Imagine standing there - you know what you want to say but the words won't come out.

This is reality for millions of stammerers across the country, but finally they've been given hope by a young lad from Bradford.

Gareth Gates is the name on everybody's lips, yet he struggled to say it in front of the judges on ITV's Pop Idol - the contest to find the pop star of the future.

But his faultless rendition of Westlife's Flying Without Wings took their breath away and now, as one of the last three left in the competition, he is hotly tipped to win.

Like Gareth, Patrick Maddison from the would-be pop star's home city of Bradford, also sought solace in performing... but not music - magic.

The 31-year-old IT manager found conjuring as an escape from the stammer which has been part of his life since he was eight.

His first recollection of having a speech problem was standing speechless when his headmaster asked him in front of his class why he had been naughty.

"All I can remember is having a great struggle, and whatever I tried I just could not speak," said Patrick.

He went to a speech therapist, but found that although he could control the problem during the sessions, it re-appeared in day-to-day life.

But then something magical happened.

"My father was a well-known and respected magician in the magic community and he helped to get me started by sharing his skills and secrets with me," said Patrick.

"I found that doing magic really increased my confidence, and I also found that I didn't stammer while I was performing."

And it all paid off for Patrick when, in 1998, he was crowned British Magical Close-up Champion.

But he had to cope with other challenges.

"At work I found it very difficult to deal with meetings or take telephone calls. I would say it was a massive hindrance in my career, and at that point I was feeling very down about where to go from there," said Patrick.

"Saying that, I had a lot of support from my colleagues and, as a team, we worked well."

Another turning point in Patrick's life was undergoing the McGuire Speech Programme, the same programme Gareth Gates is doing, which is run by American David McGuire, apparently a self-cured ex-stammerer.

"I noticed two major changes in my life," said Patrick.

"The first was that I experienced about three to four weeks of perfect fluency, and I felt really proud that my father could at last see me as a fluent speaker, especially as he died just four weeks after I came back from my first course."

And it also gave him confidence.

"Putting aside the fact that I stammered, it gave me knowledge that I can go out there and do anything I like, just like anybody else," he said.

"I had always thought I wasn't as good as everybody else because I stammered, but going on the course helped me to realise that I am just as good as anybody else despite my stammer and this has always stuck with me."

And, he said the fact that Gareth Gates had gone out there and shown the nation he too could do it despite his speech problem, had inspired many sufferers.

"The way Gareth has helped is that the general public has a far better understanding now of what stammering is and, I believe, that we are now in a very positive position due to better public awareness," said Patrick, whose hope for the future is that more money can be put into research to help find a true cause.

Another Bradford sufferer is Andy Bramham. The 31-year-old medical engineer from Eccleshill suffered with a stamina from the age of seven and underwent speech therapy at Leeds General Infirmary.

And, according to Andy, the treatment helped to control his speech difficulty so much so he was able to say his vows at his wedding last September.

"I was absolutely petrified but it would have been a lot harder if I hadn't had therapy," said Andy, who even gave a speech at the reception.

"I stuttered a bit but it was fine," he said.

He, too, is a great fan of Gareth's.

"It's daunting enough in normal life, but to become a pop star is amazing," said Andy.

According to Dr Trudy Stewart, specialist speech therapist at St James's Hospital in Leeds, who helps children and adult stammerers, there isn't a definite cause, but several factors including genetic, being in a highly pressurised situation, and delayed language development in children.

She said that, in the past, children often reached adulthood before their speech problem was detected. Then there are other issues to tackle, like the psychological effects speech problems have on the sufferer.

"People think it is just a speech problem, but it is much more," said Dr Stewart.

"People compromise their lives. I have had people who don't go for a job because they think somebody will judge them because of their stammer, and I have even had one man who couldn't tell the woman he loved her because of his stammer."

But help is at hand. They are currently using new research to help them detect speech problems earlier, and they also tailor-make programmes designed to suit the individual's needs.

Dr Stewart said Gareth was also proving a tonic by raising awareness about the condition and by also showing fellow sufferers they can achieve their goal.

"He isn't just Gareth Gates the stammerer, he is a Pop Idol," said Dr Stewart.

Liz Waller, of the British Stammering Association, agreed that Gareth was a brilliant inspiration to fellow sufferers.

"Sadly, stammering is perceived as some sort of weakness, but Gareth Gates is a good example to people that they can get out there and not let it hold them back."