Publish date: 2 October 2023
More than 120 people descended on Ealing Broadway shopping centre for a special Makaton flash mob.
The event was organised by the Ealing Speech and Language Therapy Service and took place on Wednesday 27 September.
The aim was to raise awareness around speech and language therapy services for children, particularly those aged under 5.
It comes after the charity Speech and Language UK reported the highest number of children with speech and language challenges ever.
According to the charity, 1.9million children in the UK are currently experiencing speech and language difficulties and one in five primary and secondary aged children are estimated to be behind with their talking and understanding of words.
This means it’s more important than ever that children and their families are able to access our services.
Hannah Howell-Day, Clinical Lead for Early Years Speech and Language Therapy, said: “The flash mob was a huge success.
“We were blown away by the support that we had! Over 120 people from all different communities and groups in Ealing came together to raise awareness of speech, language and communications needs.
“We certainly created a buzz with members of the public asking what we were doing, so we were able to share our programme of activities and the reason behind the flash mob.”
She added: “Everyone had a fantastic time and it was certainly something we will all remember for a long time.”
We were pleased to receive support from Impact Theatre, which choreographed a dance for the event.
We were also pleased to welcome Mandeville and Springhallow special schools, parents and volunteers from Ealing Anchor Foundation, CONTACT Ealing, representatives from Ealing Council and the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Hitesh Tailor.
The Makaton flash mob was one of many events hosted by Ealing Speech and Language Therapy this month as part of their first ever awareness month.
Every year, the Speech and Language Therapy Team sees thousands of children and young people aged up to 18-years-old, some have learning disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, autism, Developmental Language Disorder or may be are deaf or hard of hearing. Many have a stammer, struggle to feed and swallow, and have issues talking and understanding language.
You can find more information about Ealing speech and language therapy for children here: https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/slt
You can find out what other events have been planned for Ealing Speech and Language Therapy Month here: https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/news/latest-news/trust-launches-its-first-ever-speech-and-language-therapy-awareness-month
