Matthew Smith
Trigger Warning: Suicide ‘There is life after suicide’ My name is Matthew Smith and I am from Durham. I am 28 now, and have lived in the same village all my life. It’s the kind of village where everybody knows each other. I look back at my childhood with fond memories, I was the middle […]
Kerry Boland
Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse & Rape “What was once a void is now a value” I’m Kerry Boland. I am from Stockport in Manchester. I work with female entrepreneurs on their sales strategies and I’m a mother of three. I grew up in Reddish as the eldest of 4 children. My dad always drilled into […]
Jeremy Indika
Trigger Warning: Child Abuse ‘Finding happiness in facing up to new challenges’ My name is Jeremy Indika and I am the founder of ‘Something to Say’, my life’s mission is to break the uncomfortable silence that surrounds child abuse. I was a normal child; I did well in school, I played lots of sports and […]
Rio Timberlane
“ If we can give away our power, we have the ability to take that power back.” I was born in the Hollywood area of LA county and they lost my birth certificate! When I went looking for it a few years back, I found it in an obscure, hidden place in a government building’s […]
Hayley Xenophontos
Trigger warning: Sexual Abuse “A hairdresser is a position of trust” My name is Hayley and I live in the Stockport area. I run a hair and wellbeing centre, where I specialise in hair loss solutions for women. I’m also an advocate for mental health. I do workshops including mindfulness, confidence and meditation. I was […]
Steph Marie
Trigger warning: Child Abuse and Bullying “Learning that my disability doesn’t define me” My name is Steph Marie, I am from Bury and I am a social influencer, chat show host and a historian and I also have cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy means that the part of the brain that sends signals is damaged. It […]
Sam Smith
“Every time a door is closed in your face, you’re closer to another door opening”. My name is Sam Smith, and I was born in Bolton in 1972 where I grew up. I came from a single-mother family where there were four kids and each of us had different dads. I didn’t ever get to […]
Loong Ly
“You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To” My name is Loong Ly. I’m an ex-footballer turned school coach after learning that it’s alright to sometimes pursue a different path than the original plan. I was born in Hackney, but my parents came over on boats as refugees during the Vietnam war. Hackney wasn’t […]
Andy Craddock
“Disability has not stopped me from being the person that I am”. My name is Andy Craddock. I went through life as an able-bodied person until I acquired a disability in adulthood. I’m from Birmingham. I come from a working-class family, and my father was in the military. Both my parents passed away a couple […]
David Morgan
‘There is more to life than the corporate way’. My name is David Morgan. I help rehabilitate people leaving prison by giving them the skills to start their own businesses. I’ve always been fascinated with how things work. I liked computers and engineering from a young age. Looking back, many of my friends were geeky […]