Being on the road with the Anti bullying campaign has produced a lot of results. A few crates of paper in the garage contain hundreds of testimonials, newspaper clippings & a lot of nostalgia. It's been a habit to file these away - there is no need to read thank you's more than once when there is more work to be done. The crates in the garage, regularly added to for a number of years, have been kept for when there was time to sort them out, if the need ever arose: it has.
The economic climate of the last few years has meant that many of the organisations & agencies that made funds available to police & education partnerships have been dissolved. Cutbacks have had to be found in all areas & with no easy way to measure prevention many good projects aimed at building futures for youngsters have gone.
New avenues have to be explored. Grants for specific projects are still available but a bid has to be made.
Each panel have a number of questions to be answered usually starting with "Is there a need for this project?" The news headlines suggest that there is. Children in schools are affected the most by bullying. Technology has provided the bully with the means to continue their campaigns after hours & mass media doesn't appear to be full of positive messages. Adults in the work place fare little better. Those with the most resources & ability to stand up to bullying - celebrities & Members of Parliament - are complaining that they are being targeted. So yes, there is a need for this project.
The need to combat bullying, antisocial behaviour, knife crime, drug culture & promote a healthy way of living has not diminished. Tackling the problem in schools & with young people is a solution for now & the future. Supporting evidence for projects is always asked for. So the crates have been turned out, looked at photographed & some of the photos thought lost have appeared. Odd press clippings provide reminders of special memories - unlikely stunts & lots of happy people met along the way.
There will be a lot of photos appearing in the gallery & a file of some of the testimonials that will grow as other crates & boxes are found & tackled. Hopefully some of the missing photos of the bus lift & train pulls will appear too. To the funding panels who don't know about the thousand or more bus pulls or the million children that have benefited from the positive message delivered the evidence is here. Please help keep the campaign going - for the future.
Bullying can be tackled. Positive messages can overcome negative cultures.
