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Gulwali grew up as a shepherd boy. When he was only 12 years old he was packed off with his older brother and told by his mother to never return as it was too unsafe for them to live in war torn Afghanistan anymore. He travelled across many countries in treacherous conditions and was barely even treated like a human let alone a child in many circumstances. His road was long and involved many arrests, imprisonment and deportation before he eventually landed on UK soil.
Gulwali is now determined to help other children who are displaced by war, he is the co-founder of mybrightkite and campaigns endlessly to give those less fortunate a voice and to raise awareness of the plight of refugee children. It is his wish that the media stop scare mongering and instead help the residents of European countries open their hearts and their doors to these children unhindered to give them hope of a better future. He has recently written a book about his experiences ‘The Lightless Sky.’ Co-Founder of My Bright Kite CIC https://www.mybrightkite.org Patron: The Separated Child Foundation Chairperson of Afghan Youth Movement - AYMUK A World At School - TheirWorld; Global Youth Ambassador Board of Trustee; NOMAD [Nations of Migration Awakening the Diaspora Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) Social Justice Sub-Committee Member 2020 Education Youth Ambassador Advisor to Refugee Rights Europe Joint Council on the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) Ambassador NHS Youth Forum Ambassador Ambassador for TERN - The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network Edlumino Education Aid, Ambassador Panel member for Olive Branch Fostering Youth Ambassadors for Refugees & Asylum Seekers - Refugee Week Blog: gulwalipassarly.wordpress.com Twitter: @GulwaliP
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Kitty Waters - My family history of depression & suicide led me to teaching, 'Do Your Dharma!'2/3/2019
To most outsiders this would seem like living the dream however Kitty very quickly ended up having a nervous, emotional breakdown. She turned to alcohol and drugs as a release. Kitty’s upbringing had been very British stiff upper lip, you didn’t express yourself or show emotions so she internalised everything which did her no good at all.
At 28 Kitty had a spiritual awakening. Her mum who had suffered with post natal depression when she was younger was now struggling again as she grappled with the hormonal shift of hitting the menopause. Kitty’s mum went missing and left a suicide note. When Kitty got the call she headed straight home taking her paramedic boyfriend and sister with her. This was the day Kitty found out about the family history of mental health issues. As Kitty had been suffering with her own mental health for some time at this point it was a surreal experience for her to find out the truth, however there was no time to process as she needed to find her mum. They went to look for her in the woods at the back of the family home, not really knowing which way to turn Kitty was suddenly aware of a voice in her head telling her to turn right, the voice then guided her to find her mum who had taken a massive overdose, thankfully she hadn’t fallen into the river and Kitties boyfriend was able to tend to her. As Kitty ran back for help she promised to make changes to her life, it was a real wakeup call that took her onto the path of personal development. She has now taken her life to a whole new level; teaching Dharma and helping others find and follow their purpose to create their dream life. https://www.kittywaters.com https://www.facebook.com/kittytalksclub Instagram @kitty_Talks Twitter @KittyWaters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad
I met someone, who is now my ex but I came off drugs and changed my life. My path in life has been a tough one especially what I went through over the last 8-9 years.
