Giving voice to a silent crisis through a mental health report
total media hits, including broadcast, national, trade and regional media
audience reached
response from the Department of Education
The challenge
Speech and Language UK’s report exposed a deeply concerning reality:
Children who struggle with talking and understanding words are significantly more likely to face mental health problems, yet they are far less likely to receive the support they urgently need.
Despite the scale of the issue, these children were being left out of major education and health strategies. The challenge was to make their voices heard and compel the Department for Education to act by investing in support, improving training for practitioners, and ensuring speech and language needs were included in the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Our approach
At the heart of this campaign were the voices of those most affected.
We worked closely with 18-year-old Siouxsie and her mother Rachel, supporting them to tell their story on their terms. Their powerful testimony brought warmth, urgency and emotional truth to the campaign.
This was paired with a clear, compelling press release that combined emotional storytelling with the report’s stark statistics. Letters to editors from Siouxsie, Rachel and CEO Jane Harris added personal and professional weight to our demands.
We also secured influencer support to broaden reach, and ran an exclusive embargoed media sell-in to ensure maximum visibility on launch day. The result was a bold, human-led campaign that cut through the noise, putting the spotlight on an overlooked injustice, and helping build pressure on policymakers to act.
