主播大秀 Children in Need directly funds female youth worker Joy Faulkner who describes the young people she supports:

鈥淪ome girls come because they鈥檙e bored; their parents work long hours and are not around. There鈥檚 not a lot of money and not many opportunities. There can be issues with boys trying to control young women in local gangs. We鈥檝e had some fantastic success stories 鈥� one girl Abbie was pregnant at 16 but was picked to be an apprentice chef for one of Jamie Oliver鈥檚 restaurants. Another young person Jermaine is a now full time dancer- we see him on the X Factor!"
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Chloe, 15 talks about the support she鈥檚 received from Urban Hope over the years and the inspiration behind her short story 鈥楲ife Isn鈥檛 Me.鈥�

"I think I've been coming to Urban Hope about 5 years. I got a leaflet about it in my letterbox. Me and my friends invited my cousin too and we've all be coming since. At Urban Hope I mostly talk a lot!! Recently I recorded a song with one of the youth workers. When I come to Urban Hope I鈥檓 normally cooking or on the computer or like mucking about with friends on the pool table or ping pong or other activities.

I think I've changed I鈥檓 more mature and I think I鈥檓 a better person because when I was little whenever anyone upset me I would say 鈥榶ou鈥檙e not my friend鈥� even if they only did one thing wrong. Now I鈥檓 a much more forgiving person and I don鈥檛 hold grudges against anyone. I get to hang out with mature people that make good choices and obviously that's really helped.

Life Isn鈥檛 Me is about a girl running away from home because she doesn't like the life that she lives. At home it鈥檚 just her and her mum so when she runs away she鈥檚 got nowhere to go. While she鈥檚 on her 'adventure鈥� she meets a boy called Nathan. He ran away from home but he could never go back and he encourages her to go back home.
I wrote it because at one point in my life I wanted to get away from it all. There was loads of stress and everything was going on in my head. I just wanted to run away but couldn鈥檛 find it in myself to do it鈥o I wrote a character to do it for me! The story says don鈥檛 make choices you might regret, sometimes stuff鈥檚 hard but running away isn鈥檛 the answer.

I鈥檝e never really thought about writing as a career, Life Isn't Me was something I started cos I was bored in a class and I enjoyed it so I carried it on till it was finished. I really want to do something creative, maybe in art, I love drawing."听

Find out more about the .

Janet Matthews supports both the crisis centre drop-ins and the regulars to get them the right benefits, develop their CVs and let young people know about job fairs and opportunities. She asked one young person, Annalise* 18, to describe her first week at New Horizon Youth Centre.

Monday:
It was a bitter cold September morning and I stood with about 10 others outside the centre. No eye contact, I just kept my head down. It didn鈥檛 open for another hour but sleeping rough means I鈥檓 up early. Last night it was the back of the local supermarket. I crawled behind the bins, out of sight where it was quiet and there was some heat coming from the ventilators. I鈥檝e never been alone like this and I鈥檓 scared.
The doors opened and everyone went in. I got a tour of the centre from Janet and she gave me a coat and gloves plus a hot drink. There was so much going on I was confused but my fingers were thawing and I was ok to just sit and watch.
I was embarrassed to talk about what鈥檚 going on but I tried鈥amily problems, they don鈥檛 want me staying on in college because my family say I need to get a job to help pay the bills, kicked me out the house鈥olice found me sleeping rough and told me about the centre.
The Housing Team found me a place to stay for a few nights, with a host family from the local area. Janet told me to come back tomorrow morning and gave me some bus tickets so I鈥檓 not heading back to the supermarket.

Tuesday:
Today was hard. I had to talk to a counsellor, about how I don鈥檛 care about things and sometimes think about harming myself. About feeling alone and missing my family. I had a go at knitting with one of the 鈥榢nitting grannies,鈥� I wasn鈥檛 very good.