In 2017-18 I entered the ‘world cup’ of shoe repairs. This competition brings together the very best in my industry from around the world to compete to become world champion. This was only the second competition I’ve ever entered and the first time I had entered this one, and I was lucky enough in claiming bronze prize/position. This is the highest accolade I’ve ever got in my working career. This high was sandwiched by low points in my life one of which was easy to deal with the other almost broke me. The one that almost broke me was before I became a UK and the world award winning cobbler. I guess sitting here now looking back; it all began to go bad between 2012 and 2016. Things were not great before that but at least I had other staff in the shop with me. Late in 2012 Mark had had enough of the working conditions so he walked out. How I wish I could’ve done that too but I had a house and bills to pay for on my own, coupled with the fact I loved what I did, just not where I did it, or who I did it for. In the eight and a half years I worked for this shop I went from being a strong minded person to feeling completely worthless. The day things got really bad was Easter 2016. My boss was going away for a few days. At the end of my working day, before I went home, he rang and was not happy because he wanted the shop to of taken more money. He made it clear without saying the words, it was my fault we had a quiet day. I could feel inside a was cracking, I felt trapped with no way out. The only way I could see out was death. This may seem a small trigger but these were the small mind games that had been going on for the last 4 years. I felt like a slave and I had had enough of it. Only one thing stopped me taking my life and that was my faith in Jesus. Even though I was now at the lowest I had been since 2008 I had a thread on faith. I was holding onto thoughts of just packing my bags and walking away, thoughts of taking my own life, but I could do neither so I was stuck. Trapped with what seemed like no way out. How much more could I take I don't know. I was looking at finding a place to open my own shop and was told of a place someone was closing down but this guy had changed his mind so again I felt lost and trapped. In October 2016 I claimed an award in the UK shoe repair competition. This gave me a little lift, I was not worthless. I decided I was going to leave this shop in 2017 for good, so now I just needed to find the right place to go to. In the meantime I had entered the World Cup of Shoe Repairs and had a phone call from the USA that I was an award winner, my boss was told about it, and to my face he was happy but he was telling others that I would be ok once I came back down to earth and was living in the real world again. My love of doing leather shoe repairs (this is replacing the whole bottom of a shoe and rebuilding it) was being seen across the town and more and more customers were coming to the shop because of the high level of my work. When I started working at this shop we were doing 2 to 3 pairs a month on average, I built this up to 10 to 12 pairs a month. I put my all into my work and it didn't mean anything, I was just a number to my boss. He made me feel like his life and what he wanted to do was more important than my life. He would give me a few days notice to change my day off and expect me to drop everything but when I needed time off or booked an holiday I always had to have my time off when it suited him. It was also frowned upon if I locked the shop for lunch. I was expected to not close for lunch I was even working two and a half hours a week and not being paid for it, the list could go on. In all my time working there I was made to feel trapped, worthless, useless, undervalued my self esteem had all but gone and if not for the awards I may of still been stuck there. Over the course of my time being stuck in this environment I had also put on LOTS of weight and I found myself comfort eating because of the situation. I went up to about 18 stone, I had no energy and everything felt an effort. So how did I come out of it? In April 2017 I found a shop for let. It was not in the best position, but it was a way out. I went to view this place and decided I would put an offer in later in the year as I knew I had to go to America to claim my award in July. When I got back the shop was still available! On the 6th July I signed for the shop and began plans of setting up my own business. At this time it was the escape I needed, little did I know that it would cause me lots of stress. I was on top of the world I had just come back from the USA, I had my Bronze award and I was leaving the shop that caused me to feel so bad. Things were looking great. As the months went by I started to take in more shoe repairs but quickly found I was not doing close to enough sales on things like polish, laces, shoe sprays or keys, these are the add on sales you need in my trade to keep your business alive. I was also having problems with my landlord who would not split the electric in the shop from the flat upstairs and the business needed to either sell more or close. I was lucky enough to move which was a massive weight off my shoulders. 1 month and 2 weeks into moving to my new location, on Wed Jan 9th 2019, I was trimming a heel on a ladies shoe while wearing a jumper, in a split second the machine had grabbed my jumper and pulled me into the machine. I knew right away I was hurt bad, I just didn't know how bad it was. I shouted to someone in the indoor market to call for an ambulance then I started to un-wrap my jumper from the machine. While doing this my thumb dropped onto the shop floor. I took off my jumper wrapped it around my hand and applied pressure and then asked the people in the centre again, this time saying ‘Will you just call a bloody ambulance!’ as they were all in panic. It may sound funny but I was now turning off all the machines in the shop and getting my stuff together in my bag. At no point did I feel pain which again was strange but I guess the adrenaline was pumping at this point. I was taken to my local hospital but then was rushed to Derby which is renowned for having the best hand surgical team in the country. I was told I was being kept in which I didn't like because again, I felt ok, no pain etc. They could not save my thumb as to much damage had been done to my hand. They wanted me in theatre the next day to clean the wound and access the options I had. The next day around 5pm they took me to theatre and had a better look. The day after I was told what my options were. It was now Friday and I had today, Saturday and Sunday to decide what i was going to do. They went through the options with me, the best option which would give me full use of my hand and thumb again was to remove my toe and transplant it on to what was left of my thumb. This is the option I decided to take as I still wanted to do my job and keep my business going. Why was I handing this so well? Why was I still not feeling any pain? Even after the operation, no pain… some dull aches at times but for what I’ve been through I would expect to feel a lot of pain. I should feel broken or crushed but I feel amazing. Yes I know I’m less able bodies at present but that will go, and I will gain use of this hand and thumb again but I do really feel good, so why? I have been through a lot in my life, being bullied at a young age, being rejected by others, losing my house after a split up with my ex, being told I would never amount to anything in life by a college teacher, being treated like a slave, going through depression (even if I didn't know I was at the time) all these things have shaped who I am and how I deal with things. In life we all get knocked down some more than others it's how we deal with it that matters. I hang onto my faith this keep me going even when I’ve been at my lowest, if you have faith or not just search for that inner strength no matter how low we all get there is that inner strength in all of us willing us to get up and fight another round to keep going. I’ve found that when I’ve come through a challenging time in life and look back I see the situation was not as bad as I thought it was at the time. We always look at the thing in front of us and think this is too big but it’s not and never is. I believe we only ever go through thing in life that we can cope with, at the time it seems we can't but when you come through the other side you see it was in fact not that bad. I may of lost a thumb and then a toe to replace it but I won't let this get me down again it may sound strange but I feel what I’ve been through in life to this point has been far worse than this. Others may read this and think otherwise but in the eight and a half years of working at that other shop, I got to a stage where I was ready to take my life. This injury has just given me a reason to fight and come back stronger and better at my job than I was before. So the question what can prepare you for losing your thumb? I guess that depends on you and your outlook on life. I see this as just another fence in life to climb over and I love to overcome things it's in my DNA. Nothing can really prepare you for losing a limb weather a leg, arm or just a finger or thumb or toe it's about looking at the bigger picture and thinking this could of been much worse, I could of bled out, I could of lost my whole hand. This is thinking to the extreme but could of happened so I thank God it's only my thumb and through it I am only 1 toe short and can continue to do the job I love With this injury at no point have I felt pain, I can only thank those who have prayed for me during this time and thank God as I believe he has dulled the pain in my hand and foot. I have had a great network of friends and family too that I have to be grateful for as they have all supported me through this time. It’s now 5 weeks since the accident and 4 weeks since I was released from hospital and I’m up and out and about. I’m being as active as I’m allowed at present and feel great for it. My story is not one for feeling sorry for me it’s a story to show we’re all stronger than we know and we can get anything life throws at us, and trust me if I can you all can. Never stop fighting and if your knocked down get back up and fight harder. I can't say life will ever be perfect for me or you but I can tell you I’m a fighter and will always keep swinging no matter what life throw at me will you? I hope so you’re stronger than you think!!! Follow Dave on twitter @davecobblerlee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad Simon Harmer - search for five positives for every negative, my story of being blown away.29/1/2019
He feels it is now his duty to serve in a different way and give back having been so fortunate to receive so much help while he was recovering.
My favourite part from this interview is that one of the nurses caring for Simon told him to find three good things for every one negative thing, in true military style he went above and beyond to make the goal five instead of three. If you would like to follow and support Simon please use the links below. https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-portal/fundraiserPage?pageId=972875 https://www.twitter.com/shorterSi https://www.blown-away.org https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonmharmer/ The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad
With her diagnosis she was then able to be pro active in her way of dealing with it. Hear how she turned her life around and a background passion for the outdoors into her new full time pursuit.
www.ToOutdoorsAndBeyond.co.uk https://www.Instagram.com/to_outdoors_and_beyond https://www.twitter.com/outdoorsbeyond https://www.facebook.com/tooutdoorsandbeyond/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad
After a particularly nasty panic attack in a shopping centre Lucy thankfully reached out for help and called the doctor. She was referred to a specialist who helped her identify her fears and through patience and practice she was able to tackle them head on through some weekly routines.
