Spelade
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Can you imagine not knowing anything about your family, being rejected by the one you thought you knew and, at 17, finding out your real name and that your mother did in fact want you? In honour of Care Day, the world's largest celebration of the successes and achievements of children and young people with experience of care, which took place on Friday, we welcome to Changes, the hugely celebrated poet, writer and phenomenal human, Lemn Sissay. A man who was stolen from his mother, rejected by his foster family and moved through the care system from one brutal institution to the next. Lemn is now a BAFTA nominated International prize winning writer and was appointed an OBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to literature and charity. In this episode, Lemn recounts in detail the physical journeys he took when being driven away from his foster family, the only life he knew and, later in life, travelling to meet his mother for the first time in Africa. It is deeply moving.
Lemn’s unique and incredible story of determination as well as his perspective on the concept of family, home and how we can improve care for children are both humbling and incredibly important. Here Lemn shares his unbelievable story with Annie, his most recent changes and his relationship now to the word ‘Care’.
Lemn’s incredible Memoir, My Name Is Why was a number one Sunday Times Bestseller. You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Name-Why-Lemn-Sissay/dp/1786892340
His new children's book Don’t Ask The Dragon can be pre ordered here (released Friday 24th February 2022) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09DZ477R5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4
Visit Lemn’s exhibition at the Foundling Museum
https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/superman-was-a-foundling/
You can find out more about Care Day here: https://careday.org/
Content: Abuse, neglect, racism, addiction.
Should you be affected by anything raised in this episode, there is help on hand. In the UK, The Samaritans can be reached on 116 123. You can also contact Mind on 0300 123 3393 or head to mind.org.uk.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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We bring you a very unique episode this week, where Annie speaks to her husband Tom (a music producer who goes by the name Toddla T). It’s an incredibly insightful and generous conversation about being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, becoming sober and how they have both navigated those changes together.
‘Four years after meeting Tom at Fabric nightclub, we had a baby together. We had another kid just under four years later. We’ve been together for 13 years in all. We’ve both had to grow up a lot since becoming parents, but since we got married in 2018, Tom has had a reckoning of sorts in terms of understanding himself, and this is all due to a huge change that happened in his life a few years ago, where he got an adult diagnosis of ADHD.
I asked him to talk to me about his changes, and we covered his journey from being a misunderstood kid in school, to his epiphany of discovering music, to becoming famous, to becoming sober and the crippling anxiety that came as a result of that, to finally finding clarity after visiting an ADHD specialist and the work in progress that is his recovery. ‘
We really hope you enjoy this very special episode of Changes. All the links that Annie and Tom mention in the episode are as follows:
https://adhdaware.org.uk/what-is-adhd/getting-nhs-diagnosis/
https://aadduk.org/help-support/specialists-support-and-coaches/
Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scattered-Minds-Origins-Attention-Disorder/dp/1785042211
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unexpected-Joy-Being-Sober-alcohol-free/dp/1912023385
Untangle Your Anxiety: A Guide To Overcoming An Anxiety Disorder By Two People Who Have Been Through It by Joshua Fletcher and Dean Stott
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untangle-Your-Anxiety-Overcoming-Disorder/dp/B08YQM9SPY/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1ZXJHAT5OSQA5&keywords=anxiety&qid=1644340522&sprefix=anxiety+%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-4
ADHD and Anxiety
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZiPPFHK7Xp/?utm_medium=copy_link
Should you be affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, in the UK, The Samaritans can be reached on 116 123. You can also contact Mind on 0300 123 3393 or head to mind.org.uk.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
