Woman who gave a fake name to colleagues as she could not say her own overcomes lifelong stammer

Anna called herself ‘Hannah’ for two whole years because it was easier to pronounce – but now she has ‘found her voice’.

A woman who gave a fake name to colleagues as she could not say her own told how she has finally overcome her crippling stammer.

Anna has overcome her stammer (PA Real Life/Collect)

Anna Blackburn, 34, was heckled by cruel bullies in her teens who dubbed her “jibber jabber” because of the speech problem which started when she was a small child.

Her confidence destroyed, she even took to using a false name as she entered the working world, calling herself ‘Hannah’ for two whole years because it was easier to pronounce.

Anna was heckled by cruel bullies in her teens (PA Real Life/Collect)

In time, she decided to train as a teacher – but found that, once qualified, she struggled to read the morning register aloud, and was sometimes forced to write what she had to say on the whiteboard.

But now, having enrolled on a speech therapy course, she has finally overcome her stammer – and is even considering becoming a motivational speaker.

Anna, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: “I feel completely empowered now. I was petrified I was going to be like this for the rest of my life, but now I believe I can do anything.”

Anna has finally overcome her crippling stammer (PA Real Life/Collect)

For as far back as she can remember, Anna struggled with her stammer, prompting cruel children at school to mock and mimic her.

Between the ages of six and 10, she saw a speech and language therapist – but said it did little to help.

Then, when she went to secondary school, things got worse.

Anna has overcome her stammer (PA Real Life/Collect)

With the frequent playground taunts destroying her confidence, she became angry and would swear a lot to cover up her impediment.

“People would think it was okay to say things about my stammer, tease me or ask why I couldn’t get it under control,” Anna recalled.

Anna is even considering becoming a motivational speaker (PA Real Life/Collect)

“I would dread the song Boom! Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince at school discos, as when the lyric ‘but sometimes I get n-nervous and start to stutter’ came on, people would point and laugh at me.”

For years, Anna could barely pronounce her own name, instead making an “aaa” sound and developing a tic where she flipped her head backwards, causing confused looks from strangers.

Her stammer taking over her life, she’d find it too difficult to say where she wanted to go on public transport, and would even pretend she had forgotten things – like the name of a friend – when asked, as she struggled to get the words out.

Anna used to call herself 'Hannah' (PA Real Life/Collect)

“While out for food with friends, I’d just say ‘same’ when it came to ordering, even if I didn’t want the same meals as them because I was too scared of having to say the name of my own dish,” she said.

Despite graduating from the University of Derby with a law degree, Anna’s self-esteem was so low that she never believed she could fulfil her dream of becoming a teacher.

Anna was heckled by cruel bullies in her teens who dubbed her “jibber jabber” (PA Real Life/Collect)

Taking temporary jobs in admin, her stammer continued to wreak havoc.

And, joining South Yorkshire Police as a secretary in 2008, she even told people she was called Hannah as she struggled to say her own name.

“I couldn’t say my actual name, but found Hannah easier, so let people think that was what I was called for about two years,” she said.

“When I was leaving and people found out, they were mortified I hadn’t corrected them, but it was so much easier for me.”

Anna cannot remember a time when she did not stammer (PA Real Life/Collect)

As the years passed, Anna’s dream of becoming a teacher was always at the back on her mind.

Pushing her fears aside, she went to an open day at Sheffield Hallam University in 2009.

“I told them I have a degree in law and wanted to be a teacher, but I have a stammer and was worried I couldn’t do it,” she said.

“They were very encouraging and told me to come back a year later with experience of working with children. I don’t think I realised how bad my stammer was then and thought I would have a go.”

After completing her training at Sheffield Hallam, Anna was offered a job teaching health and social care at at Outwood Academy Valley in Worksop in 2012.

But, despite doing her best to control her speaking difficulties, she still struggled.

“Sometimes I just couldn’t speak in class,” she said. “I gave assemblies occasionally but would suffer terribly with nerves for months beforehand and would often stutter during them. I would also never dare to address other teachers in whole-school meetings.”

Despite being open with her students about her struggles, in November last year Anna reached breaking point.

