Blondy's People: Recent Episodes
Kendra Houseman
28 interviews with selected people to look at what we can do to support and protect children and young people from gangs, child criminal exposition, child sexual exploitation, county lines, domestic abuse, and many other issues that impact their lives
George the Poet is one of Blondy’s people because he is trying to make a change. A social change. A change for people….. my people. He makes me not feel alone when all I want is to be alone....if ya feel me
George Mpanga is one of Blondy’s people because he came from the endz….. got out… but instead of running …and he could have… he has come back to try and make a better world for people like Blondy. Just like he said he would…. A man of his word.
Carlene is one of Blondy’s people …well…because she is epic. She is everything I want and need to be as a professional. She is THE game changer and as an adult, I use her work and understanding of contextual safeguarding to make children’s lives better. To save lives. If you have ever worked with me and think I am good at my job….part of it is because I have studied Carlene’s work and try to apply it where I can.
Carlene is one of Blondy’s people because she knows that I was not to blame for that day in the cabin. She doesn’t see the “Thief”. The drunk kid. The “Seducer” (Aged 12). She sees the pain and discomfort and would have wanted to make it better. I bet…if my mum had called her and told her about the cabin and what happened that day…Carlene would have supported my mum in what my mum was trying to do…get rid of a dangerous environment so no one had to suffer that again.
We will be talking about subjects such as damage caused by porn, sexualisation of children and why porn hub is allowed to publish videos of rape and the sexual abuse of children.
So, if you don’t want to hear any of that…. don’t listen….. simples
Todays guest to Blondy’s People is Lady Unchained, and bwoy you are in for a treat when you watch our interview. We clicked from the second we spoke. It’s mad when it goes down like that.
Brenda…. well… she will tell you her story in the video but all you need to know is that she is out here making change and proving that there is life after prison.
SPACE wants to stop and prevent adolescent criminal exploitation.
SPACE is a self-funded organisation founded in January 2018, in response to the national prevalence of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) and the County Lines phenomenon which has entrenched thousands of young children and people into serious violence and organised crime.
Its primary mission is to
*Raise awareness through unique perspective of lived-experience insight, as well as law-enforcement background, including Modern Slavery, of:
County Lines, its indicators, broad impact including trauma, and professional gaps and challenges.
Power and influence of child exploitation and grooming, including methods and vulnerabilities.
Contextual Safeguarding (as County Lines exploitation is extra-familial abuse);
Relevance of missing episodes in children and young people;
Challenges with consent & transition;
National Referral Mechanism (NRM) & Trafficking under Modern Slavery Laws;
Link between CCE, CSE and Radicalisation;
Mental Health and Trauma.
*Make recommendations to improve inadequate or failing professional responses to County Lines exploitation.
*Collaborate with charities and statutory services to enable necessary changes which will better safeguard County Lines affected children and young people, and their needs.
*Train and equip statutory and non statutory professionals including those listed below, to recognise signs of County Lines and gain an understanding of the wider context of this exploitation.
Police
Local Authorities
Ambulance Service
Health / Medical Practitioners
Education / OFSTED
Legal Practitioners
Faith / Community Groups
British Transport Police
Private Hire / Taxi Firms
Charities / Voluntary Organisations
Private Industry
*Provide awareness and preventative sessions for parents and children (primary school upwards).
*Provide free signposting, advocacy and advice for families directly involved in County Lines.
Campaign for change* in the current response to CCE. We founded and co-lead the NPIES Advisory Group (see separate tab) and are currently highlighting the disparity in the recognition and support of UK Modern Slavery victims with our UK SSSS** campaign (UK Survivors Same Slavery Support).
Simon is a Professor at the University of West London, England. He currently works in the Research Centre for Cybercrime and Security and specialises in urban street gangs, dangerous dogs, acid attacks, hate crime, and youth crime.
He has a wide range of practitioner and professional experience in crime reduction and community safety including working for the Home Office as Regional Crime Advisor (London). He has an extensive history in urban regeneration and criminology having worked on over 2,000 social housing estates in the UK. He has written and produced numerous community safety audits, strategies and reports and in 1999 was co-inventor of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs).
