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A podcaster and the co-founder of the Jersey Stammering Support Group has released a charity song which hopes to normalise stammers whilst raising money to support children with the condition.
Tom De La Cour made the song with fellow podcaster and stammer awareness advocate, Jonathan Blair.
'My Truth' is based on their own experiences of growing up with the speech condition.
Pictured: The album cover for 'My Truth', a song based on the pair's experiences growing up with a stammer.
Tom said: "I've stammered all my life, and only in the last 10 years (35 now) have a fully come to terms with it and been able to talk about it.
"I co-founded the Jersey Stammering Support Group which was a turning point for me, and the podcast has opened up conversations which have also helped me to talk openly about it."
The aim of the track is to raise money and awareness for STAMMA, Action for Stammering Children (ASC) and MIND.
Jon explained: "I have battling stammering my whole life, learnt to speak, became more fluent and became a functioning convert stammerer in my 20s, basically trying to convince you that I don't stammer.
"Now 40, pretty much fluent, have a family and good job but it had a massive impact on my mental health over the years and last year I pretty much had a breakdown.
"I decided enough was enough and I would not hide my stammer anymore, so I create my Youtube Channel Stammerun.
"I received no help or support as a child or teen and suffered greatly, I vowed no child or person should have to feel like I did and break the taboo of stammering."
Jon explained that his YouTube channel was created to promote stammering, mental health and running in a "safe space that is inclusive and diverse".
He continued: "Whilst thinking about content my philosophy is now 'go big or go home', so I came up with the idea of a charity song to promote stammering and mental health.
"I very fortunately came across the very talented and all round legend Tom De La Cour through his amazing podcast 'Breaking the Ice' and the rest is history."
Pictured: Jon has over 150,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, Stammerun, where he discusses stammering, mental health and running.
Jon wrote the lyrics for the charity single, whilst Tom came up with the melody
Tom said: "It was all very easy really, the words were so good that the music fell into place.
"Inspiration wise, the thing that sticks with me most, is that Jon said when he was younger he was never told its ok to stammer. Seems like a small thing, but it might have meant things were different had someone just told him that. So that is a big part of the inspiration for the song, and the podcast and YouTube as well.
"For me personally it's also about normalising stammering in the public eye. I'd loved to see more people on TV who openly stammer, but it's also not the main thing about them. For example news readers, or hosts of TV shows. That would go a long way to normalising stammering."
Jon added: "The song is basically about the human struggle, about all our own truths and human resilience and perseverance."
Tom is behind the 'Breaking the Ice' podcast which launched in January 2023.
He founded the podcast with co-host Hamish Kean to give listeners an insight into what it is like to live with a stammer.
Jon is the creator of the Stammerun YouTube channel, which was founded in 2023 with the ambition to create a community for people with stammer and mental health issues to be able to talk in a safe and supportive environment.
'My Truth' is available on all major streaming platforms.
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