Joe Calzaghe helped officially launch the Beatbullying Welsh operation today at a star-studded event in Cardiff. Calzaghe was joined by other top names from Welsh sport, media and politics at Cathays High School, Gabalfa, to mark the first of many Beatbullying – or Curobwlio - workshops to be held in Wales.
Beatbullying Wales will focus on peer-to-peer education, using anti-bullying strategies devised for young people by young people with workshops focusing on sport (BBSports), music (BBTunes) and digital media (CyberMentors) empowering young people to lead their own campaigns.
Cardiff Council’s Cardiff Against Bullying is funding the innovative BBSports workshop which connects with hard-to-reach young people through physical activity and team games. HSBC has kindly donated funds to enable the first ever CyberMentors training session in Wales.
CyberMentors.org.uk is the first online peer mentoring social networking site run by young people for young people. Over 160,000 children and teenagers have already visited the site for support and advice since its launch in March.
Beatbullying Wales launches in the run up to the annual Anti-Bullying Week (16 – 21 November) so in preparation, and to help raise money, Spar stores across South Wales will be selling the charity’s iconic blue wristbands to children and schools. Each band costs £1 with all proceeds going to Beatbullying Wales.
Thanks to support from teachers and pupils across Wales, Beatbullying is opening its second UK office on Cathedral Road in Cardiff enabling young people in the country to benefit from the charity’s proven work in schools which have implemented Beatbullying programmes: incidents of bullying in the best cases have been reduced by up to 80%.
Beatbullying patron, Joe Calzaghe, has been central to the opening, along with a committed and generous group of Welsh supporters and business people.
Calzaghe said: "I’m delighted to be involved in the launch of Beatbullying Wales. Having been through bullying myself I know just how devastating an affect it can have on any child or teenager. It’s that personal experience which makes me truly passionate about the work Beatbullying does in schools and communities. Peer-mentoring programmes, such as CyberMentors, can start educating kids in Wales and together we can beat the bullies."
Emma Jane Cross, Chief Executive, Beatbullying, added: "Since Beatbullying launched in 1999, we’ve helped improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. Ten years on and we still believe that young people have the power to shape the society we live in. Beatbullying’s role is to guide them in this process in order to foster communities based on respect, not fear, where bullying is entirely unacceptable. To finally be bringing this to Wales is a real honour and one I hope will change the face of education in the country."