Loughborough: People's Stories

Lucy Lyon

1) What do you do?

I am an occupational therapist working at Leicester General Hospital.  I help run educational groups for people who experience persistent pain. This could be chronic back pain, migraines, arthritis or all-over-body pain etc.  The main reason people are referred to us is because there are no further medical treatment available to them to cure them or relieve the pain. As you can imagine this is often really distressing for the individual and can have a big impact on their relationships, ability to function and their quality of life.  Our aim is to provide hope and practical support so that they can manage their chronic pain better and improve their lives.  I sometimes describe it as a life-coaching course for people with chronic pain.

2) How are you making a difference to peoples lives?

I remember a man in his late 20's that I spent quite a long time working with.  He has chronic low back pain that the doctors could not offer any further help with.  He was struggling to accept this and it was impacting on pretty much every area of his life so that he no longer worked, his relationship had broken up, he no longer socialised or played rugby/other sports.  When I met him he rarely left the house other than for hospital appointments and when his pain was bad stayed in bed all day.  I worked with him to increase his tolerance for activity so that he could come on a programme.  It was slow work and required him to challenge his beliefs about what his pain meant and put this into practice by making tiny changes to increase his activities. Over time and with some ups and downs he made changes and eventually did really well on a programme. He left considerably more active and fulfilled in his life.

3) Why do you do what you do?

I really enjoy finding out people's stories.  Even if someone has gone through some awful things and may be very broken/angry/ depressed etc I aim to be able to connect with them in a meaningful way and show them they they are valued. I think that giving people time to talk and be listened to is very powerful.  I also feel that God has made me someone who is able to put people at ease and feel safe. This helps me facilitate groups and support people through a process of making changes in their lives. Some of the key messages of our programme I think are sound Godly advice so that helps me communicate them with confidence. e.g. what we feed our minds influences our emotions and behaviour, a balanced lifestyle is a healthy one, we need rest and relaxation and we need to take responsibility for our well being and health.

Sarah Crouch

1) What do you do?

I work for Charnwood 20:20 which is a charity that works with young people aged between 11-16 who are at risk of excluding from school, or not in mainstream education. Often these young people have difficult home lives, or other things going on that prevent them from prioritising education. They might have learning difficulties, or be bullied, or be involved in risky behaviour such as drugs. On the Pre16 Project we do many different activities, involving life skills such as cooking, fun stuff like sports and trips, and deliver qualifications such as PHSE or Employability. It helps young people to cope better at school, achieve qualifications and skills to help them go on to do more with their lives than they once had thought they would. our mission statement is "helping young people to see and create a brighter future".

2) How are you making a difference to peoples lives?

One girl I work with on a one-to-one basis hasn't been to school since primary school, and she's now 16!! The schools were told by Social Services that they shouldn't expect to see her.. and they didn't!! Since September she's been with us, attending almost every week without fail, and has achieved 2 NVQ's and completed a 3 month work experience placement. She's grown in confidence and skills, is great to be around, and looks forward to getting a job very soon!!

3) Why do you do what you do?

My job relates to my faith, because I see that every young person needs to know their worth and value and that they made for a reason. they are individuals who God already knows and loves, but they just don't know it yet! Jesus said he was sent to bring good news to the poor, so that is what I am trying to do with my life too.

Gwen Forster 

1) What do you do?

I am a primary school teacher, currently teaching a year one class of 27 5-6 year olds. My job involves a whole range of things; mainly teaching the curriculum but also teaching the children how to behave well, how to be self motivated and independent. I take very seriously the responsibility to enable the children to be responsible citizens including understanding the consequences for their actions. I am very fortunate in that my jobs allows me to be in daily contact with an enormous network of people ranging from outside agencies to educators to parents to children and colleges.

2) How are you making a difference to peoples lives?

Here's a small example: There is a young boy in my class who could be described as an 'alpha male' type. He comes across as very confident and has an extremely strong will. One Friday afternoon just before the children went home for the weekend I asked the class how their brains were 'feeling' after the week of learning. All of the children except this boy replied, "big, huge etc." I asked the boy directly if his brain was 'feeling' big after the week and he responded, 'no.' He said that he didn't know anything and wasn't good at anything apart from football. This really shocked me and worried me. The following Monday I spent some 1:1 time with this boy and we started making a book together called, "Its Cool to be (his name)." He was able to tell me a whole list of things that he was good at that made it "cool" to be him. He now keeps the book in his tray and it is refereed to every now and again to remind him of all the things he can do.

3) Why do you do what you do?

Firstly I teach because I love it! I love being around children, they are fun, honest and mostly non judgemental. They are like little creative, explorative sponges.

Secondly, because I have been gifted to work with children. This is the 'ministry' God has blessed me with and I feel that when I am working well with the children I am inside of His will for my life. I'm aware of God working through me and being close to me when I am serving His children.

Thirdly, because I want to be apart of bringing up a generation of children who respect, love and believe in themselves and each other.

Fourthly, I hate injustice towards children. Jesus tells us to serve the orphan and the widow, this is my passion! I want to see children being set free!

Liz Clark

1) What do you do?

On Mondays I lead a creative movement class for pre-school children and their parent/carer.  The sessions are all about letting the little people lead the way; boosting children self-awareness, confidence and their interaction and creative skills. I lead the class because I have been working in creative movement for over 15 years but have never set up my own class on my own turf. I wanted my own children to have the opportunity to benefit from being involved in creative movement, plus I wanted to meet other local parents, build relationships and also give to my local community.
 
On two of my other days in the week I am artist in residence at a Special school where I work with Primary aged children on the autistic spectrum. I love my work their, the children are so wonderful to work with, and creative movement has a lot of offer autistic children who engage more readily with sensory experiences.
 
