Meet The Youth Ambassadors!
3 March 2023
3 min read
Since its inception in 2016, The Knights Foundation Charity has continued to grow and develop, governed by our Board of Trustees, and run by our passionate staff members.
But, of course, these are all adults.
We are keen to learn from children who we have supported, hear what they have to say, and use that information to strive forward and continue to improve our support services.
Having thought deeply about the fact that we are a Charity who supports families who have children with disabilities, we decided that it would be a great idea to appoint a few inspirational children to be our first Youth Ambassadors for the Charity, as of course it's THEIR voices who we want to hear, and THEIR words that we want to put into action!
So... we are delighted to be able to introduce to you, our fabulous new Youth Ambassadors:
From left to right we have Charlie Adams, Sophia Banger, Milo Lockley-Boyd, Callum Young and Lewis Lloyd.
At the end of January 2023, our new Youth Ambassadors all met online for the first time on our initial Zoom call. This was managed by Paul Marcus and Stephanie Banger, whose roles are to support and develop the Youth Ambassadors, encourage them and guide them as they devise their own thoughts and ideas, and assist them to make their ideas reality.
We were so impressed at how engaging that initial call was, how comfortable the children felt with each other, and how they all came up with ideas. Their input in that first meeting left Paul and Stephanie blown away with the possibilities which were evident, enthused at their comradery, and excited at what they may be able to create in the future...
Last week was our first meeting in the office, where 4/5 of our Ambassadors were present…
My goodness! We sat there with immense pride, we listened to them articulate their experiences so eloquently, we heard them passionately talk of how they want to be the voice for those young children starting their journey with their disability, how they want to change perception, enhance inclusivity and BE HEARD. Their voice, individually and collectively, is so powerful. We won’t reveal ideas and projects they want to work on, that’s for later, but they will start with blogs and podcasts to get things going.
We are so excited to see how this wonderful power group will develop, and the change that will inevitably happen.
In this first meeting, the whole team brainstormed ideas to come up with their new Missions Statement... and here is is:
"To open a fair and inclusive World for young disabled people. Inclusivity for all, not just disabled people".
They also chose the following keywords to work with:
- Education
- Inclusivity
- Support
- Network
- Expectation
- Voice
- FUN
Straight after the meeting, Charlie announced that he would like to do the 15,000ft skydive in April, to fundraise for the Charity that he's now a proud Ambassador of! HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!! Charlie struggles with his mobility, but wanted to push the boundaries to make awareness of the charity, and to help other families. TOP MAN CHARLIE! If you would like to sponsor Charlie, and show your support, you click do so by clicking HERE.
Our next Skydive date with availability is Sunday 3rd September 2023. If you would like to be involved, and participate in a Charity Skydive for us, then please email ellie@theknightsfoundation.org.
Milo is our youngest Youth Ambassador, and suffers with complex hydrocephalus (which means “water-brain”). He needs a shunt to keep him alive, to drain the fluid from his head to his abdomen. Milo has had to have lots of shunt replacements as they stop working if they block-due to the amount of brain surgery he has had he also had to have a Cranial Vault Expansion in 2021 to make his skull bigger. Whenever his shunt has blocked or stopped working, parts of the brain need to rewire due to the pressure they’ve been under. Because of this, Milo finds some aspects of life very challenging and also suffers with chronic headaches and nausea almost daily.
Milo has found peace and mindfulness in his art work and uses it to relax and decompress some days. He has decided to utilise his skills in art and his desire to help others like him, to raise funds for The Knights Foundation (he really wants to make a difference).
Well, you can see for yourself just how talented this young man is, as Milo painted this wonderful Kingfisher for the Charity, to raise funds to help support other disabled children - how incredible is he! He also decided that the best way to do this, was to create a table and sell off 100 squares to family and friends! As you can imagine, everyone wanted to support and within a couple of days he had absolutely smashed his target, raising a whopping £684! AMAZING MILO! This REALLY is fantastic!