A Career in Communication

Charlotte Unwin (Class of 2013) delivered a Women of Work talk to Year 10 girls at Bolton School from her home in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Charlotte, who is a Speech and Language Therapist, told how her career has revolved around helping people with their communication. She reflected on her time at Bolton School, which began in 2007, and how she developed a love of Modern Foreign Languages, particularly French and Spanish, recalling her teachers Miss Slatter and Miss Stephenson favourably. Charlotte also enjoyed music at school and recalled attending taster sessions in Portuguese and Italian and even having some Russian lessons in the Boys’ Division when she was in Year 12. Some of her favourite memories, she said, were of the Christmas Post, a trip to America and the Prefects’ Panto.

After Bolton School, Charlotte studied Russian and Italian at the University of Sheffield and recalled living in three Russian cities – Moscow, St Petersburg and Yaroslavl – during her four-year degree. University, she said, was a great time in her life and she recollected enjoying lots of activities including the Russian society, the Italian society, the University Officers’ Training Corps for two years and taking part in running, hiking and cycling clubs in the Peak District. She went on to further study, undertaking a Masters in International Tourism and Hospitality Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. During her time there, Charlotte undertook a number of placements – at Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester and at the Manchester United Museum and became involved with social media marketing for pubs and clubs across Manchester. Her thesis, she recalled, focused on the brass band competitions in Tameside and Saddleworth. During the course, Charlotte secured a job as a travel agent before working for a company that was a hotel consultant for the British Army and taking a role as a business travel consultant. This all came to a halt, she said, when Covid hit. Working from home gave her time to reflect on what she wanted to do with her life and she realised that she wanted to help people.

Charlotte then signed up for more study – a two-year conversion course in the form of an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy at UCLan. During this time, she gained a wide range of experience, working in placements in hospitals, schools, prisons and community settings. She told how she got to work with an Adults with Learning Disabilities team in the Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust in Widnes and Runcorn before moving across to an NHS contracted company for children’s services. Across the two jobs, she said, she developed a wide skillset.

Fed up with the English weather, Charlotte took the decision to emigrate to Australia, where she now works in a community role for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). She spoke about having a wide variety of individuals on her caseload and how she conducts sessions wherever people are comfortable. She also explained how she works closely with other specialists such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists and often delivers joint sessions.

Advising her Year 10 self, Charlotte said don’t be afraid to make mistakes and to find something that you enjoy doing. She then answered a range of questions, including: Why did you choose the speech and language therapy course? What made you get into it? What were the entry requirements to get onto the Masters at UCLAN? Was Australia a big difference in culture? Are you homesick at all? And how long did it take to get your visa?

Watch Charlotte’s talk again.