended up not only getting money but also joining! I retired from working as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2019 having worked in the same area in Cumbria for 37 and a half years.

I live with my son (a 1Voice volunteer from a very young age- he had no choice I had no one to leave him with!) and a cat.

“I recently started volunteering for 1Voice as a trustee because I really want to support the important work they do to support and connect AAC users. My daughter uses AAC; learning how to use it and building confidence in expressing herself is exciting and inspiring. But it can also be lonely and difficult. Not seeing or meeting anybody who communicates like you is tough.

When our daughter was 5, we heard about a local branch 1Voice event. It was the first time any of us had met other AAC users. It was really powerful. Being in an environment where others understood to give our daughter time to respond; hearing from adult AAC users about their lives; seeing everyone having fun and speaking to other parents who really get it were things we couldn’t get anywhere else.

Years later, we plucked up the courage to go to a 1Voice national residential weekend and it was amazing. There were fun activities, inspiring presentations, ideas about how to help our daughter’s literacy development and, most importantly, the disco!! For our daughter, the 1Voice disco is the absolute highlight and especially cool because the DJ was a young AAC user like herself.”

Hannah was co-opted at the trustees’ meeting in January 2023.

Hannah has been involved with 1Voice for many years, as a volunteer at our national weekends.

Dominic is a mainstream children's speech and language therapist working in west Yorkshire.

He has particular professional interests in AAC, autism, research, and advocacy. He is keen to see 1Voice grow in creative ways and to keep doing amazing work to support our members and their families.

After working for ten years in respite care, with children with emotional and behavioural needs, Dominic retrained as a speech and language therapist. He joined 1Voice as a trustee in 2021.

Outside of 1Voice, Dominic likes Parkrun on Saturdays, cooking for family and friends in the evenings, and creative writing whenever he gets the time. He's also unashamedly geeky and enjoys board games, late medieval and early modern history, and noodly research into the early printing trades.

Hello. My name is Jason. I'm 25 years old. I use an eye gaze device to speak and for all of my environment controls including my mobile phone to text and for all of my social media.

I graduated from The National Star College in 2020. I'm on the Advisory Board and I'm a Ambassador for the College. I completed a Mentoring course with Communication Matters recently I passed Level 1 and 2.

I love music especially grime and rap and I always wanted to become a DJ so maybe I will one day. I have a wicked sense of humour and I love having a laugh with people. I'm looking forward to helping out with 1 Voice and meeting you all.

“Hi, I’m Frances.

I started volunteering for 1Voice in 2012 along with my fiancé Neal, when we went to our first residential weekend. We’ve been to most of the residential weekend since (getting our first house got in the way one year) and always have a great time. I’ve also joined in with a 1Voice boat trip on Windermere, been to several Christmas parties, as well as a few 1Voice 1Days and more recently got to grips (along with the rest of the World) with online meetings. I became a trustee in 2021 and it has been so rewarding being a part of everything that goes on behind the scenes.

I work as a Speech and Language Therapist in West Yorkshire. In my spare time, I’m always really busy; I enjoy Hula Hooping, and go but can’t truthfully say ‘enjoy’ running. I also love baking and eating cake, my favourite bake was a Harry Potter wedding cake I made for my sister. I also like crafting; I’ve had a go at all sorts and really enjoy cross-stitching, painting with diamonds and recently needle felting. Despite many lessons I can’t knit or crotchet though – it’s impossible!”

Stephen joined us as a parent trustee in November 2020. He is the father of Rebecca Tyler who is a role model, artist, and is now studying for her degree in Applied Computing.

The “apple” didn’t fall too far from the tree, and Steve assists us with our Website and many aspects of our IT needs.

We are keen to have more content available to our members on the website, so if you have any ideas or comments feel free to reach out to Steve.

Hi. My family has been involved with 1Voice since we went to our first national weekend on my daughter’s 8th Birthday. We really didn’t know what to expect but couldn’t have met a friendlier group of people. In truth, it was all a bit overwhelming being surrounded by families who seemed to be so much further ahead on their communication journey than us. However, it filled us with inspiration and motivation to keep going knowing that it was possible to achieve so much.

After a couple of years I volunteered as a trustee as I was keen to help the charity that my family had benefitted from so much. However, I stepped down after only a year to become the charity’s administrator. It is a real privilege to be involved in such a worthwhile charity. As a parent, I still really value the support that is available from other parents.

Over the years we have met so many great people and developed good friendships. Some of my favourite holidays have been with my 1Voice family. In 1Voice, I have found my tribe.

I’m excited about our upcoming 1Voice projects and look forward to continuing to play a part in bringing together AAC users and their families.