Funding high-quality research into stammering

The Dominic Barker Trust, or Dom’s Fund, was set up in 1997 in memory of Dominic. Dominic lived with a persistent stammer and its severe, negative impact on his ability to build the life and career he wanted led him to take his own life in 1994, aged 26.

Fluent speech is something that most of us take for granted. Those who stutter or stammer, however, can expend huge amounts of unseen energy on struggling to communicate, thinking ahead to avoid problem words and feeling the pressure to get their words out before the listener either interrupts, or turns away. People who stutter often experience not only frustration and isolation but also discrimination at various levels.

Through our funding, we enable research into the causes and treatments of stammering, and we support the clinical work of Speech and Language Therapists and practical research at ground level. We also support local and national initiatives to reduce the stigma, prejudice and ignorance around stammering.