The SpeechWise logo icon which is a green owl within the shpae of a speech bubble.

About us

SpeechWise was founded in 2012 with one simple goal in mind; to provide quality Speech and Language Therapy support to schools, organisations and individuals throughour North West England in areas including Manchester, Stockport, Cheshire and more.

Our mission is to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs through providing individualised, high quality support. What is important to them is important to us.


Our creative and dedicated team is made up of over 20 Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy Assistants. We provide regular in-house services to schools as well as individual privately funded support. We are frequently commissioned by Local Authorities and health and care providers to provide specialist assessments and interventions.


Whether you know what you are looking for or feel really unsure about whether you need a Speech and Language Therapist, we’re here to help.
We look forward to supporting you on your journey towards fulfilling and effective communication. Whether you need guidance, assessment, or ongoing therapy, our experienced and compassionate team is ready to work alongside you every step of the way.

Our team

Ele Leatherbarrow

Director

Ele is a Speech and Language Therapist and Director of SpeechWise. She was inspired to train as a Speech and Language Therapist after volunteering as a youngster at a riding school for people with disabilities. Since graduating from the University of Manchester with a BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy in 2003, she discovered a passion for working with children with complex needs. Ele has always loved helping families and support staff to find ways to unlock a child’s potential; she feels this is a real privilege.
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Alex Howden

Clinical Lead - Speech & Language Therapist

Alex is a Speech and Language Therapist and Clinical Lead at SpeechWise. Alex’s desire to support children’s communication development began whilst studying for an undergraduate degree in Human Communication and Psychology…

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Laura Hartley

Clinical Lead - Speech & Language Therapist

Laura Hartley is the Clinical Lead for training, supervision and staff CPD at SpeechWise. She was inspired to become a Speech and Language Therapist after witnessing the positive impact of SALT support on her younger sister with Down syndrome. Laura is passionate about building trusting relationships with families and professionals, and finds great fulfilment in advocating for those with speech, language, and communication needs. She is committed to neurodiversity-affirming practice, recognising and celebrating the unique strengths and perspectives of neurodiverse individuals. Outside of work, Laura enjoys exploring the outdoors with her young family and has found a new found love for watercolor painting (even more mindful with a glass of wine in hand!)

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Gail Kane

Clinical Lead - Speech & Language Therapist

Gail is the Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist for the Teens+ service. She became a speech and language therapist to make a meaningful, practical difference in people’s lives. Passionate about empowering young people, she is dedicated to helping them advocate for themselves and develop lifelong communication skills.

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Ashley Jacobson

Speech & Language Therapist

Ashley is a Speech and Language Therapist working across schools with early years and teens. She became a Speech Therapist after growing up and being inspired by a family full of teachers and developing a strong interest in how children learn to communicate. Ashley has always been passionate about helping children and young people communicate and enjoys building meaningful relationships to support this journey.

Beth Harrison

Speech & Language Therapist

Beth is a Speech and Language Therapist working at SpeechWise. Beth’s passion for speech and language therapy stems from her desire to support children to communicate and make a meaningful impact in their lives….
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Carol Taylor

Speech & Language Therapist

Carol is a Speech and Language Therapist at Speechwise. Having started her working life in a different career altogether, Carol was inspired to retrain after witnessing the amazing work done by Speech and Language Therapists while she was a volunteer abroad…. 

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Emily Watson

Speech & Language Therapist

Emily is a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) and developed an interest in the profession after an inspiring lecture during her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Studies. She qualified with an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2021, and has been at SpeechWise ever since.
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Erin Anderson

Speech & Language Therapist

Erin completed her BSc Speech and Language Therapy degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating in July 2024. She began her professional career at SpeechWise in September 2024, where she works across special provision and mainstream primary schools, as well as within high schools.
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Geeta Mehta

Speech & Language Therapist

Geeta is a committed and experienced speech therapist who has been practising since 2016. After qualifying, she spent two years working within the NHS, gaining valuable experience in a variety of clinical settings. In 2018, Geeta joined SpeechWise, where she has continued to develop her passion for supporting children with speech, language, and communication needs.

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Gemma Whitfield

Speech & Language Therapist

Gemma Whitfield is a Speech and Language Therapist with experience working across independent SEN schools and colleges. Her own early experiences navigating communication challenges in a Greek‑speaking school have shaped her empathetic, student‑centred approach.

Helen Amella

Speech & Language Therapist

Helen is a Speech and Language Therapist at Speechwise. She was inspired to become a Speech and Language Therapist after having a brilliant time volunteering with people who communicate in different ways.

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Jennifer Berman

Speech & Language Therapist

Jennifer Berman is a Speech and Language Therapist with a passion for supporting children with speech, language, and communication needs. During her Linguistics degree at The University of Salford, she developed a deep fascination with child language development, particularly non-typical language acquisition. This interest led her to qualify as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2019. Since then, she has dedicated her career to helping children overcome communication challenges, ensuring they can access learning and build meaningful social connections. Outside of work, she enjoys ballroom dancing.
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Kayleigh Smeaton

Speech & Language Therapist

Kayleigh is a Speech and Language Therapist at SpeechWise. She became a therapist to help young people understand their own communication styles and advocate for themselves. Passionate about equitable access to communication, she supports individuals through spoken language, Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC), and other multimodal approaches. She believes that everyone has the ability to communicate, provided there are others willing to understand and engage with them.
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Khadijah Akhtar

Speech & Language Therapist

Khadijah Akhtar is a dedicated Speech and Language Therapist based in Manchester, working primarily in mainstream primary schools across the region. With a deep passion for making a meaningful impact on people’s lives, Khadijah is committed to supporting children with a wide range of communication needs. She finds great joy in working with diverse groups of children and helping them build essential communication skills.
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Laura Andrews