Wednesday:
I didn鈥檛 feel like coming today. The self defence workshop was good. I hadn鈥檛 really thought about what might happen, sleeping rough. I met Evie who has been coming here for a month as she ran away from her home in Leeds. She was having family problems and misses her brothers and sisters too.
At the end of the day Housing came with news that they have got me a bed in a shelter for six weeks. I left the centre feeling like things weren鈥檛 so bad.

Thursday:
Today we had a session, that鈥檚 for people like me who aren鈥檛 in college and haven鈥檛 got a job. It was a surprise to write down all the things I HAVE done, focus on the positive. I鈥檓 going to come to the NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) classes next week and as I鈥檓 interested in events Janet鈥檚 going to look for some apprenticeships for me. There is so much out there that I didn鈥檛 know about.

Friday:
Cooking today which was chocolate brownies and I helped serve at the pop up crepe stall outside in the market which was funny. Then I did the women鈥檚 group session which was about conflict and how to deal with things.

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The following case studies highlight how young people have been helped by this project.

Case Study 1 鈥� Sophie and Marc

Sophie and Marc came to Shelter after meeting one of their Support Workers whilst visiting a friend. They had recently moved to Merseyside from Cardiff with their two children, Julia (aged 8) and Richard (aged 2). At the time, Sophie was pregnant with their third child and was suffering from depression.听

The family were really struggling to settle into the new area. The stress of extensive debt as well as disrepair issues with their new house meant that both Sophie and Marc were finding it hard to support their children through a difficult period of transition. As a consequence, both children, and in particular Julia, had worrying behavioural issues. Julia had developed problems with anxiety; she refused to travel on public transport and was also having difficulties with other children in the neighbourhood who were taunting her because of her Welsh accent.

Shelter鈥檚 Support Worker assessed the family and set up a holistic action plan for improving their situation. Sophie started to attend a parenting course, which helped her to deal with her children鈥檚 behavioural issues and improved her confidence in her parenting ability. She also received advice in addressing the family鈥檚 financial problems from Citizens Advice and was able to negotiate an affordable repayment plan for the family鈥檚 debt. Shelter鈥檚 Support Worker worked with Sophie and Marc on contacting their landlord and getting him to finish the outstanding repair work to the property. She also successfully petitioned the local authority for a free place at nursery for Richard, and worked one-on-one with Julia to improve her confidence and deal with her worries.

As the action plan was completed the family鈥檚 functioning began to improve. Richard started nursery, giving Sophie precious time to prepare for the new baby. Julia is doing far better at school and is now taking dance classes, which have substantially enhanced her confidence. Moreover, she has learnt to cope with some of her worries, and is much better at dealing with challenging situations. All the repairs to the house have been completed and the family now enjoy spending time at home together. Both parents have improved self-esteem and are now confident, engaged parents.

Case Study 2 鈥� Michael and Tracy

Michael and Tracy were referred to the Knowsley Project as the family were getting targeted in the community, their living condition was very poor, the family had experienced homelessness in the past and had several moves.听 The referrer said the housing situation had an impact on the children; Michael and Tracy have four children, John 18, Anna 15, Sophie 14 & Ellie 10.

The family was assessed during the initial visit with complex needs around housing, family dynamic, mental health and the children鈥檚 education. The issues with housing were around overcrowding, the condition of the property, disrepairs/safety and rent arrears. With five adults and the three children living in the 3-bedroom property, the house was overcrowded. The three daughters had to share one bedroom which had an impact on their relationship, education and personal development.

The family were in rent arrears with their current and previous landlord, so they could not apply for social housing. As their landlord had sent armed men to collect some rent arrears previously, they were too scared to be referred to an enforcement officer to chase the landlord to complete the repairs. The family had to move, as soon as possible, to a decent area, bigger house and into private housing.

The housing situation had an impact on the parents too, who were both suffering from depression, especially Michael. As both Michael and Tracy were not mentally well, this had an impact on their confidence and parenting. They did not communicate with their daughters鈥� school and did not deal with Anna鈥檚 attendance and behaviour issues. The three daughters were referred to a child support worker for one-to-one support.

