From Quiet Support to Official Partnership: Why Becoming a Patron and Children’s Mental Health Ambassador Matters

Recently, I was honoured to be appointed as a Patron and Children’s Mental Health Ambassador for The Principle Trust Children’s Charity – a role that feels deeply connected to both my professional work and personal lived experience.

For the past couple of years, I had quietly supported the organisation because I deeply believed in the importance of the work they were doing for children and families.

As someone working within emotional wellbeing, relationships, trauma, and neurodivergence, I understand how much pressure many families are carrying behind closed doors. Financial stress, burnout, grief, emotional overwhelm, school pressures, caring responsibilities, and communication struggles can quietly impact entire households.

Sometimes what families need most is not judgment or more pressure or “fixes”. 
Sometimes they simply need support, rest, connection, and space to breathe.

A Memory That Has Stayed With Me

One of the memories that has always stayed with me was after my father died suddenly at the age of 39, when I was 13 years old.

At that time, a community organisation arranged trips away for families, and I remember us travelling together by coach to Scotland, including visiting the Edinburgh Tattoo – which in fairness was a bit random. 

Looking back now, I realise how meaningful that experience truly was.

The grief did not disappear.
The loss was still there.
But for a moment, as a family, we were given space to breathe.

We were given rest.
Connection.
A change of environment.
A chance to create a memory together during a period that otherwise felt incredibly heavy.

I think experiences like that stay with people far longer than we sometimes realise.

They remind families that even during grief, hardship, or emotional overwhelm, moments of togetherness still matter.

That memory is one of the reasons I have always felt quietly connected to organisations supporting children and families. Sometimes support is not only about crisis intervention or formal therapy.

Sometimes it is about creating moments where people can simply feel human again.

Why I Focus on Supporting Adults

As a neurodivergent trauma and relationship counsellor, founder of Watoto Play, and parent of now adult, much of my work has centred around emotional wellbeing, communication, relationships, and helping families better understand one another.

Even though I am a counsellor, I often believe psychoeducation can be one of the most powerful forms of support for families – especially for parents and carers.

When adults begin to understand emotional regulation, nervous systems, communication patterns, sensory overwhelm, or neurodivergent experiences, it can completely change the way they respond – not only to their children, but also to themselves.

That understanding creates connection.

In my counselling practice, I do not work directly with children because I firmly believe meaningful change often begins with the adults around them.

Children communicate through behaviour, emotion, shutdown, movement, withdrawal, and dysregulation. When adults are given the tools, language, and understanding to respond differently, family dynamics can begin to shift in healthier and more connected ways.

For me, this work is not about “fixing” children. Or “fixing anyone”. 

It is about helping adults feel more emotionally informed, supported, and equipped – so children can grow within relationships that feel steadier, safer, and more understood.

Why Accessibility Matters

One of the biggest things I have learned through both professional and lived experience is that many families want support but often feel priced out, overwhelmed, or unsure where to turn – particularly following a diagnosis or during periods of emotional strain.

That is one of the reasons we created Finding My Steady with Glad We Talked® through Watoto Play.

The programme was designed to support neurodiverse families and communities through practical psychoeducation, emotional awareness, communication tools, and nervous-system understanding.

We also made the decision to run the pilot on a “pay what you decide” basis because accessibility matters deeply to me.

That means one family may contribute 10p.
Another may contribute £100.
And another may simply need support without financial pressure.

I want emotional wellbeing support to feel more human, accessible, and achievable for real families — not something only available once people reach crisis point.

Looking Forward

Becoming an official Patron and Children’s Mental Health Ambassador feels less like the beginning of something new and more like a continuation of values I have quietly carried for many years.

A belief that children deserve safety.
That families deserve support.
And that healthier communities begin with understanding, compassion, communication, and connection.

I feel incredibly grateful to stand alongside organisations doing this work and to continue helping open conversations around emotional wellbeing, neuroinclusion, relational health, and community care.

Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can offer one another is not perfection.

It is feeling less alone.