Angela Walker In Conversation - Inspirational Interviews, Under-Reported News
For news lovers everywhere. Join former BBC reporter and broadcast journalist Angela Walker as she engages in thought-provoking conversations with inspirational individuals about current affairs and under-reported issues. We examine stories mainstream media don’t cover: issues of social justice and campaigns that aim to improve society and the world we live in. We look at issues around government, climate change, the environment and world around us. In this podcast, we aim to shed light on important topics that often go unnoticed, providing a platform for insightful discussions with our guests.
From activists and social entrepreneurs to academics and community leaders, these individuals bring their expertise and experiences to the table. Through their stories, we explore the challenges they have overcome, their motivations, and the lessons they have learned along the way. We examine issues of social justice and campaigns that aim to improve society and the world we live in.
If you have an inquiring mind and enjoy BBC Radio 4, The Today Programme, PM, The World At One, Panorama, Despatches, documentaries and interview programmes then this is the place for you.
Listen to be inspired and informed.
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Angela Walker In Conversation - Inspirational Interviews, Under-Reported News
CHILD POVERTY IN THE UK: Emma Cantrell MBE on the Worsening Poverty Trap
3.8 million people in the UK experienced destitution in 2022, including around one million children. That’s according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report into destitution. This is almost two-and-a-half times the number of people in 2017, and nearly triple the number of children. There is an urgent need for action to tackle destitution in the UK.
When faced with the reality of not being able to provide basic essentials for your child, where do you turn for help? In our heartfelt conversation with Emma Cantrell, founder and CEO of Children's Charity First Days, we uncover the shocking statistics surrounding child poverty and food insecurity in the UK. Emma shares the touching story of how First Days began and its growth over the past decade, now supporting over 10,000 children living in poverty by distributing more than 250 tonnes of donated goods.
We discuss the vital role of providing children with brand new items on their first day of school, granting them a sense of agency and belonging. Emma sheds light on the challenges of supplying school uniforms amidst rising costs and the disturbing fact that 20% of adults in the UK have experienced food insecurity. We delve into the impact of this crisis on families and their children's well-being and future prospects.
In this episode, Emma also shares her insights on how First Days Charity not only meets the basic needs of impoverished families but builds relationships with them to ensure they receive the help they deserve. We explore the inspiring ways the local community comes together to support those in need, as well as the importance of breaking down the stigma around asking for help. Join us for this inspiring and eye-opening conversation with Emma Cantrell, a true champion for children in need.
#ChildPovertyUK #FoodInsecurity #ChildrensCharity #FirstDays #HelpingChildren #CommunitySupport #ChildWellbeing #EducationMatters #BasicNeeds #SupportingFamilies #BuildingConnections #InspiringChange #ChildhoodPoverty #GivingBack #CommunitySolidarity #BreakTheStigma #EmpowerChildren #MakingADifference #ChildAdvocacy #UKCharities #ChildhoodInequality #FutureProspects #SocialImpact #PovertyAwareness
Hi listener. I thought you might enjoy Don Anderson's podcast. Missing Pieces - NPE Life is a podcast that curates stories of and about people who find out, usually through a home DNA test, that someone in their family tree isn't who they thought. They also tell stories of adoptees who've found lost family, or are looking. The host, Don Anderson, found out in 2021 that his dad wasn't his dad. It changed his life. NPE stands for Not Parent Expected or Non Paternity Event.
https://www.angelawalkerreports.com/
More than 4 million children in the UK are living in poverty. One in five adults experienced food insecurity last year. That was before food inflation rose to 17%. This is according to the Office for National Statistics. My guest today has helped over 10,000 children living in poverty and she has distributed more than 250 tonnes of donated goods. I'm journalist, angela Walker, and in my podcast I interview inspirational people and discuss under reported issues. Today, i'm in conversation with Emma Cantrell, the founder and CEO of Children's Charity First Days. Emma Cantrell, thanks so much for joining me. Pleasure, it's lovely to be here, thank you. So you started First Days Charity in 2013, why?