After six months of support and multi-agency work with the council鈥檚 housing team, the family was re-housed into private housing. The deposit was guaranteed by the council, as the landlord is accredited by the council. Michael and Tracy have managed since not only to sustain the tenancy but also to maintain the condition of the property up to a decent standard. The family receives full housing benefits and have maintained a good relationship with their landlord. Their parenting skills have improved and all family members take responsibility to keep the home tidy and clean. Both parents take an active part in their daughters鈥� education too. All family members have stated they are all happier since they moved.

The work that is done by this project wouldn鈥檛 be possible without the money that you raise and donate to 主播大秀 Children in Need.听 Your generosity helps young lives right here where you live in the UK. Find out more about the Shelter 鈥� Knowsley Child Support project .

When we eventually made it back to the caravan after one treacherous walk from the other side of town, we hadn鈥檛 realised just how cold it actually was inside. So there we were, eating our jam sandwiches in our coat and scarves! As the day drew to an end, the temperature in the caravan dropped significantly, making us feel colder than ever. Nothing made us warmer, so we slept with seven layers of blankets but it still didn鈥檛 work. Once again, we didn鈥檛 sleep much that night.

Tuesday

When we woke up, we were greeted with another little surprise. It was that cold during the night that the butter had frozen on the counter, resulting in us not having toast for breakfast. Typical. School on Tuesday proved to be a bit more difficult than Monday, due to the lack of sleep, food and warmth, meaning that concentrating in lessons became much harder. Our focus was more on how hungry and tired we were, rather than the work that was presented to us.听

Eventually lunch time came around, meaning we got to scoff down a baguette and a mini tub of crisps between us. When we joined our group, we were greeted by comments which made us feel worse than ever. 鈥榊ou two are looking a bit pale today鈥� and 鈥榊ou look absolutely dreadful鈥� were just a few remarks mentioned. Because we aren鈥檛 wearing any makeup, this made us feel even more self-conscious, and we felt ugly and uncomfortable, all things that did not go down well with our self-esteem.

Back at the caravan, things were hotting up! Just joking, it was freezing. To warm ourselves up, we decided tonight was the night that we were going to eat鈥� soup! Shopping on a budget meant we had to make some tough choices, and we not eating the type of food we were accustomed to, which was a bit of a shock.

Once everything was tidied, we decided to take some cheeky selfies, only to find out that our hair looked a right state. But what鈥檚 a gal gonna do when she ain鈥檛 got no shower? EUREKA! We washed our hair in the sink. However, this proved to be a little more difficult than we anticipated.

As the day drew to a close, we decided we couldn鈥檛 go on any more without heating, so Megan鈥檚 Uncle Pete presented us with an idea. What idea you may be thinking, well hold on to your seats because we鈥檙e about to tell you. He suggested we could perhaps have heating for 24 hours, if we deducted a small sum of money from our budget. We decided to take off 拢2 as we felt this was a reasonable amount. When we woke up on Wednesday, we were still nice and toasty from the night before. A rare treat last week, I can tell you.

Wednesday

Being without a computer was proving very difficult for the both of us that night. We both had deadlines we had to meet for the end of the week, meaning that our free time after school was spent at school, what little free time we have anyway. But being at school all afternoon had its bonuses, I mean it kept us from going back to our cold caravan.

Night had fallen by the time we eventually returned back to the caravan, meaning that what little electricity we had left, we used wisely! And by wisely I mean we used the oven. I mean, a pizza isn鈥檛 going to cook itself now is it. After what felt like 10 minutes, we had to turn off the electricity and our only means of light was the candles we had lit and the light from the stars and the moon. Ok, that was a bit of an over exaggeration but seriously, we only had candles to provide light. And I tell you now, be careful around candles! While revising, I accidentally placed my paper over the candle and it started to burn! I think I鈥檝e learnt my lesson of never working near lit flames.

