When my parents contacted my old school about me being bullied, the school denied anything was wrong. My parents were told that I needed to become less sensitive to ‘banter’, ‘just get on with things’ and maybe if I smiled more I would make friends.
The school said that in actual fact other kids were scared of me because the people who bullied me spread rumours that I wanted to stab people. I was told to apologise, as the bullies told the school that I was the one bullying them. Even when I was physically attacked, the school did nothing. I didn’t feel that I got any support from my school.
I was struggling at the time with my home situation. I was finding it very difficult to cope with serious illness and disability in family members, it put so much pressure on me and I received no help or understanding whatsoever from the school.
When I left school I was so traumatised by what happened that I was suicidal. I didn’t leave my room for months. I refused to even contemplate getting back into education, because I thought that it was just another way of getting me back into the same situation.
Little did I know, Red Balloon was about to save my life.
I honestly don’t know what I would do without the counselling sessions. I got a 45 minute counselling session every week called wellbeing. It was a time that I could be honest about how I was feeling and what I was struggling with. My counsellor arranged extra sessions if I was feeling particularly low. My worst fear was falling behind academically, so my learning was really important to me.
The lessons that I was offered at Red Balloon were great, I could keep learning and I could begin to see a future for myself. I remember thinking that I was clever enough to go to college and university. I sat my GCSEs and thanks to my teachers I was on track to achieve good grades.
At Red Balloon, I had a place where I finally belonged. I had friends that weren’t going to turn on me and bully me, or talk about me behind my back. I was safe at Red Balloon, at the Satellite Centre when I went once a week for social activities. I didn’t feel alone and scared anymore. I didn’t attempt suicide or hurt myself any more. People that haven’t been bullied cannot possibly understand how essential it is to belong to a community.
In school I was an outcast, but at Red Balloon, I had a place and I knew that I would always have friends, friends that understood me and liked me for the person that I was.
Children like me deserve an education. I loved learning and I wanted nothing more than to learn and succeed in life. I’m so thankful to Red Balloon for giving me my future back.
Our stories
"If I hadn't gone to Red Balloon my life would be rubbish; I don't think things would have got better at my last school and I don't think I could have gone to another mainstream school."
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"Red Balloon absolutely prepared me for the future. It taught me a lot about managing social interactions as well as treating others as equal."
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"It’s no exaggeration to say that if it wasn’t for Red Balloon, everything I’ve done over the past ten years would have been literally impossible."
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"As a parent I cannot explain how grateful and thankful I am to Red Balloon for helping Olivia to find a path back to education again."
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