Wednesday 31st July 1:30 - 2pm

Not satisfied with ‘beating the odds’ for Our Children the Friend for Life project seeks to ‘change the odds’ for Our Children.  Friend for Life matches Our Children ages 10-12 with a supportive adult who commits to be quite simply their friend, for life.   

In this presentation, Adult Friends involved in the project debunk some of the harrowing statistics associated with children in the care system in the U.K.   We will hear from one of the friendship matches about what the project has meant to them and consider preliminary findings from the wider project.  

We will then discuss one of the unique features of Friend for Life- choice- and reflect on our own learning around implementing young people’s ideas in project planning, as well as choosing their own friends.   

Being a FFL presentation there will of course be some  activity, you may remember Gloop and Friendship Ice Cream from previous years, but as we are based in a lecture theatre this year Claire’s ambitions to have you all build water cannon rockets  was disallowed, as was her request that involved matches an teabags...! None the less, we hope to get you involved and together think about how stories can combat stigma and how YOU can help share and shape the stories of the Resilience Revolution. 

Claire Walsh is the lead on the Friend for Life project, part of the Resilience Revolution led by HeadStart Blackpool (More Info).HeadStart is a programme funded by the Big Lottery and aiming to build resilience in young people ages 10-16 and Friend for Life is one of many projects developed for this purpose.  Claire joined the Resilience Revolution after many years as a primary school teacher specialising in Special Educational Needs and Disability. She has an obsession with the colour pink and  a new found passion for Resilient Therapy and the Friend for Life project. 

 Mirika Flegg is a PhD student at the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice University of Brighton (https://www.brighton.ac.uk).  Her PhD study focuses on Friend for Life, a project that seeks to match young people ages 10-12 with a supportive adult.  Mirika has worked with young people in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada as a researcher, educator and programme developer. She has won a few awards for being a bit of a nerd, but she is really not your typical academic. In her spare time, she plays bass guitar and volunteers with the social enterprise BoingBoing (https://www.boingboing.org.uk/).