Emma Cantrell:Well, i've always worked with vulnerable people. I started my career after university working in drug and alcohol treatment, and I was always really drawn to the families who we worked with. I went on to work in a London borough which had huge levels of deprivation and then I had my own children and I moved out to Berkshire. I got involved in the local community and I was really aware that there was this big problem where especially single parents just couldn't afford the basics push chairs, cots, that sort of thing. That's quite expensive.
Emma Cantrell:Then I had my second child and all my neighbours came along with bin bags full of baby clothes, offering all this stuff. They were emptying their lofts. My husband called it middle class fly tipping at the time, which I thought was very funny, but it was just very well meaning wanting to pass on their baby stuff, and I remember really clearly sitting there thinking I do not need this stuff, but I know that there are people literally around the corner who do So. It just needs to become a broker between the two.
Emma Cantrell:Now that was 10 years ago and baby banks didn't really exist. Then Baby banks were just beginning to become a bit more part of society because of austerity and all of those things, but baby banks didn't really exist. So I set up this, essentially the middleman You give me your stuff, i'll find the people who need it. And people looked at me like I was crazy, like why would you be doing this? And sadly, over the last 10 years, the charity has grown, the need has grown exponentially and we've really embedded ourselves in the community, now supporting families, and it's just got huge.
Angela Walker:So how many people have you helped? What kind of stuff have you passed on?
Emma Cantrell:So pre-pandemic we were helping 2,000 children a year, something like that. We were passing on baby stuff nappies, toiletries, prams, cots, some beds and some school uniform. And then during the pandemic we were asked by the local authority to run a food distribution hub. So we were giving out thousands of food parcels and that really increased the awareness of our services in the community, which meant loads more people put their hands up to ask for help. So just in the last year alone we've supported 8,000 children in the area. So the demand has just mushroomed.
Emma Cantrell:But what we now do is we work directly with families so we get alongside them, we meet their basic needs. So someone will come to us because they need a school blazer, because their child's lost their blazer at school and they're getting in trouble. And then we'll talk to the family and we'll find out that it's never just a blazer, it's never just a pair of shoes. There's always so much more going on that we can help with because there's a lot of support in the community. But often people just are overwhelmed and don't know where to turn. So a lot of our time now is spent talking to parents, supporting them, trying to find ways that they can navigate through their difficulties.
Angela Walker:And what happens if somebody wants assistance? Do they have to qualify? Do they have to be on some kind of benefit? How does it work?
Emma Cantrell:No, so we used to. Just people used to come to us via professionals. So up until two or three years ago people would come to us, referred by a social worker, a housing officer of their school, and they still do sometimes come to us that way. But now we have a team who, when a family says actually is brave enough to put their hand up and say, actually I need some help, our team will speak to them, give them a call, find out what's going on at home and do kind of an assessment over the phone.
Emma Cantrell:So you don't have to be on any sort of qualifying benefits although most people are because actually sometimes we get phone calls from people who say look, my husband's lost his job, we're struggling to even pay the mortgage or the rent, we don't want to get into debt and we just we can't get over this hurdle of needing whatever this expensive item is. Is there something you can do? And actually, if we said that they had to wait until they'd lost their home, were on benefits, all of those things when we could actually prevent that spiral from happening. So what we do is we build relationships, we get to know people and then you really understand the need and people don't want to spend 10, 15 minutes on the phone to you if they're not in desperate need. So it kind of that building relationship having a phone call. We're ensuring that the people who need the help the most get it.
Angela Walker:How do people find approaching you? Is there a stigma around coming forward and saying I don't have enough money to buy my child a school uniform? I mean that is hard.
