Building Tomorrow's Changed Society

I've never really spoken about this before…

I was born into chaos.

My biological mother was addicted to heroin. My biological father has spent most of his life in and out of prison.

At 18 months, both of my arms were broken — both at the shoulder, forearm and elbow. As a result, my biological mother and her partner were both found guilty of doing an act of cruelty to a child under 16.

I was adopted at 3.

But it didn't stop there. Emotional and physical trauma continued until I re-entered care at 14.

I felt alone, neglected.

Moved to a new foster home away from my friends and everything I knew.

At 15, I physically couldn't leave my bed in the mornings for school because the weight of all my unmanaged trauma was so heavy. So combined with COVID-19, I missed most of Year 10.

I never had psychiatric support.

I've been suspended from school more times than I can count, and attended no fewer than 4 secondary schools.

I was vulnerable, targeted for county lines, and questioned my existence on this earth countless times.

The list goes on…

If it wasn't for the support of those around me, and the subtle guidance of The Almighty who fuelled my determination to break free, my entire life would have been flipped on its head.

I was on the precipice of a different life altogether.

Labelled disruptive, defiant, arrogant, argumentative, rude, disobedient — the list goes on.

The truth is I was fighting a hidden battle. A battle I almost lost. A battle that too many of our children today lose.

Today, I'm a care leaver, studying Law on a full scholarship at King's College London.

I could've been a statistic.

But I refused.

I've lived that life. So I know what it's like.

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Why did I say all that? Not for pity, not for attention, but to show there's more to a person than what meets the eye. For some of my own friends, this will be the first time they hear this.

If I hated the world, hated society because it failed me — knowing my story, who would be the first to throw a stone, to say I was the monster for lashing out at the system that was meant to support me? The system that threw stone after stone.

If I hadn't had constant support from my foster carer, and the people around me, I would've fallen by the wayside.

This is the reality for many of today's so-called 'criminals' and social rejects.

And it starts at school. When you've been labelled, your story has all but been written for you by people that know nothing about you. By people that know nothing about what you've been through, or how it might be affecting your life and your behaviour.

But how far I might have come means nothing to me for as long as other children have to suffer through the same things alone. As they have for generations.

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Our society can be monstrous. It can eat you up if you fail to conform to the system built by those who don't have the empathy to consider the day-to-day struggles of its own population. The real struggles. The struggles that do not meet the eye.

We all experience those struggles.

Yet we put our own struggles before that of another person, think we have it the hardest, think our situation is worse.

That's why I've founded Tomorrow's Changed Society (TCS) — a youth-led foundation focused on mentorship, networking, and early intervention.

There is currently a pipeline for neurodivergent, trauma-experienced, and children from disadvantaged backgrounds from school exclusion to social exclusion.

People are vulnerable and too many do not have the support nor the tools to resist.

We are allowing these statistics to exist.

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The TCS Foundation exists to break the pattern.

We're building the accessible support system many young people go without.

We're raising awareness to the issues that do not meet the eye.

TCS is about breaking cycles of trauma and building new futures.

Far too many children are entering adolescence and adulthood carrying the weight of unmanaged trauma. This often manifests in anti-social behaviours, from criminal activity to challenges in social interaction. It's time we actively cultivate an environment where every child can grow up embracing the positive societal values we claim to cherish.

It's time we all start taking responsibility for the children around us to ensure that we leave them a stable future.

Because if we don't, the societal cycle we see today — driven by xenophobia and hatred — will continue to perpetuate.

It won't stop.

The wars won't stop.

The discrimination won't stop.

The societal exclusion won't stop.

But no one makes it alone.

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It's time we tackle the root causes, instead of the symptoms.

This is a cycle.

We need to break it.

And it starts with our youth.

You never know what happens when the school bell rings at 3pm.

We can either be part of the solution, or be complicit in the problem.

Our youth. Our future. Our choice.

Let's choose to build Tomorrow's Changed Society — and break these cycles of trauma.