STAMMA and Iris London calls for people to Leave Space for those with a stammer

Stamma - the UK’s leading charity for people who stammer - today unveils its new campaign ‘Leave Space’, created by Iris London

By Creative Salon

08 June 2026

The OOH campaign launches across key cities including Manchester and Liverpool and is fuelled by pro bono media from JC Decaux. The work aims to drive awareness and behaviour change among people who don’t stammer, by encouraging them to embrace the silence and give people who stammer time to speak.

Based on the insight that 14% of people who stammer were hung up on during their most recent call to an organisation*, the campaign seeks to encourage behaviour change. These pauses feel awkward, so we automatically rush to fill them. But for someone who stammers, those pauses aren’t empty, they’re part of speaking.

The aim is to make that pause behaviour feel obvious by utilising a space we expect to be filled: OOH billboards.

The creative approach is deliberately minimal, with space left mostly blank to stand out in busy environments. The empty space mirrors the pause people should allow in real conversations.

It features two simple lines as part of the creative:

Not every space needs to be filled.

Give people who stammer time to speak.

The campaign aligns with STAMMA’’s ambition to work towards a world where people who stammer are heard, included and able to speak without shame or stigma.

The initial OOH push will be followed by national cinema and audio campaigns in July supported by pro bono media from Pearl & Dean and Acast.

Menno Kluin, Chief Creative Officer at Iris commented: “Our journey with STAMMA is about creating real behavioural change for people who stammer.

We wanted to make a simple point: leave space for people who stammer to speak. What better way to demonstrate that than by creating OOH that quite literally leaves space in a media landscape?”

Jane Powell, CEO at STAMMA adds: “This campaign is part of STAMMA’s long-term mission to create real behavioural change for people who stammer and build a world where everyone feels able to speak without shame, stigma or interruption.”