Emma Cantrell:I don't think there's a parent who exists who wants to put their hand up and say I can't provide the basics for my children. The thought of not being able to give my own children the things they need you know, not the things they want, the things they desperately need is heartbreaking and it is really hard to approach a charity, definitely. But what we do is we we try and reduce that stigma as much as possible. So one of the things we do is we have a van kitted out with essentials that goes into the community. So we know where there's a high level of need and we'll go with that van And it's. There's no expectations. We just talk to people. We show them that we are humans like them. We just wanna help. You know there's no big forms. You have to stand there filling in. You don't have to declare your life history. It's just we're here to get to know you and help.
Emma Cantrell:So we try and build relationships to reduce that stigma. And the other thing we do is we're really open about the fact and that's become easier in this cost living crisis that life's just really expensive And we try and tell people and spread that message as much as possible that it's not your fault, you know it's so often because we live in this lovely area, but it's really expensive to live here And if people, if this is where people have been brought up, it's where their support network is, just because they've fallen on hard times, you know. It doesn't that's because life's expensive, you know, and it's trying to mum guilt is a massive thing, isn't it? You know, trying to reduce that level of guilt for parents and free them from that shame that they're feeling when they come to a charity is top of our agenda, because that's the only way they can kind of look to the future and look forwards and rebuild things.
Angela Walker:I think the stigma of having second hand or pre-loved stuff, i think that's diminished a bit actually because people are getting into recycling and I think they're more open to the idea of saying well, actually, my kids outgrown these trainers in like two months. They're hardly worn let's pass them on, you know.
Emma Cantrell:Definitely, I think it has. I think there's a really big thing there where, if you choose to put your child in second hand but you could put them in something brand new, you've got an element of agency over that decision, whereas if all you are offered or all you can get your hands on is something second hand, you feel like that choice has been taken away from you. So I think something we do with school uniform when a child starts in year seven is make sure that there are a number of items that they get brand new. So we have funding where we can buy brand new school blazers, shoes, those things that really would. You would look different or feel different from your peers on that first day of school.
Emma Cantrell:But what we find is, once the child gets older, the child and the parents don't mind if it's second hand or not, because they realize that it's gonna look second hand within 20 minutes anyway being at school As a parent, i concur, so yeah, it's definitely changed And I think certainly what we'd like to do is expand our services so that everyone could come and but if you can afford to buy second hand, you could come to us and get it, and that funding would then cover the cost of providing stuff to people who can't afford it, because I think there is an appetite for passing things on and with the climate and fast fashion and those things, there is definitely an appetite for choosing pre-loved.
Angela Walker:You mentioned earlier about the fact that we're lucky enough to live in an affluent area. We're in leafy barks here. People might be surprised that there are people here living in poverty. What's the scale of it?
Emma Cantrell:It's do you know what? There's two different groups of people. So there are people who, when the government statistics are below the poverty line and in Berkshire that's 45,000 children live below the poverty line, which means that their parents, after they've paid for their housing and their utilities, have less than 19 pounds a day to live on for food, technology, transport, clothes, whatever it is in the home and to get to work and all of those things. And that is a really really high level of need. And those are people who come to us and they can't afford anything Any school uniforms, any beds, because of beds broken or child's outgrown it. And then there's this group of people and over the last year this group has got hugely bigger Who were I think Theresa May coined the just about managing phase a long time ago, but it is those ones who were surviving, just about really really good at budgeting, really good at managing money, but the cost of living and one tiny little thing going up or, as we've experienced now, 10 things going up it's pushed people into a situation where they, where they could have afforded school uniform last year and this year they can't.
Emma Cantrell:And that's the situation we're in now is we're having families come to us saying I can't believe I've had to come to a charity, but I've just, i've got nowhere else to turn. I can't borrow money off my family because they've got no money either. You know, i've maxed out the overdraft or whatever. And it's that's the group that are growing and growing, and growing And we can't see an end in sight with that. Prices aren't going down, so we've had petrol prices.
