Anaya wrote to us a few weeks ago. Here is her letter. 

Dear Sir/Madam,
Firstly I hope you are well. My name is Amaya Uppal-Kotecha
I am 15 years old currently in Year 10, and I enjoy speaking about the importance of mental health and sharing my views on the ups and downs of recovery from emotional abuse.  Now listen to Amaya speak.  Amaya Uppal-Kotecha is remarkable. 

We are Greater London Youth Foundation. 
www.glyfoundation.org.uk

Listen, Share, Subscribe!
Thank you

A word of warning, this podcast with our guest Antoinette Niles gives some hard-hitting facts about self-esteem and confidence. There is some no-nonsense straight-talking from her own lived experiences. She runs workshops for young people and young women about healing yourself from emotional, sexual and physical abuse, spotting the signs and gaining the strength to move on. Antoinette does not sugarcoat anything.  We advise 14 plus for this podcast.

Listen, share and SUBSCRIBE. 

You can find Antoinette on LinkedIn.

Thanks to our sponsors, the John Lyon's Charity, the Big Lottery Community Fund, and supporters, the Young Harrow Foundation and the Voluntary Action Harrow Co-op.

We are the Greater London Youth Foundation 
W: www.glyfoundation.org.uk, 
T:  @GLYFoundation
F: @glyfoundation

Tonna Ezeajughi, a Brent Youth Parliament member and president of the Greater London Youth Foundation Youth Board, talks about the lockdown. He says pressure creates diamonds, and a winner is a dreamer who never gives up. When his mother is busy being a biochemist, he dons ceremonial robes to assist his father, the Mayor of Brent. He thinks social media is a fantastic way of bringing people together. Tonna dispels what a lot of people think about young black boys. He would describe himself as low-key and ordinary. He is extraordinary. 

If you have a story to tell, please get in touch, email [email protected]

You can join Debating on Zoom and Online Drama Workshops. Head over to our website www.glyfoundation.org.uk

The Greater London Youth Foundation presents the Mikey Bharj Show presenting Shakeel Mohammed, Youth Counsellor, Workshop Facilitator and Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, Activist and Ambassador for Young People.  Shakeel and Matthew campaign for the rights of young people.  They are committed and passionate.  Leading public figures start early.  Keep this podcast because, in 20 years, you will want to remind yourself how these two started and what motivated them.

You can catch up with both of them on LinkedIn.  Matthew has a podcast (Pod Save the Queen) and will be standing in the local elections in 2022.

You can find us at www.glyfoundation.org.uk, where you can register for our workshops.  If you want to get good at public speaking, we have Debating on Zoom (Wednesday)  and Online Drama Workshops (Sunday).

Thank you to all those who have subscribed to our podcast.  Season 1 was a good start, and we thank all our guests.  We have some exciting guests lined up for you, coming soon.  Listen to this teaser to get a taste of what is to come. Mikey gives his take on topical news too.
Find us at www.glyfoundation.org.uk, and you can email us at [email protected]. 

Samira Caterina-Monteleon was an angry child.  It was a teacher who suggested she put her anger and frustrations to the good of society.
She joined Brent Youth Parliament and represented the borough on the UK Youth Parliament.  As well as debating in the House of Commons, the youth parliament could be seen as a bridge between local and central.  She found local MPs Barry Gardiner and Dawn Butler unofficial mentors to her.  NW London is culturally diverse, and going to university means mixing with people worldwide.  Samira used to worry about not having the right connections but has worked hard to build relationships and networks.  She was all set for a work placement in Brussels, but that was cancelled. Life will be different because of Covid-19 and because of Brexit. Samira is studying counter-terrorism, war crime and radicalisation.  She believes adverse childhood experiences will affect you. Under-resourced youth services will lead to more crime in general and youth crime in particular.

The Greater London Youth Foundation would like to thank our sponsors, The John Lyon's Charity, Big Lottery Community Fund and Harrow Council.  Also, the Young Harrow Foundation and the HAVCo-op.  We again thank all our guests.  

We talk to Fiza Khan about her ambition in becoming a barrister. She has won competitions and awards that have motivated her.  During lock-down, she has worked really hard in getting work experience  - a lot of Fiza achievements are down to her determination and drive.   It would seem from this interview and the others that young people have to find their own way. Where are the career advisers? The mentors?  These interviews are to help young people gain some knowledge and insight so that they are not alone. 

Each week will talk to young people who are doing great things in their community. Or how they have overcome failure, or health issues, and so on. What have they learned from life’s lessons that they can pass along to everybody? We will also talk to some adults who are doing great things for young people in their community. Why are we doing this? Because, as a youth charity, we have worked with some great young people over the years. They are the unsung heroes. It seems that we can hear your voice if you are a celebrity or have gone on reality TV and then you become an expert. Here, we are allowing ordinary young people to have their voice heard and speak for themselves. Our sponsors are the John Lyon’s Charity, the Big Lottery Community Fund and Harrow Council. We also like to thank the Young Harrow Foundation and the Voluntary Action Harrow Co-operative. It’s not all serious stuff, but we take everything seriously. If you want to get involved, our details will be in the notes. (W: www.glyfoundation.org.uk E: [email protected])