November 13th marked the beginning of Anti-Bullying week and 52 Lives set off on a nationwide tour to visit as many schools as we possibly could. 

Our first stop was Albrighton Primary School in Wolverhampton before heading north to the beautiful town of Ilkley in the Yorkshire dales. 

52 Lives has helped a number children who have been the victims of bullying and have seen first hand the severe consequences that bullying has on children. Anti-bullying week is a wonderful and effective way for schools emphasise the negative impact bullying can have on a person's well-being. There is no place for bullying at home, work or, of course, schools. 

Our Director of Kindness, Greig, rarely talks about himself during the school kindness workshops but this week he decided to open up about his own experiences with being bullied as a child. It is important for children to know that they are not alone in experiencing bullying and that there is much that can be done to stop it. 

Both days were a wonderful success and the workshop was greatly received by both schools. After the interactive powerpoint presentation the children were told about one of our lives of the week - Ruby-May. 

Ruby-May is currently undergoing a lot of tests for genetic disorders and is awaiting assessments for autism. Her birthday is 8th november, she finds birthdays hard as she has very few friends and can't have parties, as she finds it hard to cope with lots of people around or noise. Because she has few friends and because of her needs, she doesnt get invited to other people's parties either. She gets very down and upset, and often feels that nobody likes her. 

Upon hearing Ruby-May's story the children at both schools could not wait to send Ruby-May their love and support. The children made cards with supportive and loving messages on them, letters, games, birthday cards and video messages asking Ruby if she'd like to come and visit. It was beautiful to see how the children responded to someone who feels excluded and alone. 

A huge thank you to all the children and staff at Albrighton School and Westville House.

xx

Westville House

Albrighton Primary School 

Ruby-May with her cards