Angela Walker:we've got fuel prices and now we've got food prices going up, and I wanted to talk to you about food insecurity. I just wanna give the official definition of that according to the Office for National Statistics. So adults were classed as having experienced some form of food insecurity if they reported experiencing one or more of the following Running out of food and being unable to afford to buy more in the past two weeks. being very or somewhat worried in the past two weeks that their food would run out before they got money to buy more. And definitely or tending to disagree that they or their household could afford to eat a balanced diet. And 20% of adults now are classed as having some form of food insecurity. And what effect is that having on families, do you think?
Emma Cantrell:It's huge. And I'm telling you now, parents will not eat so that their children can eat. That is that happens. We hear about that all the time And it has a huge effect. You know, we know the evidence is so strong of the effect of hunger, of or on children of hunger. It's huge.
Emma Cantrell:Children who are hungry or malnourished do not do as well at school, they are not as healthy, they have a lower life expectancy, and the fact that, as you say, 20% of adults are experiencing this food insecurity is so, so worrying.
Emma Cantrell:And I mean it's not, it's not just what you would expect. This isn't people in the worst places, with the highest levels of deprivation, who have an empty cupboard. This is people who are working. I mean our local food bank. They regularly have nurses, teaching assistants, care assistants coming to them because their cupboards are bare, and it has a huge impact. And it has a really big impact on children because that feeling of insecurity, that nervousness, that heightened levels of cortisol and all those negative hormones in their bodies it affects their brain development, and not just now, forever. So it's really, really important that we protect children and we make the household safe, and that includes food, that includes a safe place to sleep includes somewhere to do your homework. All of those things are so important because we're storing up a whole load of problems for the future, because all of these children are gonna be adults soon.
Angela Walker:And, of course, kids pick up on our anxieties. I mean, every time I go to the supermarket I'm surprised, i'm shocked by how much things have gone up basic things, milk, eggs, bread And I'm lucky enough that my husband and I both have an income, but you know this and the price of energy. It's quite shocking. On your website you state our aim for the charity is very clear we want to close our doors because no one needs our service anymore. Emma, how close are you to being able to do that?
Emma Cantrell:So, so so painfully far away. I would like nothing more than to be able to turn around to my team and say sorry, guys, you're gonna have to find new jobs, you know, find new things to do. We are. No one needs us. No one should have to come to a charity to ask for help with the basics and essentials.
Emma Cantrell:But we're so far away. Demand for what we are providing is way higher than we will ever be able to meet. You know, we have people who we have to turn away with. There are and especially this year, there are gonna be children who we are gonna have to say no, i'm sorry, you can't have school shoes, we don't have any, we don't have the resources. Which breaks my heart, because when you set up a charity and when you work in a charity, you really, really care about it, and I love the families we support and I love the community we work in, and to not be able to provide everything that we want to be able to for families is heartbreaking. I can see it in your, i can see it in your eyes and I can hear it in your voice.
Angela Walker:It's really upsetting you, because you wanted this to be a short-term stop to charity, to help people, and now it's escalating, isn't it? Well, and that's the thing.
Emma Cantrell:No one should be relying on charity ever. So do you know what Things go wrong in life, don't they? Relationships break down, someone loses a job, you know, the car breaks down and you have to replace it with a boiler, breaks or whatever it is, and that's when charities should be able to step in. For that one time, let us help. You know we can help you with these things, we can point you in the right direction, and that's the work we want to do.
Emma Cantrell:We don't want the mums coming back to us week after week for nappies and wipes because they can't afford them. Or last two weeks ago, a mum came to our outreach van and just said quite nonchalantly to one of the team oh, have you got any period products? You know, because we well, me and my daughter have been using socks, and my colleague said she inwardly was just this gasp, because this woman was absolutely blasé about the fact that her and her daughter, a teenage daughter, was going to school using socks instead of proper hygienic period products. Thankfully we were able to help. But what has become of the world, of this society, if someone can't afford that absolute, essential basic?
Angela Walker:And that it's become so normal for them. Yeah, that was the thing That they happen to make do without a sadditary product.
