A WOMAN who suffered with a stammer for 20 years has finally battled through her condition.

Lindsey Smith, 23, had struggled so much with her stammer that she often asked friends to help her when buying drinks or going to the cinema.

Like King George VI in the hit film King's Speech, she found her stammer often made simple, everyday tasks intimidating.

But now Lindsey has been given a new lease of life after attending a course run by recovering stammerers that uses breathing techniques to overcome the problem.

She said: "Going on the course made me properly acknowledge I had to do something about my stammer.

"It is hard trying not to hide from the problem, and admitting it and trying to solve it.

"I am doing a foundation degree, but was struggling because I could not cope with presentations."

Lindsey took part in a course run by the McGuire Programme, which has helped many people deal with their speech issues.

And she is delighted with the results.

Lyndsey said: "The McGuire Programme is the best thing I've ever done.

"It taught me to embrace the things that I feared the most.

"I learnt different breathing techniques and how to overcome my stammer by learning to confront my problems.

"I really cannot put a price on what the course has done for me.

"It helps that all of the people involved in the course are recovering stammerers, including the coaches.

"If I am ever having a bad day, I can always call someone from the course who can sympathise with how I feel."

Before participating in the programme, Lindsey's stammer shattered her confidence, making day- to-day life a challenge.

Lindsey said: "Before the programme, even asking for a drink or going to the pictures was incredibly difficult.

"I would always go with other people, and they would often speak for me.

"Even speaking to a newspaper in an interview is a big step, because I never would have had the confidence to speak this."

Lindsey says the support she has received through the McGuire Programme has been invaluable to her recovery.

When she watched Colin Firth playing King George VI, she felt moved by the storyline and believes it gives hope to everyone suffering with a stammer.

She said: "When I saw film it brought me to tears because of how personal it felt to me.

"It has put awareness out there, so that people know what sufferer

s go through when they have a stammering problem."

Further details about the programme, alongside details of course locations, can be found online at www.mcguireprogramme.com