Thursday

By Thursday, we were both absolutely exhausted. School seemed to be getting on top of us due to our lack of resources and to top it all off, we wouldn鈥檛 be eating until at least 8pm tonight. We have to walk around our town tonight with Megan鈥檚 three year old brother as its Halloween! However, due to our lack of money, unfortunately we won鈥檛 be able to celebrate this year as our money is needed for food and basic necessities, rather than costumes and treats. Luckily, teachers have shown support and have been donating throughout the day, passing it around as many people as possible. We even got a free lollipop from one of our Psychology teachers, Mrs. Welland. I know, she鈥檚 a cutie, bless her.

Friday

After we dragged ourselves out of the caravan that cold and blustery Friday morning, the end was in sight, but we were exhausted. English dragged, Art dragged, even lunch dragged! We just wanted to get back to the caravan. Although, there was a positive to this day. During Sociology, Mrs. Fletcher gave us a nice little shout-out to the rest of the class, informing them of what we are doing. Talk about embarrassing!

Eventually, the day finished and it was like a High School Musical moment. The kids were singing, the birds were tweeting, even the cleaners were dancing around their mops! Okay, that鈥檚 a bit of an exaggeration but everyone was happy that it was the end of the school week. Just when we thought everything was going swiftly, we were reminded that one of our friend鈥檚 birthday parties was the same night and we were unable to go, due to the limited budget we had set ourselves, it meant that we didn鈥檛 have sufficient funds to buy a new outfit. We could have gone in one of the outfits we had been wearing; however this didn鈥檛 make us feel very good about ourselves and it wasn鈥檛 dress appropriate. So instead, we stayed in the caravan, completed a jigsaw paper and read the Psychology/Sociology review. Talk about a party.

Saturday

The next morning we decided to venture into town to pick up tonight鈥檚 dinner. As we had 拢10 left, we decided to treat ourselves to microwaveable jacket potatoes topped with cheese, as opposed to the toast we鈥檇 been eating for the past two days. It was a God-send! By the time we had devoured our 鈥榮crumptious鈥� potatoes, we were still hungry. But what we were craving the most was fresh fruit and veg. We hadn鈥檛 even touched a piece of fruit throughout the entire week! Our budget didn鈥檛 allow us to buy fruit and veg due to the price, so we just had to carry on eating processed food all week. To celebrate our last night in the caravan, we cranked up Smooth and drank endless cups of teas while talking the night away. When we eventually made those two steps to get to the bedroom, our heads hit the pillow and we were out like a light. Too much partying, I think.

Sunday

When we woke up, we only had 3 hours to get packed and leave the caravan for good. We were both very sentimental when leaving the caravan, we had called it home for the past week! But, we were finally glad to be going back home to our family and taking a nice long shower and enjoying a lovely Sunday roast. That sounds wonderful doesn鈥檛 it? To know that you have somewhere that can provide all these things. Things we take for granted.

So far we鈥檝e raised just over 拢500 for 主播大秀 Children in Need but people are still donating as much as they can. We are hoping that once people understand what we have done and why we have done it, that they鈥檒l either sponsor us or even pick up the phone on the appeal night and give as much as possible.

So that鈥檚 what happened during our week, we hope that we can raise as much money as possible for such a great cause. With the support of family, friends, teachers and members of the public, we hope to make this event a truly memorable one and hopefully we inspire other young people to go out and make a difference. From this experience we have learned that many people, including ourselves, take things for granted, but we are now realising that we should be happy with what we have got.

Poverty is a very serious problem in the UK that is overlooked by many people, and by doing this we are happy that we have raised a lot of awareness, and have shown what effect this experience has had on us. We have realised that people do spend so much on food as we have only spent 拢9.71 to last us for the week. However the food we have been eating has not necessarily been healthy or filling, but that鈥檚 beside the point. Just think, the 拢10 you spend on foundation, clothes, whatever, could essentially feed a child for a whole week. Or what about that games console that you barely use that cost say 拢120? Just think what a difference you could make to someone鈥檚 life by selling that and donating the proceeds. These types of things, we take for granted, but for some kids, these things could change lives."

