The Starfish Project
Supportive Training and Recovery For Individual Stammerers Harmony
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I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering in the Spotlight

Since this BBC documentary, made by Felicity Baker who attended the Starfish course in 2010, was shown in March 2021 we have had a large response from people applying for a course. We are immensely proud of Felicity for her courage in making this film, and in turn helping people find help from the Starfish Project.

Felicity tweeted - 'The video of me stammering was filmed on my first day at a Starfish intensive speech therapy course in 2010 - I met some amazing people there who really helped with my speech'.

Click here to watch the documentary

BBC-I-Cant-Say-My-Name
Starfish Project Courses Restarting

The Covid 19 pandemic, affected all our lives, and sadly meant that we couldn’t hold a Starfish course, and help people to gain control over stammering, for over 18 months. Fortunately, the success of the vaccination programme, coupled with ensuring strict covid safety measures for all Starfish Project Course attendees, meant that in August 2021 we could resume our adult residential courses.

We have taken specialist guidance, and followed the advice, to provide a safe working environment for everyone. It is mandatory for all participants on our courses to provide proof of having received a full course of vaccination of an approved vaccine for Covid 19. In addition to this, all our courses are covered by important safety measures including:

  • Daily rapid flow testing for everyone.
  • Limited numbers to maintain social distancing
  • Hand sanitising
  • Air ventilation flow in the course room
  • Everyone wears a transparent visor in the course room.

Having put all these measures in place for three highly successful courses in 2021, we know that this has created a safe environment for the course to operate in.

We have a duty of care, and we take that duty very seriously.

We have received many compliments about our recent courses, here are just a couple of them –

“I was so happy to read about the safety measures you had on the course, and this was an important factor in booking a place on Starfish.”
D.W August course

“The coronavirus safety arrangements were excellent and meant I could just get on with learning how to control my stammer without worrying about anything else - thank you.”
M.R. October Course

Dates of future Starfish Project adult courses are here.

Starfish Project Young People’s Courses – Restarting 2022

Whilst we were delighted to restart Starfish Project courses for adults in 2021, we were deeply concerned that we were not able to help the ever-growing list of young people with a course.

Although the vaccine program was providing the key for the adults to attend a course, similar plans for vaccinating young people are not in place for the foreseeable future. So, we had to do something to get young people help without the risk of bringing them together on a course.

Therefore, in May 2021 we launched Starfish Project Virtual courses for young people. These were very successful, and we would have continued running them, but for the welcome news that the national vaccination programme was to be introduced for young people 12 to 15 years old.

Our first Young People’s course will be in February 2022, all places on that course were immediately filled by young people who were awaiting a virtual course. However, we have another Young People’s course at Easter, and another planned for August 2022.

Find out more about Starfish Project young people’s courses here.

Welcome to the Starfish Project Website

Like many people, who visit our site will have reached a point in their lives where they want to do something about their stammer. You may also have reached that same point of 'enough is enough'. Many people have told us of their frustration with the severe lack of stammering /stuttering therapy facilities within the health service, and their search for decent and effective stammering therapy.

For lots of people, as well as years of trying ineffective therapies, they will have also tried expensive hypnotherapy with either none or very short lived results. For others it has been the disappointment and time wasted with therapies giving false hopes and a promise of stammering cures. Whilst others come to Starfish disillusioned after trying very expensive electronic devices designed to disguise or delay sounds and control stammering.

We welcome you to the site, we do not promise a non-existent cure for stammering, we will not try and hypnotise you, or sell you and ask you to wear any gadget or device. Our aim is to provide decent, effective therapy with free lifetime support to as many people who stammer as possible, without making profit out of your misfortune of having a stammer, stutter. We hope that you find the joy of effortless speech with the Starfish Project.

The Starfish Project has been helped and supported thousands of people who Stammer over the years. The technique taught on our courses has enabled them to gain control of their speech and lives. We are a non-profit making project for training people who Stammer (Stutter) to control and gain confidence over something that has controlled them.

Starfish is not about trying to achieve the impossible of so-called 'fluency' - when no one in life is fluent. It is not about striving for perfection in an imperfect world. Find out more about the Starfish Project and our courses.

Unfortunately, there is NO CURE for Stammering or Stuttering. However our training is specifically designed to give you the tools and the confidence to control your stammer in the day to day speaking situations that you will encounter.

Watch young Jack Turner on This Morning

A little time after his first Starfish course Jack Heal-Turner decided to speak about his story of stammering and finding help to control his stammer from The Starfish Project. We are so proud of Jack, the courage he showed in doing this and all he has achieved since. Please take the time to read his mum's introduction and watch this incredible piece of film.

Watch videos of people talking about how Starfish stammering control training courses have changed their lives can be viewed here.

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