Meghan Smith
My name is Meghan and although I am only 28 years old, I have had to survive a number of hurdles to be here today. I’ll be taking you through these hurdles of having to live with an undiagnosed liver disease, requiring a transplant and how COVID-19 has affected me as a person at high-risk. […]
Madiha Sosan
A Tough Beginning in Pakistan I’ve been through so much in my life but, no matter what, I will not be held back by the 15-year prison sentence I gave myself. Hi, I’m Madiha. I was born in Pakistan where I lived with my mother and father. We had no money, hardly any possessions; life […]
Sean Bailey
Early Dreams and Setbacks If I told you that I had met Michelle Obama, David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson, you might think I was some kind of sporting celebrity. However, the journey that I’ve taken is perhaps not what you would expect… I’m Sean, born in Newton Le Willows in North West England. Growing […]
Jacob Manyang
A Childhood in the Midst of War I’m a 33-year-old and was born in South Sudan during an intense civil war between the ages of 4 and 8 who took both my mother and my father’s life. I am one of their four children; I have a brother living in the US and a brother […]
Nathaniel Hall
© Anton Mellor Uncovering My Truth I was in school all the way through Section 28, which prohibited the promotion and discussion of homosexuality in the school environment. It was a homophobic place with often severe bullying. I was a straight-A student with a passion for theatre and went on to become head boy, but […]
Nicola Sansom
From Shy Beginnings to a Life-Altering Journey The baby of the family, painfully shy and partially deaf. That was me, growing up in Derbyshire, and later Buckinghamshire with my loving parents and older sister. A long way away from the African streets where I focus so much of my time nowadays. I left high school […]
Syd Barnes
The day I was born Manchester United beat Manchester City; which was a sign of the turmoil to come. I’m the eldest of three boys born to our care worker mother and gardener father; your typical loving family living on a Manchester council estate in the sixties. I never took school seriously and loved playing […]
Owiny Hakiim
A Childhood in a War Zone In Agago District (Northern Uganda) in 1986 I was born, the only child of my mother and one of fifteen to my polygamy father. Despite my disagreements with my father’s approach to women, he was a good man who worked for the local government and as my elder, […]
Danny Collins
Danny’s Duality: From Prestige to Homelessness” I have performed Nessun Dorma in Manchester Cathedral five times and have recently performed at the Royal Academy of Music. If I told you nothing else, you would probably create an image in your head of a well presented man with a slick hairstyle wearing a very expensive jacket. […]