• About Us

What We Do

Communication Matters is a UK-wide organisation that supports people of all ages who find it hard to communicate because they have little or no clear speech.

Our Vision

A world where all individuals have a right to a voice through the provision of communication solutions and ongoing support services.

Our Mission

Communication Matters exists to support people who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in their basic human right to communicate, be included and heard in an equitable society.

We aim to achieve the above by

  • increasing awareness about AAC
  • improving service standards
  • encouraging AAC research
  • empowering AAC users

Who we are
Communication Matters is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. The Board of Trustees runs the charity, and we offer Associate Membership.

More about us

Membership
Our Associate Membership has more than 400 members. They come from across the UK, bringing their personal, professional, commercial and research experience.

Join us! We have a range of membership levels, from individuals to corporate. We offer a limited number of free memberships for new AAC users and their family members. Download your membership application form now.

Our Funding
Most of our income comes from membership fees and events – we use some of this to pay our ISAAC chapter fee. We receive a small amount of donations and we use this money to subsidise the annual conference registration costs for AAC users.

Grants

• John Ellerman Foundation in 2016 for funding for two years to promote Communication Access UK.
• The Big Lottery Fund for Awards for All in 2017 to run a pilot mentorship training programme.
• The Foyle Foundation in 2018 to build our new website.
• The National Lottery Community Fund (formerly Big Lottery) in 2019 to develop and support mentoring for AAC users and other disabled young people.

We are also grateful to our many supplier members for their generous sponsorship.

What is Communication Matters?

We are a charity that covers the whole of the UK. The Trustees volunteer their time and expertise to run the organisation. Read more about the Trustees and staff.

Worldwide Links

Communication Matters is the UK Chapter of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC). ISAAC has 15 national chapters, coordinated by a Secretariat based in Canada. We are one of ISAAC’s most active chapters.

UK Links

Communication Matters is a core member of the Communication Consortium, which is the advisory body of The Communication Trust.

We became a member of West Yorkshire CANN (Children’s Additional Needs Network) in 2018. This coalition of third sector organisations works with families/carers with children and young people with additional needs, in the West Yorkshire area. Network members share best practice, resources, ideas and opportunities, to improve access to information, training and support.

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