fbpx BBC Radio London: Youth sector leadership and understanding trauma on Rise Up programme - London Youth

08 July 2021

Our Rise Up programme is about developing and lifting the voices of a new generation of youth sector leaders. After his time on Rise Up, we were very pleased to help Hafid Ali, a youth worker at London Youth member Camden Giving and founder of Camden United, get his story out there with an interview on BBC Radio London.

Hafid talked with Eddie Nestor about how violence affected him growing up and continues to affect the young people he works with.  He spoke about how becoming a qualified Mental Health First Aider during his time on Rise Up changed how he thought about his own trauma and how it has equipped him with new skills to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

At the time, I was absolutely clueless. I did a Mental Health First Aid course recently and we were discussing self-harm. One of the things the trainer said was that self-harm can be as simple as not playing football anymore. If you’re passionate about football and you stop playing for that reason, you’re self-harming.

At the time, I stopped playing football, I stopped watching football, I stopped doing all the things that I enjoyed. I just didn’t know why I stopped and I never asked myself why.”

Click here to listen to the whole interview (from 1:07:50).


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