That was Megan and Megan's week! Storms, frozen butter, chilly bananas, hunger, cold and exhaustion - the girls went experienced it all, but it seems like it was a very rewarding experience for all involved. All of us here at 主播大秀 Children in Need just want to say a massive thank you to Megan and Megan for their efforts, and for raising such a large amount in such an eye-opening way!

To raise as much awareness and insight as possible, we鈥檝e come up with certain rules that we must live by during the week:

1. We have a budget of 拢20 for both of us for groceries, any school equipment and toiletries.
2. We will be staying in a family member鈥檚 caravan, so we can control the heating, and make it as realistic as possible.
3. We are giving up all our electrical devices i.e. computers, phones, hair appliances etc., with the exception of school/library computers.
4. We will have no access to a shower, so we will have to wash our hair in the sink.
5. We will have no transport.
6. The only electrical item we are allowed is a camera so we can document our days to prove that we are dedicated and willing to do this.

Sounds exciting, right? By doing this, we hope we can get people to donate as much as they can from seeing just exactly how much our lives have changed in just that week.
As it鈥檚 just a few days away (that鈥檚 pretty scary!), we鈥檝e got to thinking about how we are going to prepare for it. We decided to take a trip up to our local supermarkets to have a look at some of their prices and compare deals. We have also been thinking about different foods we will be eating, like pasta, rice, porridge, bread and potatoes. We know these types of foods are 鈥榝illing鈥� which will be beneficial to us with our budget.

We are remaining positive about how this challenge will go, even though we know it鈥檒l be tough! We are super-duper nervous to start this challenge but it鈥檚 all for a good cause. If you鈥檇 like to sponsor us for this challenge, click on our just giving page or simply donate directly to 主播大秀 Children in Need. After all, every little helps!

Intrigued? Check back soon for updates on Megan and Megan鈥檚 fundraising challenge! If you鈥檙e embarking on a fundraising challenge, let us know!

Simply email your local address on this page, and tag us @主播大秀CiN on and or @Pudsey Bear on . Don't forget to use our official hashtags to help us spread the excitement - #bakeit, #pyjamas, #songanddance and, of course, #BeAHero.

If you still haven't decided what you'll be doing to fundraise this year, it's not too late to get involved! A great place to start is by downloading one of our. Or if you prefer, you can order one in the post. You鈥檒l be a fundraising hero in no time at all.

Darllenwch yn Gymraeg

Big Deal have formed a tight-knit bond after last year winning the Borough and England Hip-Hop Championships and then travelling to Germany to compete in the World Championships, where they finished seventh. Each dance member reels off anecdotes about the highs and the lows of what that entailed, from getting their costumes sorted to crying with frustration when a routine didn鈥檛 go well.

Jade says: 鈥淚 drove them really hard and will settle for nothing less than a top three place next time! I have very high standards because they have the talent and just need to be pushed. I鈥檓 equally adamant that they do their school work and learn about the history of hip hop, absorbing information about human rights issues along the way because that鈥檚 important. They鈥檙e great girls.鈥�

The success of Big Deal is also down to Artistic Director Liza Vallance鈥檚 ethos. She commands great respect in running the art, music and acting taster sessions at the studios each summer, as well as the dance sessions.

Liza establishes where each teenager鈥檚 particular interest or skill lies before encouraging them to explore that skill further. Those teenagers may come from low income families, have experienced gang culture or been involved in anti-social behaviour or they may be at risk of school exclusion. But any attitude or self-esteem issues are soon reshaped by both Liza and those who have already benefitted from the project.

Rochelle says: 鈥淪ome of the kids are really rude when they first arrive and have tons of attitude but they soon learn from the rest of us how they are expected to behave and the other kids really stick up for and protect Liza.鈥�

But it wasn鈥檛 long ago that Liza was working for free and this project鈥檚 existence was under threat because of a lack of funds. So thank you for donating to 主播大秀 Children in Need and enabling girls like Rochelle, Jennifer, Zoe, Rhianna and Oleata to reach their full potential.

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