Clean sweep: success for second annual Clean Speech Project UK

A community project looking to improve the way we communicate has been hailed a huge success.

The Clean Speech Project UK, run by educational and social action charities Seed & GIFT and sponsored by Wohl Legacy, wants to encourage people to choose positive speech over negative speech.

Debuting last year, this May over 75 schools, shuls and communities took part; teaching syllabuses, running parent-child learning, events and programmes, a workshop at Ernst & Young for sixth form students about communication in the workplace and events and a women’s learning event with over 250 women.

Hundreds of families attended parent-child learning in schools across the country and over a thousand people signed up for the daily Clean Speech video from a different educator each day.

The project produced various resources for communities – from Shavuot shiurim to a booklet by Judge Zeidman KC comparing English Defamation Law to Jewish laws on Lashon Hara.

Co-founder and Seed’s Director of Education Rabbi Daniel Fine said: “Never have we communicated as much as we do, and never has communication been the cause of such stress and misunderstanding. Based on a hugely successful campaign in Colorado, the Clean Speech Project UK is one of the most creative and impactful projects I’ve worked on – and it’s been brilliant to work alongside the educational innovation and experience of Rabbi Avrohom Zeidman and GIFT.

“The feedback has been brilliant – with many people commenting that this project has changed the way they communicate. The number of communities embracing the project and adding their own event or programme has been superb – it shows how important the project is.”