You might have seen an advert earlier this year, called Life Story, for Barnardo's. It followed the story of Michael, a vulnerable child, whose life was turned around by Barnardo's workers, showing that a life doesn't have to end up the way it began. The advert showed some of the range of services that Barnardo's offers to children, young people, and families, and won a 2 Gold and 2 Silver Awards at the British Arrows advertising awards.
Well, Michael was a fictional character, but there are plenty of "real Michaels" out there. For one week from today (26/11/12), Barnardo's will be turning their facebook and twitter channels over to Jenny, Kirsten, Laura and Caitlin, four young women who are real Barnardo's service users, who want to tell their Life Stories about how Barnardo's helped turn their lives around. They're stories to inspire, to amaze, and to make you think.
I haven't read their stories yet, any more than you have right now, but I'll be watching with interest all week. Barnardo's does a whole lot more than people think. They haven't run children's homes since the 1970's, despite popular belief, but they do work with vulnerable children & young people across the UK, in all sorts of settings. From young carers to asylum seekers, fostering & education to substance misuse & family support, and campaigns to raise awareness of issues such as child sexual exploitation and youth criminal justice, there's a lot more to Barnardo's than you'd think. And with over 800 projects across the UK, there's probably one close to you as well. (Not to mention over 500 charity shops!)
The aim is to spread these four Barnardo's Real Life Stories as far across the web as possible. You can follow the stories on facebook & twitter, with the hashtag #lifestory. Can a tweet change a life? I think so, so join me in following the #lifestory all week.
This is not a sponsored post. I have not been told what to write. I am sharing this post because it is a charity I believe in. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.
Its funny the things you remember as a child. When I was young (obviously only a few years ago....) my mum would take me to visit her friend who had 4 boys and a husband but were as poor as us, if not worse.
ReplyDeleteOne of her boys used to live at Dr Barnardo's (showing my age now with the Dr). Mum said he was too much for the family to handle and had mental health issues.
That always stuck with me, I met him a few times when we used to visit and he was obviously different to the other boys and I remember feeling sad, I was only about 8/9 years old 10 at the most but this charity has always stuck in my mind for that.
Thanks for your post, I've signed up to their news letter to keep up to date with this charity that really doesn't get as much press as it should.