The British Voice Association

About the BVA

Objectives  |  History  |  Current Activities  |  The Future  |  Summary

The British Voice Association (the BVA) is a registered charity and became a Company Limited by Guarentee in 1999. Its remit is the encouragement of a healthy voice, vocal skills and communication in such areas as the performing arts, business and industry, medicine and education. The BVA recognises the human voice as an essential element of our communication and well-being. It is devoted to people with voice problems, ranging from severe pathology and cancer to subtle difficulties of artistic performance, all of whom are entitled to the best care available. To that end, the BVA is dedicated to supporting, informing and encouraging members of all professions who work with these individuals.

Company No: 3873285  |  Registered office address: 330 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE

Registered Charity No: 1078709

Objectives

1. To encourage good vocal health and communication in Great Britain.

2. To provide an educational forum to ensure that voice professionals can share and update their knowledge.

3. To prevent voice-related disability in such arenas as the classroom, the work-place and the stage.

4. To facilitate research and learning in voice-related fields.

5. To provide education, learning and research in voice and communication through symposia, inter-active study days, seminars, training courses and workshops.

6. To disseminate up to date information on healthy voice practices and on voice problems through written materials, including its professional journal, Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, its Newsletter, and through the internet.

7. To create awareness among the public, through the development of brochures, regarding healthy voice use and care and prevention of voice problems.
    

History of the BVA

In the early eighties, the BVA was devised, initially as a study group for individuals who were interested in learning more about the inter-workings of the voice. It was initially established as the Voice Research Society. It quickly became apparent that there was an enormous need for such an organisation and its membership rapidly increased. It became the current Charity, The British Voice Association, in 1991.

Its rooms were initially at Abbey Road and subsequently at the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln's Inn Fields in central London.The BVA is now located at the Institute of Laryngology and Otology at 330 Gray's Inn Road also in central London.
 

Current Activities

The major focus of the BVA during its first decade and a half of life has been educational, in the broadest sense of the word. It has been particularly helpful in bringing together the varied professions and professionals who train and/or care for individuals with voice needs or problems, and in allowing them to learn from one another. To this end, in the last several years, the BVA has presented or sponsored over 60 multidisciplinary conferences, training courses and symposia, many with international speakers and venues. It played a major part in instigating and supporting the concept of pan-European voice conferences. In fact it hosted the first Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC) in 1996 and has co-sponsored the next two. Its journal, Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology was created in 1997 as a joint venture with The Nordic Council for Logopedics and Phoniatrics.In the last decade or so since it has become a charitable organisation, and in part due to its role, the general level of knowledge in the UK about the voice, how the larynx and the vocal tract work and how problems therein can be helped, has dramatically increased. Voice and Singing teachers and coaches, Speech and Language Therapists and ENT Surgeons are working together in greater numbers than ever before; more specialised Voice Clinics are being organised; and voice disorders are becoming more important in curricula for trainees.To assist in this arena, the BVA has been running Stroboscopy courses twice yearly for the last two or three years. Stroboscopy is the cornerstone of the voice clinic in that it allows the voice team to visualise the vocal folds in apparent slow motion, and thereby make subtle diagnoses of the voice problem. These courses have been particularly helpful to voice teams just getting underway or considering starting up in the field.The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has recommended membership of the BVA for its Speech and Language Therapists specialising in the treatment of voice disorders. Many of us feel that, today, the BVA is a primary organisation providing multidisciplinary education and support for professionals caring for the voice.
 

The Future

THE FOUR PILLARS - As noted, the BVA has predominantly had an educational mission during its first decade of life. It has quite clearly had a positive impact on the level of knowledge of Voice and on interdisciplinary Voice work. In the next decade the BVA will continue to expand on this mission, and will most likely focus on the following four Pillars:

1. Education: this has traditionally been the BVA’s key role for its membership, and it will be continued as such. The education committee, a key subcommittee of the Council of the BVA meets regularly to propose and discuss educational events. We have recently polled our membership as to what they wish to hear, and have responded directly to their wishes. We will most likely continue with the formula of two large educational events, one in the autumn and one in the spring in association with the annual general meeting, and four tightly-focused small events at other times of the year.

2. Prevention of vocal disability: This is an important focus, with precedents in European law, and will likely become a major issue for the next decade. This concept, preventing voice disability before it occurs, or preventing worsening of disability, applies to many arenas and fields of endeavour: school teachers, students in classrooms, aerobics teachers, barristers, brokers, administrators, telephone users, actors, singers, etc. Basically, occupational safety is the issue here. The Pan-European Voice Conference in Utrecht in 1999 (PEVOC3) had occupational voice disorders as its theme.

3. Communication skills: This is an area that already has many proponents, both inside and outside of the BVA. Improvement of communication skills is crucial for management of almost any organization. The BVA should continue to emphasize this area.

4. Research: This is an extremely important area. The population in the UK is currently undergoing marked growth in both extremes of life: there is a ‘baby boom’ and at the same time an ever-increasing life expectancy. Issues such as children’s voices, the role of in-classroom evaluation of vocal problems, the effects of ageing and endocrinological changes on the voice, etc., are each important areas for study and should be supported by the BVA.
    

Summary

To summarise, the BVA is a multidisciplinary organisation devoted to people with voice problems, ranging from severe pathology to subtle difficulties of artistic performance. It is, indeed, a voice for Voice.