Lucy now follows a strict daily morning routine which in her words makes her feel unstoppable. Watch the full episode to hear Lucy’s journey how her family reacted, especially how it affected her relationship with her dad and how she eventually managed to bring her anxiety under control. Lucy now uses her experiences to help other people going through similar. Below is a brief outline of Lucy’s routine and the links to her website and support group. My morning routine Reading a personal development book Exercise Journaling thoughts, gratitude, achievements and goals. All positive journaling Listening to a voice note of my positive affirmations Guided meditation on Insight Timer app Visualisation of my dream self and future www.succeednow.co.uk www.facebook/groups/succeednow ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad
On his sixteenth birthday his mum and step dad were told it was glandular fever.
He still managed to pass all of his exams with grades C and above and was offered a place in sixth form however he didn’t really appreciate it and got kicked out. Chris had a few jobs, got kicked out of home a couple of times, as he describes it, ‘I was a bit of a scally.’ Then one evening he was in a car crash with a friend, they had written of the car of that belonged to his friends mum, he was delivered back home by the police which is when his mum dared him to join the army, so he did, just because he knew she didn’t really mean it. However it was the best thing he ever did. Shortly after completing his training h was sent to Germany for three years. It was the best three years where he worked hard and played hard. While stationed there he was deployed to both Bosnia and Iraq. Chris got married very young in a whirlwinds typical military style romance. His first daughter was born premature with lots of issues, thankfully she survived and is fine now but his wife suffered post natal depression the whole situation was hard on them both. Chris admits that he hadn’t grown up himself when all of that happened. A second daughter came along but money worries and the day to day grind of a military lifestyle ultimately drove them apart. The divorce was when Chris really noticed for the first time that he was going backwards, he didn’t want to see anyone, or interact at all and then he turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism. A friend went through a similar break up not long after Chris went through his, he and some other mates rallied around their friend but he got posted away by the army. Tragically this friend killed himself a couple of weeks after arriving at his new posting. Chris was inconsolable and felt a lot of anger towards the army. This was the beginning of the end of his army career. The relief of making the decision to leave gave Chris a temporary boost however when it came to actually walking out the gates he’d not got anything planned for the future. He ended up out in Afghanistan doing close protection. His working days kept him busy but overall he became isolated and this began to really take its toll and drive his mental health down. He would argue with is then girlfriend over facetime and take out his frustrations on her. One evening they had a particularly heated argument and Chris found himself crying, which was beyond unusual for him as he had been told as a kid that he needed to show more emotion. He reached for his pistol and pointed it at himself. Thankfully in that moment he didn’t pull the trigger, he did however start making a plan to go back to the UK and start over again, even though he didn’t really feel like he had anything worth going back to. Despite his girlfriend and daughters he really didn’t feel any joy. He moved back to his home town of Leeds and found a job however the emotions that remained un dealt with were always at the back of his mind bottled up, the smallest irrational thing would make him flash (get really angry) he soon realised that he couldn’t carry on like that and sought help, he was referred to a charity called Save our Soldier. He had already had two counselling sessions after his first daughter was born prematurely but it wasn’t for him, it actually made him feel worse. Save our Soldier helped him learn some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques, breathing and visualisation. As part of his healing Chris also started a blog to try and help others speak out about their own mental health issues. He now channels his energy into charity challenges raising money for some great organisations such a Front line child. You can follow Chris on twitter @justchriskelly. JORDAN WYLIE - Reflections on responsibility, PTSD, and his ABC rule. Hunted star talks openly.9/1/2019
It’s an interesting story of coming out of the military, soul searching, rejoining and then using every opportunity he could to gain a competitive edge. Reflections on PTSD, PTSG, mental health, influencers, micro influencers and what’s really important in life. Jordan is now a TV star, author and most importantly a massive force for good in the world. He supports some amazing charities by completing incredible challenges in extremely hostile environments to raise funds and awareness. Follow him and keep an eye out for his next book.
