I’m taking part in the Thames Path Challenge again this year! I’ll be walking 28km to raise money for my favourite charity, 50 Million Voices.

As many of you know, I do stutter and have stuttered since I was 6 years old. It can be a very painful experience. When I meet new people, the hardest thing is always introducing myself. When someone asks me my name, I get stuck on ‘I-i-i-man’. A common response is an awkward laugh and a ‘did you forget your name?’. No, I didn’t, I obviously know my own name (having had it since I was born), I just stutter.

Stuttering is often misunderstood. Many people mistake it for being a nervous tic or a symptom of anxiety. Though anxiety can exacerbate it, a stutter is not because someone has a nervous disposition. In the past, it was seen as a lack of intelligence. No one knows for sure what causes it, but we do know it's physiological. Some people believe it’s genetic or completely random.

While stuttering can be physically taxing on the body, it can also be extremely emotionally challenging, particularly as society often rewards fluent speakers in the workplace.

It can feel very lonely being a person who stutters. It’s estimated that 1 in 50 adults stutter, with 3 in 4 of those being men, making women who stutter a minority. There are high rates of depression and unemployment among people who stutter (PWS). Many isolate themselves as they don’t feel accepted, and many don’t want to interact with others for fear of being judged.

I’ve volunteered for and worked with 50MV for the last 2 years or so and it’s been incredibly eye-opening for me. I've found community in it, I've met others who stutter and learned to embrace it in myself.

At 50MV, our main aim is to empower people who stutter in the world of work and to help inform employers about stuttering, and what a PWS can offer the workplace.

We run a few events every year, with the main one being our global Practice Interview Programme. This is a programme where we pair employers with people who stutter, and give them a safe space to have a practice interview. The event is open for people all around the world to take part, and so far we’ve helped 750 participants from over 35 countries and 6 continents to improve their interview skills, confidence and success. Demand for more events is high and we're trying to raise money to deliver them later this year and next.

This is an incredibly important cause that's close to my heart. I'd be very grateful if you could donate anything you can to help other people like me feel less alone, and empower them in the workplace.

Much love,

Iman

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