We are a network of civil servants across the UK who champion the needs of people who stammer and are passionate about creating inclusive communications cultures across the Civil Service.

Some of us stammer, some don’t. We welcome allies who have experience of stammering at work, at home or simply want to understand more.

Our membership is open to everyone in the UK Civil Service.

get in touch

Some of our members – Paul, Andrew, Betony, Angela, Muhibur and Mukesh at a workshop

What we do

Open to all

We champion the needs of people who stammer and those who feel their voice isn’t welcomed. We want to make the Civil Service a brilliant place to speak up, whether you stammer or not.

A network of experts

We increase the awareness of stammering across the Civil Service through education and practical support. We connect people so that they can share experiences and solve issues.

Supporting inclusive cultures

We are the Civil Service’s critical friend on the topics of stammering and what constitutes good communication skills and great communications cultures.

What our members say

I live in this weird parallel universe where saying good morning can sometimes be harder than giving a 20 minute talk to an audience of 100
― Andrew, National Archives

Every interaction with another human being revolved around how can I minimise or hide my stammer?

― Mo, Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Many of my colleagues have no idea how much time I take up keeping my fluency and hiding my stammer. Sometimes I just keep quiet in meetings because I’m just too tired to talk
― Sarah, Dept of Transport

When I started working, my mission was to hide my stammer at all costs. The shame, embarrassment and humiliation of being ‘non-fluent’, therefore not ‘normal’ was a huge burden on my shoulders

― Angela, DWP

Our network in numbers

12

Departments & government agencies represented across the UK

30%

Have a stammer you can’t hear

60%

Haven’t told HR about their stammer

Impact of stammering

45%

have stayed in a job longer than they would have liked because they felt their stammer would limit their chances of employment elsewhere
―British Stammering Association survey 2019

59%

said that having a stammer has affected their career choice
―British Stammering Association survey 2019

89%

felt frustrated by the way other people have reacted to their stammer (78% awkward, 65% anxious, 59% depressed)
―British Stammering Association survey 2019

5 things you can do to support

Tell people about the STAMMA Civil Service
Challenge any references to ‘good communication skills’ you see in job adverts or performance reviews – what are they really looking for?
Invite us to your team meeting to talk about what makes good communication skill and great communications cultures
Become a member by completing this quick survey
Add a link to our website from your email signature https://ukcssn.com/

FIND the ambassador in your dept