Allie's story: "I discovered the power of my voice"

[ShelleyChangingFaces]

Allie was born prematurely, leading to complications including a severe abdominal infection, which required a bowel resection when she was 12 weeks old. This left her with a scar across her stomach.

While her early childhood wasn't particularly impacted by her visible difference, things changed when she got to secondary school.

"Bullies became a constant and changing rooms were my worst fear. Comments were made that sought to minimise my presence and discriminate against me. Ultimately, they made me feel worthless and ugly.

"That’s when I became more aware of how society viewed me generally. Summertime and going on holidays were particularly difficult, as the stares of both children and parents began to become more obvious and harder to ignore.

"Comments asking me to cover my stomach up were the final straw."

Changing Faces' counselling service enabled Allie to open up about her feelings towards her scar and from there she got involved with workshops and campaigning.

"Counselling and workshops helped me to grow my confidence, enough so that I became a spokesperson for the charity. As part of this role, I was given the opportunity to express my feelings through writing and public speaking. Soon I discovered the power of my voice.

"When I turned 18, the natural progression was to become an official campaigner. I wanted to carry on speaking about my experiences and to reach a wider audience, so continuing my campaigning journey was a no-brainer. Telling my story gave me hope that future generations won’t have to go through the bullying that I faced and won’t feel the need to hide themselves from society.

"Being a campaigner has enabled me to further strengthen my connections to people within the visible difference community. I’m so grateful that my work with Changing Faces provides me with the chance to project my views in an impactful way, influencing society for the better."

Allie's full story: changingfaces.org.uk/story/...

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