Man gets new accent ahead of wedding

A young man from Birmingham with cerebral palsy has been gifted a new West Midlands accent, ahead of his wedding.

Jack Reeve, 22, has been using a communication device with a robotic voice for as long as he can remember.

He is getting married to his fiancee Bethan in 2026 and launched an appeal earlier this year through West Midlands Ambulance Service, supported by the BBC, to find a new accent.

Around 30 people offered their voices, and Mr Reeve chose an anonymous donor with a Dudley accent.

He said: "I chose a voice with a Dudley accent as that is where my fiancee is from. I also like the timing of the voice.

"I had to listen to them and mark them based on pitch, speed and what I liked and didn't like about them.

"I wanted to make the right choice - it is going to be my voice for the rest of my life."

Mr Reeve is a student at National Star in Cheltenham, which runs the Find My Voice project.

The college works with a company called Model Talker which produces speech synthesis software designed to benefit people who are losing or who have already lost their ability to speak.

It allows students to choose their own bespoke voice.

Parents Heidi Wells and Chris Reeves travelled from Erdington to Cheltenham to hear his new voice.

Heidi said she was "super happy, super proud, shed my little tear".

She added: "Super thankful to the guy who's donated his voice to Jack, what a thing to have been able to have done.

"I can't describe it, it's not very often that I'm speechless, but I'm speechless."

Since 2019 National Star has recorded 11 bespoke voices for different people, recorded by a family member, friend, member of the public, or professional voice actor.

There is currently no public funding available, so the project is funded through donations.

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