Tag: Children in Need

it’s so great that these kids get to talk

photo of girl standing while smiling
Photo by Mitch Kesler on Pexels.com

The bubbles start so small and insignificant,

Inconsequential, like stars in galaxies

Far too far away for me to worry on.

But soon they build and then it’s like

An atom bomb that tears through streets,

Ripping life from hopeful hearts.

So talk, my friends, and let it all out

Just try not to worry and stop crying your heart out…..

The BBC Children In Need programme is on at the moment and I think that we need it more than ever this year. Kids that would be struggling anyway have been hit even harder and I think nights like this bring the nation together to do something positive for the world.

I’m noticing while watching that a lot of the schemes that the money will go towards are talking based therapies and that makes my heart so happy. With everything going on it’s so nice to see kids being given the chance to let it out in a healthy way.

I wish that I had had access to a professional person when I was young. There must be so many kids out there that need the help desperately and the CAMHS waiting lists in this country are just too long. I’ve been told that a child needs to have actually hurt themselves in some way to be added to the list which is shocking.

But, here’s a thought, maybe we should all be a little more skilled at listening. We all love to sit and talk about ourselves but sometimes we just need to let people pour out their emotions without comparing their woes to our own.

I’ve made a bit of a conscious effort to listen to the lids at school a bit more and it’s amazing what people tell you when they know that you are giving them your full attention. That trust that they give you is so easily earned and yet it’s so powerful.

I’d encourage everyone to sit down with a fellow human and just listen some time soon. Don’t interrupt or pass judgement, just nod and show you care. And if you get a chance, check out the Children in Need single, Stop Crying Your Heart Out. It’s one of my all time favourites and I think the stars involved have done a great job.

Much Love

Rachel xx

Children in Need: It’s pulling at my heartstrings

Sorry, a bit of a rambly one tonight, but it’s my blog and this is the thing that is on my heart….. Tonight a large proportion of the British public will be sitting in front of the TV to watch Children In Need. This is a charity that the BBC launched in 1980 and has become a much loved fundraising event. Schools and workplaces across the UK take part in the fundraising efforts every year and a tonne of money is collected for amazing causes.

I don’t know how other people feel about these TV charity events, but I absolutely love them and I always have. I love the day of the event when we all dress up and do crazy things and then I love the TV show in the evening. I’ve been watching it since I was really little and, unsurprisingly, I’m watching it this evening.

But it’s the segments that show where the money is going that really gets me. As somebody who is super sensitive it can have me in tears during just a five minute segment. So far tonight they have already shown a group of kids who have cycled across the country despite facing real hardships in their lives. There have also been kids that have undergone awful rounds of chemo and if that doesn’t pull at your heartstrings then I don’t know what will.

It’s really made me think about charity and the part that it plays in our lives. I truly believe that we are all connected on a really deep and spiritual level and when we give to people who are in greater need than us it levels the playing field and makes our connections much stronger. We start to share in each other’s pain and also the successes and highs. And really this is what life is all about; we don’t get lasting satisfaction from a designer handbag, but we do from knowing that we’ve changed a life.

I also find that watching Children in Need makes me realise just how lucky I am. Some people have had the most awful time and quite often it has all been out of their control. It shows you how quickly life can change and how you must learn to hold onto the good times and cherish them as you don’t know what could be around the corner. It teaches me to feel much more content in the life that I have. I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboards and my family are all healthy. So many people can only dream of these things.

I pray for these people that I watch tonight and I hope that they can find some peace in their lives. I know that not everyone who reads this is a Christian but I do find a lot of comfort in the words that I find in the Bible and it helps me to know that our suffering is always for a purpose. I don’t know what that purpose is all of the time, and that is what makes life so difficult to navigate. It’s hard to understand why a young person could get cancer and I know that this is the reason a lot of people don’t have a faith. It’s difficult, I can’t understand it and it’s painful to see and to experience but I think that knowing that we are loved, no matter what, is sometimes the only thing that soothes my fears.

Well done to all the people who have put the work in to raise money. It fills my heart with all of the emotions to watch it and I will most definitely be donating this evening.

You can donate and see further details at the BBC website

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3