Anna is now a successful teacher (PA Real Life/Collect)

“I couldn’t even read the register and it got me down so much,” she tearfully continued.

“I genuinely considered leaving my job and going to work in Asda stacking shelves. That way, I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone and could remain in denial about my speech.”

But everything changed for Anna one day in the Christmas holidays last year when she found a Facebook support page for people who stammer, and came across the McGuire Programme, which put her on the road to recovery.

She said: “For years I had come up with tricks to hide my stammer and lived in denial about how bad it was. But looking at the McGuire Programme I saw I had a chance to improve my speech, live my life to the full and be the confident and fantastic teacher I knew I was.”

She joined the class in April this year and, after completing a five-day course in Harrogate, North Yorkshire and developing breathing techniques, practicing public speaking and looking at psychological factors, Anna was transformed.

Returning to school after the Easter holidays, she was gobsmacked when she read the school register with ease.

“It was an amazing moment to go through the class names and not trip up once,” she said. One student even said, ‘Miss, you’ve got your voice back!’ which made me burst into tears, because I really did.”

Now, taking assemblies and even addressing staff at whole-school meetings, Anna admits she still has to work on her speech, but is a different person from the one she was 12 months ago.

And with two coaches from the programme supporting her, she sends voice notes to them through WhatsApp every day, to make sure her speech remains fluid.

Ahead of her wedding to her fiancé, who she does not wish to name, in November this year, Anna feels confident she will read her full vows without a slip-up.

Anna added: “I can’t believe how far I have come, it’s been such a big transformation in such a small period of time. I would urge anyone with a stammer to get the help and support they need. I feel like I could achieve anything now.”

LONDON (AP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday amid the fallout from a long-running sexual abuse scandal.

Welby stepped down after an independent investigation found that he had failed to inform police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Here are the answers to some questions about the Church of England, Welby’s decision and its global significance.

The Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, is a Christian denomination and the official church of England. It was created in the 16th century when the English church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church.

The church is part of the global Anglican Communion, a family of churches that has over 85 million members in more than 165 countries. Britain’s monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England and has the power to appoint bishops and other church leaders.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England and is traditionally seen as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. Each of the 46 churches that comprise the Anglican Communion has its own primate, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.

Justin Welby, 68, was the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked in the oil industry for 11 years before he left in 1989 to study for the priesthood.

Welby was ordained in 1992 and worked extensively in Africa and the Middle East before he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013. Though a skilled mediator — who has worked to resolve conflicts in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa — he struggled to unite the global Anglican Communion.

Like many Christian denominations, the Anglicans are split by disagreements over the church’s teachings about homosexuality and the role of women. While churches in England and America have become more welcoming to the LGBT community and moved to ordain women priests and bishops, some more conservative churches in Africa and Asia have resisted those changes. Those divisions have weakened the Archbishop of Canterbury’s influence in the Anglican Communion.

An independent investigation last week released its long-awaited report into the late John Smyth, who sexually, psychologically and physically abused more than 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps in the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa over five decades.

The 251-page report concluded that Welby failed to report Smyth to authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, soon after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner and many of his victims wouldn’t have been abused, the report found.

Welby initially refused to resign, saying he was wrongly informed that police had already been notified and he shouldn’t do anything to interfere with their investigation. But his position became untenable after a growing number of church leaders and victims criticized him for failing to take responsibility for the scandal.

“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Welby said, announcing his resignation.

Yes. Like the Catholic Church, the Church of England has faced a long series of allegations that priests and others affiliated with the church used their positions to abuse young men and women.

An independent inquiry established by the government found that 390 people associated with the church were convicted of child sexual abuse between the 1940s and 2018. Deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide,” the inquiry found.

Welby’s supporters said he was instrumental in changing the culture of the church and improving its safeguarding procedures after he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

The process of selecting Welby’s successor will begin with the Crown Nominations Commission, which nominates candidates for Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishoprics in England. The commission will send the name of a preferred candidate and an alternate to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will then advise King Charles III on his selection.

The commission has 16 members, including the Archbishop of York, representatives of the clergy and laypeople, a representative of the Anglican Communion and a chair appointed by the prime minister.

FILE - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as he listens to debate at the General Synod in London, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)