Interview with Brave The Bullies Together Founder Emily Foster

I thought it would be nice to get to know a little bit about Brave The Bullies Together and what and who the book helps.  Her name is Emily Foster and she is a smart and courageous lady who is taking a stand against bullies and bullying in schools on the playground and in life in general.  I thought it would be interesting to bring her story to the fold so everyone knows about Brave The Bullies and the work that Emily is doing.

Hi Emily, Tells us how you started up Brave the Bullies Together and how personal this cause is to you?

I started Brave the Bullies Together in 2012 after finishing my GCSEs, I initially started raising awareness about bullying on Twitter and Facebook while I organised a summer fair to raise the funds needed to buy equipment for the anti-bullying workshops I wanted to start running in September 2012. This cause is extremely personal to me and it means more than anything to be doing this work as my best friend, Sam, committed suicide in 2009 as a result of lifelong bullying over a skin condition that he had from birth. Sam was an amazing friend and one of the most selfless and caring person I ever met and I feel that it's important not only to give something back to him and everything he did for me, but to make sure that I do everything I can to prevent people from having to suffer alone with bullying.

What is the main purpose of Brave The Bullies Together and what goals do you have for it?

The main purpose is to educate young people about the dangers of bullying and hurtful behaviour as a whole. In the workshops and assemblies that I run with 5-18 year olds I aim to teach students how to prevent themselves from becoming bullies and how to combat difficult situations involving bullying effectively. In the future, a goal that I have for the charity is to set up 24 hour care online and over the phone to provide support for all affected by the consequences of bullying, including victims, families, friends and the bullies themselves; I hope to have the ability one day to train volunteers of all ages in a way that ensures that people coming to us for help can receive support from someone who they can relate to in a number of ways including age and personal experiences. 

Have schools been receptive to your motivational speeches and assemblies and is your message reaching the audience it needs?

As I am only 16, it is sometimes difficult to persuade schools to allow me to come in to talk to their pupils, I suppose they think I'm too young to know what I'm talking about... But I have received excellent feedback from the schools that I have been into so far, the workshops have engaged pupils and it has been amazing to watch before my eyes in such a small amount of time the attitudes of people change through the activities the children participate in. I've received a number of messages from pupils at various schools who have said that the assemblies have inspired them and helped them to deal with problems they are currently facing and it's absolutely insane, the reaction has been great and nothing makes me prouder! 

How does your presentation differ when you talk to a younger audience compared to an older audience?

I tend to use the workshops with the younger, primary school, children as they are more reluctant to join in more enthusiastically with the role play and games that the workshops involve and I have tailored the workshops to be more of a consciousness raiser which I hope will prevent pupils from becoming bullies in later life whereas the assemblies are more aimed at the older pupils. The assemblies are much more personal to myself and Sam's story which I feel 11-18 year olds can relate to as Sam was only 13 when he took his life so many pupils can engage with either my story or Sam's and I think that helps them to consider their own behaviour more and change behaviour that they are already showing. 

How did you get involved with Steve and Kneel?

On the second day of setting up Brave the Bullies Together, I began to receive support from filmmaker AD Lane on Twitter as he was encouraging his followers to support the charity, from that I found an interview that he had recently done with Steve and in that he had mentioned bullying in his past, I then got in touch with Steve and he asked if I would like Brave the Bullies Together to become the Opinionated Geeks' charity of the year (which I obviously couldn't refuse!) Steve has been fantastic from day one and helped raise an incredible amount of support for the charity from everyone he knew! Him and Kneel were amazing and have always done everything they could to support the charity.

How did the Brave The Bullies charity book come about?

When Steve and Kneel were in Manchester doing Blurbchester I went with my mum to meet with them just as a hello and to thank them for everything they had done for us. But it went a bit differently, Steve and Kneel spent the whole night coming up wit new ideas to gain awareness for Brave the Bullies Together and when I told them that I had to go home to finish a piece of English Language A Level coursework where I was writing a short story about suicide they had the idea to get as many authors as they could to join together with my story and compile a book for the charity.

Tells us a little bit about the story you contributed to the Brave The Bullies Together book?

The Last Refuge of the Failure is a short story from the perspective of a victim of bullying and the torment with bullies and the idea of suicide the character has been suffering with. I wanted to write a piece that showed readers that suicide victims are not "stupid cowards" and I wanted to change the stereotype with my story. 

What fundraising events do you have planned this year?

Since Sam died, I have organised small events for his family and friends for his birthdays and anniversaries of his death as a way to remember Sam in a positive (and usually ridiculous) way. Since setting up the charity these events have continued although we have been receiving sponsorships for the daft things we do to remember Sam. I will also be organising another Summer fair as the last one was such a huge success. Myself and two friends, Lauren and Becki, are doing a 15,000ft sponsored freefall skydive at the weekend and various schools have offered to raise money via non-uniform days and competitions. All upcoming events are posted on our website, though! 

If people can’t make any of the fundraiser’s is there a way that people can donate to Brave The Bullies Together?

Donations can be made securely via PayPal on our website, and you can check out images and details of all the events on the website too! We accept bank transfers and cheques/cash but you will need to contact us directly for information regarding these payments, thank you in advance!

If people want more info about Brave The Bullies Together where can they get it?

There is information about everything we do, Sam's story, merchandise, events, pictures and how to get involved on our website www.bravethebullies.jimdo.com and you can get up to date information straight away by following us on Twitter @BravetheBullies and liking our Facebook page www.facebook.com/BravetheBullies

Here is the important question. People should buy the Brave The Bullies Book because?

Such a wide variety of writing styles are included in this book written by eleven incredible authors, so you are bound to love it! A number world class authors have donated stories to this book and where else can you find such an amazing variety of style and genre in one book! Think of it as a gift from Brave the Bullies Together and all authors involved after your £7.95 donation!

At this time I would like to thank Emily for her time and for also helping coming up with this project that hopefully will raise awareness to bullying.