Once a week I also work with a group of older adults with learning difficulties, whereas my other sessions involve a lot of rolling around and being very physical, this session is much more gentle. We usually dance seated, although if I can coax anyone up then that's a bonus!

2) How are you making a difference to peoples lives?

I believe creative movement can make a difference to peoples lives on lots of different levels. It's about human touch and relationships; in a age where touch has become quite taboo, dance can enable people to experience human contact that isn't functional. It's incredibly sociable - there's lots of laughter and fun to be had in sessions I lead.
 
It's about enabling people to communicate who they are without the need for words; which is so important if words are not your primary mode of communication - if you are very young for example or have verbal communication difficulties.
 
It's a great way to keep the body and the mind active.
 
Dance is a great leveller, people of all ages and all abilities can come together move. I love the fact that I can work with anyone of any age, with any disability.

3) Why do you do what you do?

Jesus was all about justice and compassion - in the same way I think a lot of my work is driven by both of those things. Justice for people who find communicating challenging or who do not get much opportunity to be involved in creative expressive activities. Compassion because what I do is all about caring for people, coupled with the innate belief that dance has something very unique to offer people.
 
Jesus loved people, they were at the centre of his ministry and his life. I have always loved working with people, especially people who challenge the way I see life. I am learning all the time from the groups I work with. It's a journey I feel very thankful to be on. 

Claire Fletcher

1) Tell us what you do - i.e. how you're making a difference to peoples
lives?
 
I work part-time for the Baca Project teaching English to young asylum seekers. Typically I teach a couple of students at a time, most of whom are adolescent males around 15-18 years of age. They usually come from war zones or places where the persecution of a particular group of people puts their lives in immediate danger.

So that’s what I do in the mornings. In the afternoons I can often be found in the Open Heaven office, usually doing something related to Albania or other international stuff! And on Saturdays I work in Birmingham, teaching Albanian to English-speaking Albanian children.
 
2) Can you share a specific story of how what you're doing is making a
difference to peoples lives?
 
Most of the people we work with at the Baca Project have heart-wrenching stories. Many of them have seen family members die and had their own lives threatened. They have left home and family in order to reach safety and arrive in England traumatised and incredibly vulnerable. Hardly any of them have had the opportunity to learn any English prior to their arrival, which makes integration into British society even more overwhelming and challenging for them.

One lad arrived in the UK a few months ago. He didn’t speak any English and was also illiterate in his own language. In my lessons he was quiet, serious and fairly timid. A couple of months down the line he is confident at attempting to communicate and express himself in English. It is a joy to see his personality, which was shrouded by fear, uncertainty and communication barriers, start to emerge, and we are discovering that he is quite the joker!

And now this lad, who a few months ago was completely illiterate, has just started at college and is loving it.  On days when he is not at college he always turns up for English lessons at the Baca office, keen as ever. He is taking every opportunity to learn new skills and is a bright and cheerful young man. And in fact, I see even more to him than this – a heart of integrity and, I believe, a potential leader. I love dreaming about the plans God has for these young people, and how He could redeem their lives.
 
 
3) Why do you do what you do? 

My motivation for my job comes from knowing that God loves these young people so passionately. Isaiah 1:17 states what is reflected countless times throughout the Bible – it tells us to look after orphans and stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. There is a special place in God’s heart for orphans and vulnerable people. I also believe that, just like anybody else, these lads are full of God-given potential. However, they often arrive in the UK confused, frightened and with a whole host of issues that threaten this potential. My aim is to break the daunting task of learning a new language down into manageable steps and guide them through the process, providing them with the language they need to function in society, making the foreign world around them seem less intimidating and giving them a means of expressing themselves. I also believe that the encouragement I give them during lessons has the potential to benefit more than just their linguistic abilities. I believe that it has a spiritual impact – we are speaking life and hope over these young people in a world that often has nothing positive to say of them, and I think it is no coincidence that we often see a huge increase in confidence in our clients over the time that they are in our care. This is my goal: to nurture, build up and encourage, and my reason for that is that I believe that is God’s heart.

Jimmy Zachariah

1) Tell us what you do - i.e. how you're making a difference to peoples
lives?

During the days of the working week, I work as part of team supporting Asylum seeking children. I look to be someone they can talk to, seek help from and a role model. I look to inspire hope in them, help them learn good habits, values, ways of treating people and hopefully good character, so that when they turn 18 and move on, they will have a reasonably good foundation to build their life on.

I also am part of the team that visit Glen Parva YOI once a month, looking to build friendship, encourage, speak hope into the lives of young men.
From time to time I help with the soup run in town helping homeless people.

2) Can you share a specific story of how what you're doing is making a
difference to peoples lives?

I have got to know a lad that Baca supports over the last 2 years. During this time I have had several opportunities to encourage him and build his confidence. He is very partially sighted and this means it affects almost everything he does. By going with him to specialist doctors at Leicester Royal, eating with him, helping him read, learn etc we have grown to have a very good relationship now, to the point where he is now interested in my faith and Jesus. He is interested in my values and why I do what I do, which I think is a massive step for someone like him.

3) Why do you do what you do? 

Faith calls us to move into action. I find it difficult more often than not to see someone in need and not do something about it. I am trying my best to live out Jesus' words Love your neighbour as you love yourself. I want these boys and young men to become who they were made to be. I want to see them know the love of the Father and live in freedom and joy. I want them to experience grace and live out of it. I see them and I see so much more than what is and with Jesus I would like to be a part of helping them on the journey towards freedom, love, joy and life to the full with Jesus.