www.jordanwylie.org Follow him on twitter, instagram and facebook with @mrjordanwylie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad Hey folks, I keep thinking I’ll do a facebook live about this but actually being down at my husband’s parents house doesn’t make it the easiest and I guess that’s a contributing factor too.
I have been really down recently. So almost a week ago I hit the story collecting target of 100 stories! Hurrah! But I still haven’t hit the target of raising the £10,000 to be split equally between the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. When time felt super tight a lot of people said to me I should extend the deadline or reduce the amount of stories I needed to collect. But that seemed like willingly failing without a fight. So I went at it hammer and tongs, some days interviewing four people in a day, but the actual interview is the fun part, the enjoyable bit. Creating the end screens, thumbnails, write up, collating the links, rendering, uploading, sharing across multiple platforms part really was not so much fun, but the idea of keeping my word kept me going. On reflection, now I write, I doubt anyone would give a flying hoot if I hadn’t done it though, it was a target I had made up for myself after all. And everyone is so busy with their own lives; I doubt it would really get noticed in the grand scale of things if I had just shrunk away and not said any more about the whole affair. But I did hit the target so why am I feeling so sad…? And when I say sad I mean really down. I literally sobbed on the sofa Tuesday. Which is madness as I’ve got people I need to follow up with, more people willing to share and contribute. I’ve been saying for a while now that the challenge will not be the end of the BeGlad Movement so it wasn’t like it was really the end, I don’t think I am mourning the end of the project. Hmmm. Maybe I’m sad because I haven’t yet hit the fundraising target? I’m not sure, partly I guess. Although I think a fair bit of it has to do with the way I have treated myself recently. I’ve put all health and wellness to the side in the pursuit of this goal, I haven’t been to the gym and done a proper work out for over a month and I’ve been grabbing bowls of cereal and eating at my desk, shovelling in food in between tasks and then suddenly noticing I’d finished a bowl of cereal without really even tasting it. So I’d go and get another, and do the same all over again. Never fully satisfied. But these are just silly little insignificant things right? There is a reason people say you should put your own gas mask on before you help someone else, because if you are dead you are pretty useless and won’t be able to help anyone basically!! I’d ripped of my gas mask and was running at my goal only to faint in the fumes at the end. Some hard lessons learned which I could elaborate on a bit more but it feels like too much effort to get my words into legible sentences and not scrambled thoughts at the moment, plus I only have limited time before my son wakes up from his afternoon nap. So my apologies to all the people who I’ve not responded to over the last week or so, I was super busy and then I crashed in a spectacular way. I’m going to rest and recharge over Christmas and beg for forgiveness in the New Year if that’s ok with you guys. Have an amazing Christmas everyone. Lobe Polls. xx Oh yeah - and if you would like to help me out with the donation side of things I would be so so grateful - thank you. Here is the link below. https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad
When he first saw snow he thought the sky was crumbling in and it was the end of the world, he cried himself back to sleep.
I don’t want to tell you too much in this synopsis as it is such an amazing story and should be told in Dwaynes words. It will make you want to laugh and cry for little Dwayne but also cheer and applaud the bravery of youth Dwayne and especially marvel at the super lovely and inspirational man Dwayne has now become. His work now involves motivating more people to get outside and experience the great outdoors, he leads young people out of their comfort zones into the wilderness to explore not only the countryside but what really matters to them too. Dwayne is an ambassador for the Scout movement and so much more, check out his website link below and follow him on social media. http://www.dwayne-fields.com www.instagram.com/dwaynefields www.twitter.com/dwaynefields ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad |
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