Our patrons support Communication Matters by positively representing the charity, raising awareness of AAC, and helping attract engagement and support in line with our mission and values.
The Board of Trustees is pleased to introduce Lee Ridley as a patron of Communication Matters.
Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) is the first stand-up comedian to use a communication aid.
Lee says, “I love helping people with communication difficulties by simply living my life in public and showing that not everyone speaks the same way.
“I use a communication aid, and for most of my life, people decided what I could understand or achieve before I’d even had a chance to say anything. Comedy gave me a way to change that.
” By performing, speaking in the media and meeting audiences, I try to normalise alternative communication and encourage people to be patient and listen to the message, not the method. For me, it’s about proving that communication is a human right.
Everyone has a voice, some of us just use different equipment to project it.“
Lee won Britain’s Got Talent in 2018 and the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014. His TV and radio credits include Christmas Comedy Club With Lost Voice Guy (ITV), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions (ITV), Britain’s Got Talent Christmas Spectacular (ITV), Evil Escapes (ITV), America’s Got Talent: The Champions (NBC), Comic Relief (BBC One), Live At The Apollo (BBC Two), The Last Leg (Channel 4), Comedians Giving Lectures (Dave), Question Team (Dave), The 13 Million Club (BBC Radio 4) and The Now Show (BBC Radio 4).
As an actor, Lee has appeared in Jerk Series 1-3 (BBC Three) and Scot Squad (BBC Scotland). He also wrote and starred in I Just Called To Say (Sky Comedy) and Ability Series 1-4 (BBC Radio 4) which was shortlisted for Best Radio Comedy in the 2019 Writers’ Guild Awards and Best Scripted Comedy in the 2019 BBC Audio Drama Awards. In addition, Lee has written episodes of the children’s animated series, Zog & The Flying Doctors. Lee is also a published author: his book, I’m Only In It For The Parking, is available in hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook.
Lee has toured the UK, selling out venues up and down the country, with his shows I’m Only In It For The Parking and Cerebral Lol-sy. He’s also performed at the likes of the Edinburgh Fringe, Latitude, Rewind Festival, Galway Comedy Festival, Brighton Fringe, Glasgow International Comedy Festival and Leicester Comedy Festival. in 2019, Lee was named Ent24’s Hardest Working Comedian of the Year. He was also named on The Shaw Trust’s Disability Power 100 List of the UK’s most influential disabled people in the UK in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Lee has told jokes/given motivational speeches for a range of charities and organisations including Sainsbury’s, Barclays and The Royal College of Nurses. He is also an ambassador for Scope and Sense as well as being a patron of The Scott-Morgan Foundation, Smile For Life, Communication Matters and The Sequal Trust.