Emma Cantrell:Yeah, that was the thing that absolutely shocked my team And we've become quite unshockable, but it really caused us to stop and think this is desperate because it felt so normal for that family And that's nothing normal about that or there shouldn't be. It should be outrageous. We should be shouting from the rooftops about it. So, yeah, I think that's the thing that is so upsetting. We don't want people to have to keep coming back. We don't want to be here. We don't want to be handing out basics that you should be able to afford out of your own pocket.
Angela Walker:So what can we do as a society to try and turn things around and make sure that there are fewer families living in poverty?
Emma Cantrell:I think, from a kind of societal point of view, certainly we need to have a lot more respect for the role of parents as a form of labour, as a work. It's a job to be, the fact that you're expected to have, if you're lucky enough to have two parents in the home, for them both to be working full time, both be bringing income and that be enough to provide the fact that often that isn't enough, then still to provide for families. I think we need to take a lot more seriously the role of and it is often mothers who are the primary caregiver and what the economic value of that, and the fact that it's a hugely valuable role and maybe there is something that could change in the benefit system that values that better. But essentially, people need more money in their pockets. We need higher wages or lower costs. In every business, you either decrease your costs or you increase your income.
Emma Cantrell:The household budget is no different. Families need more money. The benefit system isn't fit for purpose, but wages aren't fit for purpose. Over 50% of the families we support are in work. This isn't a whole generation of children who are being bought up in houses that rely purely on state benefits. This is children whose parents work and they still can't make ends meet.
Angela Walker:A generation ago, one salary was normally enough to support the family, and if mum, because it would normally be dad that went out to work and if mum went out to work it was a bit of extra money. But now most households they couldn't survive on just one salary. It's not optional. And then on top of that you've got childcare costs.
Emma Cantrell:Oh, and that's the next thing that has to change, and I think there's a growing momentum around this issue of childcare costs. I can remember in my situation I was working and I was working in when my two children were little. I was working in the evenings to top up the costs of the childcare because I wanted to keep my job, because I loved my job, but I wasn't being paid enough even to cover the childcare. So I was then working an evening job to pay that, which is wild. How can that be? It's not sustainable. It wasn't sustainable. It made me quite ill. But the childcare we need to take childcare so much more seriously, and if the government are absolutely hellbent on getting parents back into work, then it needs to make financial sense, otherwise they're not going to do it. That's so true. That's so true.
Emma Cantrell:Child care costs are just too high for a lot of I mean certainly a lot of the mums we support to be able to work, and it's just, but it's very difficult because they're also being told by the Job Center once their children have got over a certain age. You need to be spending 30 hours a week job searching. It's like, okay, where is that time coming from. I'm not paid to do it, i don't have child care whilst I'm doing it. You know what is it's so it feels.
Emma Cantrell:I know a lot of the parents we support just tell us that they feel trapped. They just feel trapped in a system that isn't designed to support them and they don't know what it's there for you, they don't know who it's. There's a real growing sense of injustice amongst the families we support. That it's just not fair. You know they're not given a fair crack at things because every time they try and do something, you know benefits are taken away, changed, they've been overpaid and have to repay. You know they're living in inadequate housing and overcrowded and it just doesn't. Life just doesn't feel hopeful.
Angela Walker:What do you think these families would do if your charity wasn't there to help them?
Emma Cantrell:So we ask that question to parents. We do a lot of kind of surveys and get feedback, because that's how we improve what we're doing, and the most recent survey we did, parents said two things. Firstly, they would just have to go without. They personally would have to go without. So I mean and by go without what I mean is we had a family who the mum and the daughter shared a coat. So in the cold winter they would decide each morning whether the daughter needed the coat at school, or if she could find a radiator and stay inside at break time, or because the mum needed to walk to the shops, could she have the coat that day. So we were thankfully able to give mum a coat, but they that is what I mean. by going without, you know, i don't mean going without luxuries or nice to have things, or, and this is more worrying a huge proportion Over 40% said they simply wouldn't pay bills, so they wouldn't pay their gas and electric bill and they wouldn't pay their council tax.
