The founder of The Devan Group, The AAB Group, Action Against Bullying & Advice for Teachers.
I am a Fixer, an #iwill ambassador, a #GivingTuesday Social Media Ambassador, a Get Connected Ambassador and a Volunteen Young Ambassador.
Along with being a member of the East Riding College Help Crew and an Anti-Bullying Stratergy Group Member with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
About Me
My Vision is that more action is taken against bullying
and that bullying is taken seriously.
I work to achieve this Vision by making it my mission to
make more people aware of bullying and the affects it can
have on young people.
I do this by:
- Raising awareness about bullying in my local area - Providing teachers with information about bullying, through
a website designed to give teachers an insight, to what it
feels like being bullied (www.adviceforteachers.org.uk)
- Working alongside other schools and organisations
- Being a member of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Anti-Bullying Stratergy Group.
- Providing young people with information about bullying and
where they can get help (www.devangroup.moonfruit.com)
Along with running my own anti-bullying project I am also an
#iwill ambassador, a #GivingTuesday partner & social media
ambassador, a Get Connected ambassador, a Volunteen Young
ambassador and a Fixer for Fixers UK. I am also a member
of the East Riding College Help Crew.
I took part in ITV Text Santa and a European Documentary
called "Bullying Diaries". I have done various Radio interviews
for BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio Humberside, Vixen101 and
Viking FM these can all be seen on my YouTube Channel.
(Links can be found in the press section).
#iwillcontinue to raise awareness about the effects of bullying, by encouraging more people to take action, with the hope that it will always be taken seriously in the future.
The Devan Group is my main project and is the home for most of my smaller projects. The group is focused around young people and provides information, advice and signposting, to other services who are able to help a young person in need. The Devan Group also includes Action Against Bullying which is the facebook page where everything started.
Fixers
I have worked with Fixers to create a website for teachers, to provide information about bullying. Fixers work with young people aged 16-25 helping them to create great projects which tackle hard hitting issues.They are a great charity enabling young people to have a voice and be heard. They cover a huge range of issues such as bullying and mental health to homelessness and environmental issues. Fixers are great to work with as they reach every postcode in the UK. If you have an issue which you need fixing sign up to become a Fixer. If you are interested make sure you visit their website at fixers.org.uk.
Step Up To Serve & #iwill Campaign
I have recently become an #iwill ambassador with Step Up To Serve - in total there are 50 #iwill ambassadors. Step Up To Serve is a national Campaign aiming to inspire a generation of young people by increasing the quality, quantity and frequency of social action for all young people aged between 10 and 20.
The #iwill campaign was launched in November 2013 thanks to the leadership of HRH The Prince of Wales and the UK's three main political parties. It aims to make involvement in social action the norm for 10 - 20 year old's across the UK by 2020. We describe this as 'young people taking practical action in the service of others to create positive change'. Examples include caring for someone in the community, providing peer support online, volunteering for a charity, campaigning or fundraising for a specific cause.
The #iwill call to action is for more organisations to promote youth social action and create fresh opportunities. #iwill is independent, cross-party, cross-sector and collaborative. Youth Social action creates a double-benefit, strengthening communities AND developing the character and skills of young participants.
#iwill - empowering more young people to play their part.
Volunteen by ERVAS
I am an ambassador for the Volunteen programme which is a project run by East Riding Voluntary Action Services (ERVAS) Ltd. It aims to help young people aged 11 - 25 in the East Riding of Yorkshire to increase life skills by engaging them in new and enjoyable social activities.
Volunteen will work with Secondary Schools, as well as a wide mixture of groups from the voluntary, statutory and private sector. Their aim is to ensure that all young people in the East Riding have the chance to benefit from volunteering.
Talent Match Humber
Talent Match Humber is a project for young people designed by young people, with the aim of helping those aged 18-24, housing long term unemployed, who are struggling the most to find career opportunities. All Talent Match Humber projects include high quality IAG and “wrap-around” support to help you overcome any barriers to employment, such as debt issues, health problems, issues etc.
To make sure Talent Match Humber is meeting the needs of young people, the Young People's Partnership (YPP) have active input into the areas of commissioning and delivery. The YPP also support young people in the wider community with issues around self-esteem and employment barriers. The partnership is made up of young people aged 18-24 from all across the Humber. You don't have to be unemployed to join the YPP, I am currently a member of the YPP working on tackling youth transport issues within Hull & East Riding.
Get Connected
Get Connected is the UK's free, confidential helpline for young people under 25 who need help and don't know where to turn. Their service is available 365 days a year and young people can contact them by phone, webchat, email, text message or use their online directory, WebHelp 24/7.
When a young person gets in touch, one of their 100 trained Helpline Volunteers helps the young person explore their issues. They offer emotional support and can let them know about appropriate sources of further specialist help from the database of 10,000 trusted organisations.
Get Connected's Vision is for every young person in the UK to be able to find the help they need to support their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Research Projects
Here you can find more information about research projects I have taken part in.
Bullying Diaries
Produced by Small Planet for:- The Smile of the Child Organization and the European Anti-Bullying Network Directed by Alexandros Chantzis Duration: 51min
I have been involved with a documentary about bullying for the above named organisations. A bit about the documentary taken from the producers website:
"Bullying used to be dismissed as a bit unfortunate, but mostly harmless and finally unavoidable part of growing up. Most people tend to recall teasing and fighting in the school playground and the neighborhood, even somewhat nostalgic. Is there, however, a certain point those common jokes and pranks between children stop being all that funny? Indisputably, yes."
#GivingTuesday - I am involved and you can be too!
December 2nd is #GivingTuesday. I became the first #GivingTuesday social media ambassador in the UK for this great cause. Visit: givingtuesday.org.uk and find out more.
"#GivingTuesday started in the The United States in 2012 as an antidote to the start of the festive shopping season, which is kicked off by Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday shopping online. More and more companies are bringing the Black Friday sales and the Cyber Monday online shopping spree to these shores. Shopping's great, but #GivingTuesday is a remedy to the pressures of Christmas spending and gives an opportunity to help the causes we all care about. This idea is now spreading across the world. Canada, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, Latin America and Israel all now join in on this day to put a huge, global spotlight on giving." - The #GivingTuesday website.
Blog
PRESS
CONTACT ME
Feel free to contact me using the following form - I aim to reply within 24 Hours.