22 August 2013 Joan Murphy - From NHS to University to Social Enterprise

President Colin Strachan welcomed a good turnout of members and visitor Andrew Hilley to last week's meeting at the Westlands Hotel.

Joan Murphy was introduced as guest speaker and gave a fascinating talk about her involvement with 'Talking Mats' - a simple but effective tool, which uses a mat with symbols attached as the basis for communication and allows people with a wide range of communication issues, from stroke victims to those with learning difficulties or dementia, to express themselves effectively.

Joan explained her background as a speech and language therapist working in Forth Valley NHS led her and a colleague to start developing Talking Mats in 1989 to help people with communication difficulties to think and express their thoughts about issues discussed with them. Talking Mats is now in use worldwide and can be used with people with different abilities, from different cultures and living in different situations.

Joan said "In 2009, Talking Mats were beginning to take off but as I was still working in the NHS, I had too many commitments so we decided to take the plunge and set up our own business". Initially set up as an incubation company based in Stirling Innovation Park, they are now a Company limited by Guarantee, with profits being reinvested in the business.

Their client portfolio includes health services, schools, prison service, residential homes and nurseries and they have a staff of 7.

New developments include extending the range of topics and setting up a new website as well as developing an App for use with tablets such as the i-pad.

Joan was thanked for her very interesting talk by Gordon Robb. More information about Talking Mats can be found on their website: www.talkingmats.com.