Emma Cantrell:and the minute you start getting into that situation, a £10 debt becomes a £100 debt, which becomes £1,000, which means you're getting evicted or your electricity is being switched off or all of those things. So what we are trying to do, as best we can, is prevent people from going into that spiral of debt of, you know, borrowing money. There's plenty of people who will try and lend money in a really expensive and unethical, immoral way, and families are vulnerable to that because they need to buy essentials, they need to feed their kids and clothe them. So I think without us, there would be increased levels of debt and there would be people who would just simply be going without going, without food, going without clothes, going without heating, those essentials that so many of us take for granted.
Angela Walker:And we've talked a lot about the families that you help, but the other side of this is all the great people who are donating the items that enable you to pass them on to help these families. So let's talk a bit about them, yeah, now this is fantastic.
Emma Cantrell:So we've said a few times we live in this affluent area and sometimes areas like Berkshire have got a bad reputation because there's an assumption that people are wealthy because they're selfish or because they don't want to, and you know they've got this kind of I'm okay, i won't help you attitude. We have experienced the opposite of that. People really want to help all the time and what we've created is this vehicle that people can help and it's really tangible and there's something really moving about people knowing that their stuff is going to be in their community and stay within their community and be used by someone else. And actually, when I had a double buggy for my two children and when I finished with it, obviously I donated it to my charity and we had a guy coming to see us to pick up some he needed. He was a single dad twins really, really tragic situation. He had these two-year-old twins and we'd been helping him over a period of months and he was coming along to our office to pick up something that he needed for them and my colleagues said, oh, such and such is coming along to pick up this stuff. Oh, all right, okay.
Emma Cantrell:And then I saw this guy walking down the pavement and I thought he's got my buggy and honestly I could tear up thinking about it now because it was so moving to see that guy and I said oh. I said, oh, nice buggy. And he said, oh, do you know what? I didn't leave my house for two weeks before I got this with these twins and those twins were wild and he's, you know, two-year-old boys, two of them. And he said, he said I couldn't leave the house because I just couldn't contain them. And then you guys drop this off and now I can go to the baby groups, i can go down the shops and that is the, you know. And that's because I mean it happened to be my buggy.
Emma Cantrell:But every single person who has donated something, it's improved someone else's life and I and I think people know that and they trust us that when they're giving us their stuff, it's going on to improve someone else's life in our community, which is good for everyone. And you know, people do. We've got loads of volunteers who turn up every single week and they do things like iron, you know. They turn up an iron for three hours and think, gosh, i always, you know, joke with them like do you not have enough of this sort of thing at home, but they love it.
Emma Cantrell:You know, it's just a. It's great because it's giving back and I think there's a big thing about being aware of your privilege, and there's so many people in our community who are well aware of the fact that they're okay and the fact that we can highlight that there are some people who aren't, but this is how you can help. It's not a helpless situation, it's brilliant, and people jump at the chance that we are surrounded by good people and I don't think we talk about that enough like there are so many good people doing good things everywhere and talking about good people.
Angela Walker:I mean, you've helped so many people, emma, and you've got some amazing news because your contribution to society, to all these impoverished families that you've been helping for the past 10 years, is being officially recognised.
Emma Cantrell:Yes, I got this letter, which I it was really funny. It arrived in an envelope that said on his majesty service, and my partner rung me and said um uh, you've got this, you've got this letter. It looks quite official, have you? and I thought what have I done wrong?
Angela Walker:oh my goodness yeah, totally.
Emma Cantrell:So I zoomed home from work to have a look and, yes, i have been honoured in the king's birthday honours with an mbe.
