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NATIONAL LISTENING DAY

“SAY IT YOUR WAY”

INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF OUR LISTENING DAY CHAMPIONS

S.T.O.R.M Family Centre In Collaboration With Georgia’s Voice Announces A UK National Listening Day With The Aim Of Promoting Wellbeing Among Young People, Providing A Platform For Their Voice To Be Heard

Thursday the 18th November 2021, London: S.T.O.R.M Family Centre, is happy to be working with Georgia’s Voice, to launch the ‘National Listening Day’; this special day presents young people with the opportunity to speak about what they are currently going through regarding their emotions, and to also analyse the impact on their general health in light of lockdowns.

We are grateful and happy to be working in collaboration with Georgia’s Voice; a charity based in Cornwall for the aid of young girls struggling with wellbeing and in need of emotional support. This charity was founded by Sophie Alway after one of her daughters, Georgia, sadly took her own life last year 2020.

Through Georgia’s Voice, support groups have created a huge network of support and provides safe spaces for girls to talk if and when they want to. Together, both STORM Family Centre and Georgia’s Voice will be launching the National Listening Day.

On this day, we are encouraging young people to speak about their struggles to their parents, guardians, and carers regarding their general wellbeing. ‘Say It Your Way’ will be the theme for our inaugural event about the Listening Day.

This idea was born from a young person who was struggling with anxiety and depression and his voice was not being heard. From their thoughts, the phrase ‘Say it Your Way’ was conceived.

With this in mind we at S.T.O.R.M, alongside Georgia’s Voice and the very young people that have inspired this day, are passionate about raising awareness for young people on a day where their voices are heard by all adults – parents, guardians, teachers, and carers.

The older generation will be advised to listen to the young people on this day where young people will express their emotions whilst talking about any topic they feel comfortable discussing. Young people will have the opportunity to highlight positive and negative
feelings which may have been overlooked prior to, during, and after lockdowns.

The aim of National Listening Day is to not only shine a spotlight on how much our young people need to have their voices heard, but also to raise awareness to the overall delicate issue of mental health among young people – this will empower our youth while educating young people on how to ask for support as well as obtaining vital information about therapy and general restorative avenues for healing. Our hope and aspiration are that our young people can really talk about their personal struggles; express their feelings, pains, hurts, anxiety, depression, and to be encouraged to ‘Say It Your Way.’ The voices of the future need to be heard.

Sir Charles Walker KBE MP served as the Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 – 2019 and has been the Member of Parliament for Broxbourne since 2005. He recorded this short message for our young people for the Listening Day launch

STORM Family Centre is a community organisation based on Doddington Estate in Battersea, Wandsworth. S.T.O.R.M stands for: Support, Trust, Opportunity, Rebuilding and Motivation. The vision was, and remains, to help people in need of support; particularly focusing on members of the local population within the black ethnic minority community as well as hard-to-engage groups. S.T.O.R.M is committed to addressing social issues such as poverty, long- term unemployment, mental health and youth crime. We work hard to provide empowerment and opportunities for people to gain education and build confidence. The charity has an open-door policy for our service users which we know helps as it breaks down barriers to access and engagement.
Last year we responded to an increase in our young people sharing their issues with their mental health by launching a day that allowed them to be listened to called National Listening Day on 18^th November 2021. The main aim of National Listening Day is to help support young people with their mental and emotional wellbeing. The event provided a space for young people to share their experiences during lockdown and the impact it had on their mental health. We had performances, talks and attendees from a range of fields, including 10 Downing Street officials.
We wish to have an ongoing event annually to help raise awareness regarding mental health for young people everywhere. Our campaign Say It Your Way will be the ongoing activities around National Listening Day to raise awareness, educate parents/carers and encourage young people to express their feelings and concerns.

We want to make noise and share lived experiences from young people and parents to show what our young people are going through. Not only will this be an annual event but we will work with schools, youth groups, colleges and universities to provide information on this issue and provide resources to encourage teachers and students to express how their feel in the safety of their classrooms as well as at home.
Building up to our event we are partnering with other organisations to promote the importance of listening to children and young people. We believe listening week will let children know that they are appreciated and loved, and that we, as adults, are here to be a listening ear to their concerns. Especially with the recent lockdowns, we want them to know that we have their safety and wellbeing in mind.
This is an important week for young people, and we encourage everyone to see how we can all be there for our children and young people. Please see visit our website for updates and see how you can get involved: https://listeningday.co.uk. You can also hear thoughts from our young people on the topic and a song from one of our young campaigners expressing how he feels about mental health.

If you are a young person or parent/carer and want more information or would like to become a young campaigner themselves, you can contact our Programme Manager, Simone Ujah by emailing sayityourway2022@gmail.com.

ABOUT S.T.O.R.M – S.T.O.R.M Family Centre Ltd. is an organization that provides essential support and safety to women and families endangered by domestic abuse. It is a community-based and family focused organisation. Based in the London Borough of Wandsworth, the project is headed by Marie Hanson MBE. S.T.O.R.M provides a safe place for women in need of immediate support, resources, a safe place, guidance and most of all, love.

ABOUT GEORGIA’S VOICE – Georgia’s Voice is a charity based in Cornwall created by Sophie Alway. The charity commenced after Sophie’s daughter, Georgia Lee Gallaway sadly took her own life on July 6th 2020 after struggling with her mental health. Georgia’s Voice aspires to reduce the rate of suicide in young women by making them realise they are not alone. Through Georgia’s Voice, support groups have created a huge network of support and provide safe spaces for girls to talk if and when they want to. As well as creating support groups, Georgia’s Voice provides a huge support system tailored to individual needs, provide workshops and information days explaining things that can promote good mental health & positive emotions and can help with providing a range of therapies and helplines.

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