In 2020, I remember seeing an advert to become a volunteer campaigner. A friend of mine told me about it initially and said to me, ‘You do social media and talk about having a visible difference. This could be a good fit for you.’
The first thing I did as a campaigner was about life in lockdown with a visible difference, and the conflicting feelings about wearing a facemask in public. I felt that Changing Faces really championed me to share my experience and always gave me good feedback.
It felt good to do something that might benefit people who could see it and go, ‘Oh, I’m okay, I see myself in that person.’ Unfortunately, I didn’t have that growing up. After talking to my fellow campaigners, it seems like there was little representation in their lives too.
It felt good to be the person I needed when I was growing up. To fulfil that goal that my childhood self had was rewarding.
Being a campaigner has also given me a drive to help others achieve their goals.
As a campaigner, I contributed to the Scottish Hate Crime campaign, which got a great response. I heard from so many people who could relate to the hate-related experiences that I shared. It was reassuring to know that I’m not the only person who had experienced hate incidents. It’s so important that we make sure everyone knows that they can report hate crime and hate incidents and get help.
Stop the Stare was another campaign that was great to be a part of because it made people think. Sometimes people aren’t doing things to be mean, they’re just unaware of the impact. I liked to do things that made people question how they behave, and if they did something that they could be more mindful of in the future. The campaign definitely made people stop and reflect. I was even approached by a customer at work who told me she’d seen me discuss the impact of staring on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch and that it had made her reflect on her own actions. She said to me: “if you’ve ever caught me staring accidentally in the past, I apologise.” This really moved me – and it sums up what I loved about being a Changing Faces campaigner.
I finished my campaigning experience two years ago now. It really helped boost my confidence further, and it made me channel it in ways I didn’t even realise were possible – like going on TV for Sky News and Steph’s Packed Lunch. Doing those things made me realise that I am good under pressure, and that I really do have a good way with words, which I can use moving forwards.
Since being a campaigner, I spend my time building up my TikTok community and being an uncle to my brilliant nephew. Becoming an uncle was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It’s completely transformed my relationship towards kids as a whole. I used to stay away from children as I would worry about how to navigate the comments and curious questions they might have about my visible difference. Now, I’m much more confident with them. If any child approaches me now, I interact, rather than try to hide away.
Sometimes parents think the best way to respond to their child’s inquisitive nature is to completely ignore it, in the hopes that they stop. Parents – they don’t stop! But you can address their curiosity by getting down to their level and explaining that we all look different, but some people look more different than others. It always helps to point out a mole or birthmark on you or your child that others might not have to use as an example.
Being a campaigner has also given me a drive to help others achieve their goals. I went back to my school recently to do a talk about self-confidence. It was such a full circle moment for me because I had no self-confidence when I left school. This dislike of myself was all that I could see. Now I’ve gone back to my school to do something that I never thought I would be able to do, and the response was really good as well. A lot of the students said that it was the best talk that they’d ever had.
Education really helps to change people’s attitudes
My ideal job would be to teach people about visible differences and the importance of respecting others. That is what I would love to do. From the moment I joined Changing Faces, I always championed the idea that education is the way forwards. We need to get people into school, get people talking about it, changing the curriculum.
I did a talk at another school where the kids had read Wonder and wanted to speak to someone with a visible difference to learn more about what the challenges were. It would be great for that to be happening up and down the country. A large portion of the TikTok audience is teenagers, and I’ve gotten comments on my videos from young people who are curious to learn more about living with a visible difference. That’s why I’ve always gotten behind the idea of education and talking about these things because it does help change people’s attitudes.
I wish all the new Changing Faces campaigners starting in November the best of luck. I’ll be watching and cheering you all on from afar and think back with fond memories meeting and bonding with my cohort for the first time.
