Centre’s patron Michael Palin praises ‘inspiring therapists’ as gala screening raises £13,000
Published: 7 January, 2011
by PETER GRUNER
Film a hit with charity that helps stammering children
A gala screening of the first big British film of the year, The King’s Speech, has raised thousands of pounds for a Finsbury-based charity for children who stammer.
The cash will benefit the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in Pine Street.
And this week Mr Palin, the Monty Python star who is patron of the charity, thanked the makers of the film for raising awareness of the potentially socially crippling condition. The gala night, attended by the film’s star, Colin Firth, at the Curzon Cinema, in Mayfair, last month, raised more than £13,000.
Based on a true story, the film shows King George VI’s personal struggle to overcome a severe stammer, and his friendship with the Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue.
Colin Firth stars as the King and has received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Helena Bonham-Carter plays Queen Elizabeth and Geoffrey Rush Lionel Logue in the film directed by Tom Hooper.
Mr Firth told the audience of parents and therapists at the gala night how the film had made him personally aware of the suffering of people who stammer. He hopes to visit the centre shortly.
Famous stammerers are said to include pop idol Gareth Gates, singer Carly Simon, comedian Rowan Atkinson, novelist Margaret Drabble and designer Bruce Oldfield.
Mr Palin, who hosted the gala evening, said the film had raised people’s awareness of the condition and the centre, established almost 20 years ago.
Mr Palin, who portrayed a man with a stammer in the film A Fish Called Wanda, spoke about how his father had suffered from the condition. He said: “My father’s stammer made it difficult for him to give speeches, read figures and tell jokes. For someone in a managerial role it made him a little frustrated. But it stayed with him all his life.
“I’m sure he would have been a much more happy and fulfilled man if his stammer had been managed.”
While stammering in children cannot always be cured, therapy provided by the centre means it can be managed and made to appear much less obvious.
“It is quite inspiring to see therapists at work,” Mr Palin said. “We know it helps young people gain confidence. Children and their families are involved in the treatment. It’s wonderful to see a room full of children all talking openly about their stammer and how they are dealing with it.”
Clinical manager Willie Botterill said the centre worked with up to 200 new families each year.
“We don’t know the exact causes, but we do know that parents don’t cause stammering,” he said. “Most experts agree a combination of factors makes one child more vulnerable to stammering than another. Stammering tends to run in families and scientists are confident that a genetic link will be found quite soon.”
The Michael Palin Centre at Finsbury Health Centre can be contacted on 020 7530 4238.