BY HANNAH BARR What was your first experience of the internet? I don’t know if this was my first experience, but I remember being about nine or ten and having to do a school project on a European city and searching the web for everything it could tell me about Amsterdam. I proudly presented my […]
Category: In the UK
The joy of working with young people
BY HANNAH BARR Christmas is increasingly associated with stress and striving, the overwhelming desire to have a celebration that is Instagram-ready. An artsy Christmas card featuring the whole family in matching festive pyjamas? A dinner spread to rival Nigella? And the presents under the tree to materially express your love for them? I like joy […]
The etiquette of holidays and hugs
BY HANNAH BARR The Girl Scouts of America caused quite the media storm this week when they posted the article ‘Reminder: She Doesn’t Owe Anyone a Hug. Not Even at the Holidays.’ The article, designed to illustrate the importance of teaching young girls about consent, has caused a debate between what constitutes awareness of consent and […]
Fearfully and wonderfully made
BY HANNAH BARR Anti-Bullying Week (13-17 November) is organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance – a group of charities, education trusts, county councils and other organisations committed to seeing an end to bullying and supporting those who have been bullied. This year’s theme for the week is ‘All Different, All Equal.’ Coinciding with Anti-Bullying Week, the […]
Four questions to ask before reaching out to families
Resource cuts in the UK mean there are fewer statutory support services for families going through difficulties. Teachers struggle to know where to signpost families for help, when, for example, they see children turning up to school not having had breakfast. In response, our Oxford-based network, Doorsteps, is piloting H2O (Here to Help Oxford), a […]
Lava Floors and Magic Helmets
BY HANNAH BARR At Doorsteps, we’re now a few weeks in to the second year of running Find Your Fire, our youth leadership development programme. We’ve had such a strong start to the year and have been really blown away by how much interest and enthusiasm there has been for the project from young people, […]
Mental health: God is with you
BY HANNAH BARR “The Bible contradicts almost everything I say about myself. It says I am worthy of love; it says I am unique and valuable. It says I am of incomparable value to God.” (Katharine Welby-Roberts.) It’s World Mental Health Day today and I’m going to let you all in on a secret: I […]
You are loved, you have hope, you are not alone
BY HANNAH BARR YOU ARE LOVED Outside of my work for Viva I help lead the youth work at my church in Oxford and last month I took some teenagers to the Christian festival, Soul Survivor, which involved camping for five days. Now, I hate camping. It is not something I consider fun and even […]
There before a crisis
BY HANNAH BARR The BBC reported today that “thousands of vulnerable children in England are being ‘left in limbo’ because their needs are not severe enough.” The charity, Action for Children, has warned that potentially hundreds of thousands of children are falling through the cracks because they are not at crisis point. They warn that […]
Light shines in darkness
BY HANNAH BARR The news yesterday that 18 people were found guilty of involvement in a sex grooming network in Newcastle sent shockwaves through the country. It comes shortly after the BBC’s drama Three Girls, detailing some of what happened in Rochdale, where nine men were convicted for their role in working to secure underage […]