EIGHT mothers from Herefordshire have won special certificates for helping their children develop speech and language.

They gained the awards after attending a seven-week course which was run in the county for the first time.

It was organised by local speech and language therapists and staff from Herefordshire Council’s Widemarsh Children’s Centre to promote the communication skills of young children. The course included information about normal speech and language development, ideas about how to help children listen, understand and talk and knowledge about communication difficulties children can experience.

All eight mothers who took part in the course were awarded certificates of accreditation.

Councillor Jenny Hyde, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said the mothers would now be well equipped to give their children a headstart.

“Speech and language forms the basis of learning, so support provided to children during the developmental years provides benefits in future years,” she said.