So many people have whispered in her ear over the years …. “Don’t tell” ….. “Keep quiet” …..”no one will believe you”. The last one there…. she said that to herself as much as others said it to her. Good knows when Blondy learned to become a secret keeper. Very young. Secrets can be dangerous.
Today I want to introduce you to Charlie.
Gang culture is something that Charlie knows too well and is something that he deals with on a daily basis. He wanted to speak out and talk about the impact that street life has on mental health.
He needs no blog. It's time to see who listens to these Blondy’s people posts…..really listen….
Just sit down and listen to the voice of the street. #blondyspeople
Stefan is one of Blondy’s people because I respect the work that he does and what he offers to those who choose to engage…..Hope. Sometimes all someone needs is hope. If I ever worked with a child and it was indicated to me they were curious about the church then it would always be Stefan who I would contact.
Stefan is also one of Blondy’s people because as a child Blondy was let down by the church. Pushed away. Just another failing and then by the time Mike asked her to try again, she had already lost faith. I feel like Stefan, if he had known Blondy, would have listed to her anyway, even if she didn’t want to engage with the religious aspect and he may have even gave her hope…because , at times, Blondy had very little hope….
Today’s Interview its with two very amazing women, Nina McNamara and Kate Littler who created Bird Podcast.They, just like me, saw something they wanted to speak out about and decided that instead of just sitting there thinking about it…they would do something about it and Bird Podcast was born.
Gemma has achieved many things in her life and made changes that most of us only read about. She is a force to be reckoned with and if you watch our interview you will join us on a roller coaster of emotions. You may also wonder, like me, why Gemma has not got her show because the wit is dry and crisp. Just how I like it. Listen out for her favourite brand of moisturiser….
Becky is one of Blondy’s people because she would not have laughed at Blondy that day if she had been the SEN support sitting on the front row at that show (In fact, she may have knocked out anyone who did laugh at Blondy). She would have made sure that a child Like Blondy was well rehearsed before stepping on that stage. In fact, she would be there, Kneeling in front of the stage with her own bit of laminated paper speaking each word with Blondy.
I met Jhiselle when I presented at one of her events with Junior Smart and we hit it off straight away. She brings a power and a presence to a room that you can’t deny. I like that in a person. Jhiselle is not the kind of women you want to challenge unless you have facts and figures. The work she has done around gangs and exploitation is above and beyond. Jhiselle is a social worker who is here to save and change lives. She is her for the young people. She walks the walk and talks the talk.
Welcome to episode 14 of Blondy’s People and we are almost there…. a few more to go and I think I will be ready to make my point…but we will come back to that.
Feminism is something that was not part of Blondy’s everyday life. Not in an empowering way. In all areas of society, sex inequality is the norm. Disgusting aint it. That the mere fact that you are a female means that life could pan out a certain way.
Today I introduce you to Joke Murray, my yoga teacher. She is based in Canterbury and owns the Manor Barn, centre for peace and personal development. They offer many services in this beautiful setting including Shiatsu, counselling, hypnotherapy and of course yoga to but mention a few. I have not been there yet but have looked at the website and have told Joke to get ready because I will be booking in for a weekend away there with a friend or two when the madness clears.
YOS can be a life changing experience for a young person. It can save lives. YOS is one of those areas that lots of people hear about but know very little about. Twice now Kate has given us an amazing insight.
Kate is one of Blondy’s people now because she is here to save lives. Change lives. Create a future. She does this both in her main job and in with Bird podcast.
Steve wants it to be mandatory that school staff receive good training around understanding and spotting the signs of county lines and youth violence. He wants all staff members in school to know what this looks like. He wants schools to stop being afraid of the stigma that is attached to saying “Yes…county lines affect our school…and…youth violence is an issue” and instead work together to try and reduce this.
I met Nathan at a talk I was invited to and was blown away as I watched Nathan speak about being involved in similar stuff that I was as a child, and hen his journey to where he is now. Something that stood out to me was the way he spoke about his wife, Sabrina, with such pride. As he spoke about being a dad and a husband his chest puffed out and you could see that this was the most important thing to him.