Emma Cantrell:So do you know what it's really? it's really, really interesting because, um, i I thought I opened it and I felt immediately a bit embarrassed, like, oh my goodness, this is a team effort, you know, but actually If more people like me were recognised in this way and we could elevate the stories and talk about ordinary people who have just decided to do something good and give a lot of you know I won't lie, it's a huge amount of time and effort and energy and emotion and everything to this to a good cause. We need to highlight that all the time There should be. You know, everyone on that list should be being celebrated for doing good things. So I'm really and you know that it's been awarded to me for services to vulnerable children and people and that really got to me and I thought you know how amazing to see that in print, to see that and to have that recognised. And if more people like me, who are doing this work every single day, looking after vulnerable people, can be recognised.
Angela Walker:I think it's brilliant. You've touched so many lives and now it's been recognised, so congratulations. That is amazing. When you set this charity up 10 years ago, did you ever imagine that it would escalate to this scale and that you'd, you know, get an MBE for your services?
Emma Cantrell:No, not in a million years. So I set the charity up. I wasn't planning on working full time for the charity or anything. It was a project, kind of in my spare time to do some good. And I actually went away and worked for a couple of other big charities and kind of learnt how to do this job whilst first days was growing and I was still very much involved in it. But I never imagined that it would get to the scale it's got to and I do.
Emma Cantrell:Sometimes it's really interesting because I sit in our you know, we've got offices in a warehouse and I look around and think I can't quite believe that I created this whole thing. But I did. And it's a real like bittersweet thing because it's fantastic that we are there, but it's devastating that we are there as well and we shouldn't be. But I am, i never thought it would grow to this. I never, ever thought anyone would, you know, give me a nod and say well done in public. So I'm really, really pleased and you know it is a team effort, but I am, i'm really pleased that we've been able to grow it and do the work that we do.
Angela Walker:And have you got any message? for you know people in Parliament, those people in power who you know. They're the only ones really in a position to help change things around. What should they be doing?
Emma Cantrell:So the first thing, they need to do is speak to people on the ground. We know what's going on, you know, and I think there's such a disconnect between policy that comes out of Whitehall and what is happening on the ground And there needs to be so much closer working with what is going, what is going on on the ground. And I think the other thing I would ask is there needs to be compassion and empathy at the centre of every policy. You know you can bandy about big numbers 45,000 children live below the poverty line in Berkshire, but that's 45,000 individual children with one life to lead. And I think if policy can be created and change can be made, it's full of compassion and empathy and has those children and their one life at the centre of it, that will surely change how we treat people.
Emma Cantrell:And I think you know there's that saying that we should be judged by how we treat each individual. And I know that the system treats so many families so badly And that's what we are judged on as society. That's the. You know how we are being held up And I think I think if we can create a lot more compassion, a lot more empathy, a lot more understanding, then that will change. And you know, get more money in people's pockets. That's what's needed. We all want to be in a thriving, happy environment And sadly, that money does contribute to that.
Angela Walker:And if anybody's listening and they would like assistance from your charity First Days, how can they go about it?
Emma Cantrell:So they can go on our website and just fill out a form. It's a really simple inquiry form. It doesn't ask for your life story And one of the team will give you a call. and they are fantastic. They are the I have to not I have to leave the office when they're making calls, because I just love listening to them and I don't get any work done because they're so kind and so friendly and so welcoming and understanding. So they'll give you a call or you can ring us as well and ask for help. And if that feels like too much and you've got, you know a teacher at school you trust or whatever, speak to them and get them to get in touch with us, because there's loads we can do to help. And it is scary to put your hand up and ask for help definitely, but it's so worth it And I can promise a really nice experience. It's, you know, it's not scary and it's not. you don't have to kind of bear all to anyone. It's you know, it's very, very dignified experience.
Angela Walker:Emma Cantrell, thank you so much for joining me. You are an inspiration. Oh thank you. I'm Angela Walker and I've been in conversation with Emma Cantrell, mbe, founder of the First Days Children's Charity. I hope you enjoyed the show And if you want to find out more, check out my website on wwwangelawalkerreportscom, where you'll find more information about other podcasts. And if you know someone who's inspirational or if there's an under-reported story you'd like to see me investigate, then please drop me a line through the website. Until next time, take care.
