Jersey man with a stammer creates charity single

A Jersey man has created a song about having a stammer, to raise money for charities supporting children with the condition.

Tom De La Cour made the song with fellow podcaster and stammer awareness advocate Jonathan Blair. 

The pair called the track 'My Truth' and have written lyrics based on their own experiences of growing up with a speech condition.

They hope it will normalise stammers and make children who have a stammer feel that they are not alone. 

Tom and Jonathan are donating the money raised from the single to charities STAMMA, Action for Stammering Children and MIND. 

Tom De La Cour and his son.

Tom De La Cour says the men's experiences with having a stammer as children inspired the song's lyrics: 

"One of the things he [Jonathan] had when he was a kid was that nobody told him it was okay to stammer. It seems like such a small thing, but that's what the point of this song is.

"We want to make it known, for those that might be in the same place as he once was, that it is okay to stammer. There are lots of us who stammer.

"We're trying to get the song out there to try to raise awareness and money for charities supporting people with a stammer."

Single cover for 'My Truth'

Musician Tom hopes that this song will contribute to normalising stammers in everyday life and in popular culture, something he did not experience growing up: 

"When I was younger, there was no-one in the public eye that had a stammer. There was nothing for me to kind of look up to in that sense. 

"There was The King's Speech, the well-known film about the King with a stammer and the hard times he went through. But there's not enough of that out there. 

"What I would really love to see is more people on TV with a stammer, but the stammer is not the main thing about them; they've just got a stammer.

"I hope then it will become more of the norm, that is the goal here - to normalise people having a stammer."

The song can be heard on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music.