Our lived experience deserve to be heard - World mental health day

Our lived experiences matter. Our voices matter. And our futures matter.

For too long, the voices of survivors of childhood sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences have been silenced by shame, fear, stigma and the belief that what happened to us is something we must carry quietly. However, I believe something different. I believe that every survivor deserves to be heard, to be believed to be supported. Most importantly to know that there is hope beyond what they have experienced. This is my core belief and how Take Cover was born.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I understand that trauma can have a profound impact on our lives. It can influence how we see ourselves, how we build relationships, how safe we feel in the world and how we navigate our mental health. Healing is not always straightforward, and there is no single path that works for everyone. But I have also learned that we are more than what happened to us. Our experiences may shape parts of our journey, but they do not take away our worth, our potential or our ability to build a meaningful future. Finding my voice and turning pain into purpose.

My own lived experience has been a significant part of my journey. It has also helped shape the work I do today through Take Cover.

I created Take Cover because I believe in the importance of safety, understanding, connection and support. Through its three umbrellas, I bring together different ways of helping survivors and raising awareness of trauma.

Through peer-to-peer support, I help create spaces where survivors can connect with others who understand, where they can feel less alone and where their voices can be heard without judgement.

Through Be Aware, Be Trauma Aware, I work to help organisations understand the impact of trauma and recognise the importance of responding with compassion, sensitivity and awareness. Being trauma-informed is about more than knowing what trauma is. It is about understanding how our words, actions, environments and systems can affect people who have experienced it.

And through my work as a Wellbeing and Trauma-informed coach, I support people as they explore their own journeys, recognise their strengths and discover possibilities for moving forward.

These parts of my work are connected by one belief: people deserve to be met with understanding, not judgement, and compassion, not assumptions.

I cannot change what happened to me, but I can choose how I use my voice today. I can use my experience to raise awareness, encourage conversations, challenge stigma and help others discover that they are not alone.

For me, this is one of the ways lived experience can make a difference.

You are not defined by your trauma.

When we talk about trauma, it is important to recognise the challenges it can bring. We must never minimise what someone has experienced or suggest that they should simply move on. Healing takes time. It can be messy, complicated and unpredictable. There may be steps forward, moments of uncertainty and days when things feel harder than expected. There is no deadline for healing, and nobody should feel pressured to be strong all the time. However alongside acknowledging the pain, we must also make room for hope.

Hope that life can feel different.

Hope that trust, connection and a sense of safety can grow.

Hope that we can rediscover parts of ourselves that may have felt lost.

Hope that we can build lives filled with purpose, joy, meaningful relationships and opportunities.

Thriving does not mean forgetting the past or pretending it did not happen. It does not mean that we never struggle or that our experiences no longer affect us.

Sometimes thriving means finding the courage to speak. Sometimes it means asking for help, setting a boundary, learning to say no or recognising that we deserve better. Sometimes it means simply getting through a difficult day and allowing ourselves to rest. Every step matters.

You do not have to turn your pain into a purpose to prove your worth. You deserve healing, happiness and support simply because you are human. If you do choose to use your lived experience to help others, that choice can become a powerful part of your journey. The importance of being heard, believed and understood.

Having a voice is about more than speaking out. It is about having the opportunity to share our experiences in a way that feels safe and right for us.

Not every survivor wants to share their story publicly, and that is absolutely okay. Our stories belong to us. We have the right to decide when to share them, how much to share and with whom.

For some, finding a voice may mean speaking openly about their experiences. For others, it may mean confiding in one trusted person, joining a peer support group, writing privately or simply acknowledging their own truth. There is no right or wrong way. What matters is that survivors are given choices, listened to without judgement and supported without being expected to explain, prove or justify their experiences.

This is why peer support is so important. There can be something incredibly reassuring about connecting with someone who understands the feelings and challenges that can accompany trauma. We may come from different backgrounds and have different stories, but shared understanding can help create connection where there may once have been isolation, this is why organisations need to become more trauma-informed. Behind every interaction is a human being whose experiences may not be visible. A little understanding, a thoughtful question, a respectful approach or the willingness to listen can make a meaningful difference.

We may never know what someone else is carrying. But we can choose to respond with kindness.

From adversity to possibility

I often reflect on how our experiences can influence the direction of our lives. Adversity can leave us facing challenges we never asked for, but it does not mean that our future possibilities have disappeared. We can learn. We can grow. We can discover strengths we did not know we possessed. We can build supportive relationships, find our passions and create new meaning in our lives. This does not mean that trauma is a gift, that abuse happens for a reason or that survivors should be grateful for what they endured. Abuse is never the survivor's fault, and nobody should have to experience trauma to become stronger.

It means that, despite what has happened, there can still be life, love, laughter, connection and purpose ahead.

For me, using my lived experience to create Take Cover and support others has become one way of moving forward. It allows me to contribute to conversations that matter, challenge the silence surrounding trauma and help create spaces where people feel safer to be themselves. I share this not because every survivor must follow the same path, but because I want others to know that a future beyond survival is possible.

Your journey will be your own. Your goals may be different from mine. Your version of thriving may look completely different from someone else's. That is exactly as it should be.

This World Mental Health Day, let us make room for every voice

World Mental Health Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we talk about mental health, how we support one another and how we create environments where people feel able to ask for help.

Let us listen more carefully. Let us challenge stigma and shame.

Let us make support accessible and compassionate.

Let us encourage organisations to become trauma-aware and recognise the person behind the experience.

Let us understand that healing does not follow a straight line and that nobody should be made to feel they are failing because their journey takes time.

Above all, let us remember that lived experience is valuable. It can offer insight, challenge assumptions and help us build a deeper understanding of what people need.

To every survivor who is still finding their voice, please know this: you do not have to speak before you are ready. You do not have to share your story to deserve support. You do not have to have everything figured out to begin imagining a different future.

You are worthy of compassion today, exactly as you are. Plus to those who work alongside survivors, support people experiencing mental health challenges or influence the services and environments they encounter, please remember that the way we listen and respond matters. Sometimes, being heard without judgement can be the beginning of something new.

My message of hope

If there is one thing I would like people to take away from my journey, it is this:

Your past is part of your story, but it is not the whole story.

You are allowed to heal at your own pace. You are allowed to change. You are allowed to dream again, to laugh again, to find joy and to create a life that feels meaningful to you. You can have difficult days and still be making progress. You can carry memories and still experience happiness. You can acknowledge what happened without allowing it to take away your hope for what is possible.

And you do not have to do it alone. Through Take Cover, peer-to-peer support, Be Aware, Be Trauma Aware and my work as a wellbeing and trauma-informed coach, I will continue to advocate for understanding, connection and the importance of giving lived experience a voice. Because every story deserves respect. Every survivor deserves support. And every person deserves the opportunity to discover what thriving means for them.

We cannot always choose what happens to us, but with the right support, understanding and opportunities, we can begin to shape what comes next.

Let us move beyond simply asking people how they survived and begin asking how we can support them to live, grow and thrive.

Let us create a world where survivors are not defined by their trauma, where mental health is spoken about openly, and where hope is not just something we talk about, but something we help one another experience. Because there is life beyond survival.

There is hope beyond adversity. There is a future in which your voice deserves to be heard.

This World Mental Health Day, let us listen, let us understand, let us support, and let us make space for hope.

TOGETHER WE CONQUER TOGETHER WE HEAL