Speech & Language Therapist

Laura was inspired to follow a career in speech and language therapy after seeing its impact when she worked as a teaching assistant in a special school. She qualified from City University, London in 2010 with a PGDip in Speech and Language Therapy, starting her career in the early years team with the NHS before moving to a special school for 8 years, gaining experience of a wide range of speech, language and communication needs during this time.
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Laura McCandless

Speech & Language Therapist

Laura is a Speech and Language Therapist with SpeechWise. She was inspired to enter the field after seeing the positive impact that speech and language therapy had on a close family member with Autism. Laura graduated from Leicester De Montfort University in 2013 with a BA (Hons) in Human Communication (Speech and Language Therapy). She began her career in a Special Educational Needs school, then spent two years with the NHS before moving to Australia where she worked as a Speech and Language Pathologist. In 2018, Laura returned to the UK and joined SpeechWise.
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Lauren Kelly

Speech & Language Therapist

Lauren has been with SpeechWise since it first started.  Originally working across both the NHS and Private sector before moving over to Speechwise full time in 2016.  Lauren’s clinical experience focuses on 3-11 year olds with a particular specialism in speech sound disorders and a passion for working alongside our ENT, Audiology and Cleft team colleagues to find holistic solutions.  Lauren now works for SpeechWise 2 days a week and runs a busy talent agency on her other days embracing her love of no two clients or days are ever the same!

Naomi Nash

Speech & Language Therapy Assistant

Naomi began working for SpeechWise as a dedicated Speech and Language Therapy Assistant in April 2024. She works in the Teens Plus department, supporting older young people with speech, language, and communication needs across both specialist provisions and mainstream settings. Her role involves delivering interventions and assisting speech therapists with resource creation, planning, and administration.
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Nicole Walsh

Speech & Language Therapist

Nicole is one of the Speech and Language Therapists based in mainstream primary schools. Nicole became a Speech and Language Therapist to enhance the communication skills of individuals and those supporting them.
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Philippa Bowen

Speech & Language Therapist

After completing a degree in Linguistics at Lancaster University, Philippa trained as a Speech and Language Therapist at Leeds Metropolitan University, graduating with a BSc (HONS) Clinical Language Sciences (Speech and Language Therapy) in 1992. She immediately embarked on a 30 year NHS career working with adults and children with a full range of communication and swallowing difficulties.
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Rachel Guest

Speech & Language Therapist

Rachel is a Speech and Language Therapist who enjoys working with children, young people and their families across a wide range of settings. She started on this career path intending to work with brain-injured hospital patients, but quickly found that there are many fascinating and rewarding ways to work with speech, language and communication, and she is yet to find an area of SALT that she doesn’t enjoy.
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Rebecca Bowles

Speech & Language Therapist

Rebecca (or Becky as she is sometimes known) is a Speech and Language Therapist at Speechwise. Her journey into SALT is a bit of a family affair – her mum worked with a team of SALTs throughout her childhood, and her mum’s passion for their incredible work rubbed off on her. Rebecca graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2022 with an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy and joined Speechwise right after.
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Sam Bratby

Speech & Language Therapist

Sam is a Speech and Language Therapist with SpeechWise. She was inspired to enter the field after studying Human Communication BA (Hons) in her first degree. She worked as a NHS Therapy Assistant in clinics and schools around Stockport covering a wide range of speech, language, and communication therapy before returning to Manchester Metropolitan University where she took placements with children and adults, including a specialist setting focused on swallowing and palliative care. 

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Sarah Beckett

Speech & Language Therapist

Sarah has been a dedicated Speech and Language Therapist since qualifying with a BSc Hons in Psychology and Speech Pathology from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2011. Her journey into SALT was fuelled by an interest in child development, as well as her experience working as a support worker for young adults with learning disabilities (from which there are many fond memories!)
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Sue Malpas

Speech & Language Therapy Assistant

Sue, a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, joined SpeechWise in September 2025 after 12 years at a mainstream primary school in Marple. There, she gained valuable experience delivering speech and language therapies and assessments, collaborating closely with NHS Speech and Language Therapists to support pupils with speech, language, and communication needs… Sue holds an enhanced DBS.

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Tanisha Booth

Speech & Language Therapy Assistant

Tanisha is a committed Speech and Language Therapy Assistant with a passion for supporting children’s speech, language and communication development. With a background in education, Tanisha has spent ten years working across secondary, primary, resourced provisions, and specialist schools. During this time, she took the lead on speech and language support, running intervention groups that focused on improving students speech, language, and communication skills. Her love for working with children and the power of learning through play and specialised interventions inspired her to pursue a career in speech and language therapy.

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Louise Broome

Admin Manager

Meet Louise, the Admin Manager at SpeechWise. She’s the secret weapon behind our awesome team of speech therapists. Louise keeps the wheels turning and ensures that every aspect of the company’s operations runs smoothly. This allows the therapists to do their thing without sweating the small stuff, allowing them to focus on what really matters – helping young people to communicate confidently.
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Lorna Toner

Admin Assistant

Lorna works closely with Louise to keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes. From appointment scheduling and managing training bookings to supporting schools with our training platform and handling all things website-related, she makes sure the team can focus on what really matters — helping young people find their voice. Lorna is often the first person you might encounter at Speechwise, you can reach out to Lorna via hello@speechwisetherapy.co.uk When she’s not doing that, you’ll find her outdoors, walking her cocker spaniel Cooper, paddleboarding or skiing down the slopes in the winter months.

A Message From Ele...