7 Marathons Challenge - Why are we doing it ?

The one question that has arisen more than any other since I started this Blog is "why on earth would someone put himself through running seven marathons in a week?"  It is a question that I can fully sympathise with! So why is Kevin doing this?  What does make someone want to put themselves through the effort and pain associated with such a challenge?

 

The sense of achievement that comes with taking on board (and completing) such an event comes from two main areas…..knowing that you have pushed yourself to the limit (or beyond) and knowing that you have done it for a good cause.

In this case, the good cause is Kidscape, the children’s anti-bullying charity. Let me tell you something about this very effective charity, which works directly to improve child protection.

Kidscape is committed to keeping children safe. The first charity in the UK established specifically to prevent bullying and child sexual abuse, Kidscape believes that protecting children from harm is key. Over the last 26 years, practical skills and resources have been developed to keep children safe from harm.

The charity works with children and young people under the age of 16, their parents/carers, and professionals.

Kidscape offers:

• A Helpline with support and advice for parents
• Youth2Youth, a new service that provides confidential support for young people, by their peers
• Books and booklets, posters, training guides  on bullying, child protection, and parenting
• National comprehensive training programmes on child safety & behaviour management issues
• Advice and research on such topics as cyber-bullying, work with young offenders, sexual abuse
• Free ZAP workshops for children who are severely bullied, and their parents

Kidscape feels that this kind of work is vital, given the frightening statistics that:

• Each year 10-14 youth suicides are directly attributed to bullying (The Home Office)
• Bullied children are 6 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their non-bullied counterparts
• 1 in 12 children are badly bullied to the point that it affects their education, relationships and even their prospects for jobs in later life

So what is the history of Kidscape?  The charity was established in 1985 by child psychologist Michele Elliott, OBE. 

Michele Elliott - Kidscape Founder

Alarmed by the stories of child abuse and violence reported by the children she worked with, she was determined to help all young people learn how to stay away from harm, and to change the public attitudes that permitted it. 

Through consultation, research and experience, she formulated the basic tenets of Kidscape’s work, which remain the charity’s central precepts:

• All children have the right to the knowledge and skills that will help them be safe,  independent, and able to express their feelings and concerns
• All adults have the responsibility to keep children safe, to listen to the feelings and concerns of children and take them seriously

Twenty-five years ago, Kidscape developed the first nationwide programme for children that dealt with personal safety. A two-year study surveyed children of all ages revealed that the main threats to children came not from “stranger danger”, but from violence by family, friends and schoolmates, with bullying mentioned often.

The results encouraged the charity to develop programmes and publications to serve the goals Kidscape had established. A training arm was launched to deliver safety and other programmes to staff and children in thousands of schools and community groups UK-wide.

Michele and other staff members have helped set public policy, as well as influenced public opinion on a wide variety of children’s issues. In later years, DVDs, websites and books appeared in order to serve children of all ages and abilities and their families and schools.

Kidscape was the first charity in the UK to identify and deal with bullying in schools, and is now the first resource many consult. Experience teaches us that children who suffer from bullying may go on to develop severe psychological problems; a substantial number of those we meet self-harm, truant, drop out of school, or attempt suicide.

The charity’s first task was a continuing one - to convince schools and the world that a climate of bullying is toxic, harmful to both the bully and the targets, as well as the bystanders who are not directly involved. Bullying, it was realised, is not just one of those familiar rituals of childhood, or a small matter, or something a child “needs” in order to toughen up.

The whole community can work together to ensure children are free from harm at school. Research has revealed much about both the bully and children who are targeted, and Kidscape built on that to design its innovative ZAP workshops.

 

Hundreds of children have attended the free day-long workshops that teach them how to turn their situation around, with new body language, ways of speaking, and sense of self - almost 80% manage this transformation.

Their parents, too, receive help and guidance, both in their own meeting, and through a helpline. Kidscape also teach schools how to establish an environment free of bullying, and consulted with the government in the development of the now mandatory requirement that each school must work together to formulate its own anti-bullying policy.

Kidscape remains small and personal but their reach is great, helping many young people and their families to improve their situations on a daily basis.

Official recognition has come often - Kidscape received the first Charity Times UK Charity of the Year award in 2000, and was a runner up in 2007. Michele herself received an OBE in 2008, and was named Children and Young People’s Champion in 2009.

 

But the biggest rewards of all are the constant examples of small children who are able to make big changes for themselves and communities that come together to make a better life for their children; such achievements are truly rewarding for us all.

Further information about Kidscape can be found on their website here.

Kevin would welcome any contributions to his fundraising efforts through his JustGiving.Com web page which can be found here.