Later, down the line I then found that Sabrina was in no way just Nathan Dennis’s wife. Sabrina had her own flex going on and had written the book“A piece of the pie”and then from that came “Between the Sheets” . Sabrina’s book talks about the different layers that go into making a relationship work and even though I was single when I read it (and still am) it was like someone had given me a practical manual of how relationships needed to be. It was so interesting as I had never read anything like it.
Let us talk about violence against women and girls, let's talk about the voice of the survivor... let's talk to the lady who has lived it and has come out the other side.
Mental health and males...sit back and listen to my very good friend Tom talk's about the impact of mental health for him and those around him.
Where do I start…. Sunny knows what it’s like to have nothing but he also knows how to make sure others don’t have to feel like that. Sunny recently gave a TED talk on Lived experiences and social change (You can view this below) that blew my mind. Sunny talks with such conviction that he makes me want to join forces with him and take on the world. He understands why people get in the situation they do, and he also knows that they may not take your advice the first time, or second or even third. He knows that people may have so much going on they may not even know what the issue is themselves. And that’s why he is there…to guide and lead. A leader.
Diane Curry is the CEO of a Manchester based charity that was founded 32 years ago by prisoners’ families for prisoners’ families and it has gone from strength to strength. Partners of Prisoners or POPS as it so lovingly known is a user led charity supporting families through their contact with the Criminal Justice system as a result of their loved one’s convictions. POPS focus on strengthening relationships within families and between families and their communities. They aim to help individuals overcome stigma and build confidence by offering non-judgemental advice and information plus emotional support They achieve this through a range of prison based and community focused support services including a visitor centre based services at 11 prisons across the North west and into Yorkshire. Through the grate support in Greater Manchester and community-based services for women (Oldham)as part of the Greater Manchester Women’s Support Alliance.
Welcome to episode 5 of Blondy’s People……. Where do I start……Kimberley Lamb.…. The voice for marginalised communities….the women who came from the endz and is not afraid to say that ….one of the Queens (As far as I am concerned) of safeguarding children and young people from gangs, youth violence, and exploitation and as I say in our video…I am not worthy of the interview. It was like talking to an inspirational goddess and I just wanted to hug…it was also talking to someone I have known forever……
Paul McKenzie is a professional public speaker, life coach/NLP Masters practitioner, youth worker and public correspondent.
Paul enjoys changing the lives of hundreds of people over the last 15 years. After leaving the role of a solicitors account manager, Paul becomes more in tune with working with people who were less fortunate than himself, by volunteering in several youth enrichment programmes that targeted young people that were seen as disadvantaged. His role as a mentor in a primary school motivated him to pursue a broader approach to tackling challenging behaviour
With the signs of serious youth violence spanning back almost a decade, Paul focused much of his time in engaging young people on a street level His core beliefs is that “The behaviour is never the real person”. And this approach has earned him respect in the local community and communities spanning across London.
So, Jenny…Who are you and what do you do?
I am the Co-founder and Joint Artistic Director for BearFace Theatre. Based in Hampshire, we work creatively, collaboratively, and proactively to achieve positive growth aimed at all those affected by the CJS. Using the arts as a catalyst to raise the voices of those who feel marginalised and unheard aiming to unify and strengthen community connections. Alongside the day to day running of this successful small-scale CIC, I am an applied theatre practitioner specialising in producing and delivering face to face responsive, co-created participatory arts programmes. Developing and delivering creative interventions that open up dialogue and encourage action shifting towards positive culture change in and around the CJS is my vocation.
So, this is my first interview……and what a way to start! Let’s be clear….I don’t know how to edit….wait…I don’t know how to interview….so with this it is very much “What you see is what you get” a down-to-earth interview (I would say more of a natter) with some of the people I respect and admire. Will my editing be on point….no…? will there be bits that should have been taken out…. yes….
Will this be authentic, real and from the heart…Yes…..and today’s interview is a mixture of a blog and a podcast. I’m sure there is an actual name for that….