More than 14 million people in the UK are currently living in poverty, including 4.5 million children, and public spending in communities around the country is being squeezed. The statistics are dire, change is slow-coming, and it’s easy to feel hopeless and frustrated. This was something that played on Joe Sims’ mind until two years ago, when he set out on a mission to make a real, tangible change in the world. On 1 February 2017, he and four friends created a Facebook group of 100 people wh

Layton Williams’ life in the limelight began aged eight, when he took on the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical on the West End, before becoming a regular on the stage and screen – including roles in the BBC’s Beautiful People and Bad Education. This year, he takes on his biggest challenge yet as the lead in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, the award-winning musical inspired by the true story of a 16-year-old boy chasing his drag-queen dreams Hi Layton! You opened Everybody's Talking About

After much anticipation, ITV’s 'Victoria' is returning to our screens for a third season. Shining in the role of Nancy Skerrett, Nell Hudson’s character marks the start of a revolutionary moment for social mobility as we watch her rise through the pompery and drama of the royal household to become the Queen’s dresser. But after the clapperboard calls cut, Nell is whipping up a revolution of her own; speaking out about body positivity, and challenging the ‘invisible forces’ that hold all of us ba

More than 200 million girls and women live with the consequences of female genital cutting (FGC), and a further 3.9 million are at risk of being cut each year. We speak to the charity at the forefront of the movement to end it Julia Lalla-Maharajh was volunteering in Ethiopia when she first encountered female genital cutting (FGC) – a harmful practice where the female genitals are cut, injured, or changed, without a medical reason to do so. Back in the 2000s, Julia admits she didn’t know much

When push comes to shove, aren’t we all looking for a bit of peace and quiet? An escape from the hustle, bustle, and pressure of the world around us – and the one within us, too? Following the death of his brother, Dave Mountjoy found this ‘quiet’ in the company of cows. Soon after, he opened his retreat, Being with Cows, where visitors are invited to take part in mindful activities on the farm, in the company of the cattle... For city-dwellers and weekend-walkers alike, cows might be no more

It may be her first ever on-screen role, but Charly Clive proves herself to be one to watch as she takes the lead in Channel 4’s new drama, ‘Pure’. Inspired by the memoir by Rose Bretécher, Charly’s character Marnie navigates friendship, love and life in a new city, all while struggling with intense intrusive sexual thoughts – a common, but relatively unknown, symptom of OCD. As ‘Pure’ enters its fourth week on our screens, we chat with Charly about the challenges, lessons and duty of care that

At the age of six, Hollywood became a constant in Mara Wilson’s life. From starring in Mrs Doubtfire to her iconic role in Matilda, the former child star’s body of work went from strength to strength. That was until she abruptly broke-up with Hollywood at the age of 13, and never looked back. Today, Mara is an astute writer and passionate activist who uses her voice to speak up about life with OCD, and the realities of childhood fame. When we meet, Mara is in London with the Texas-based charity Okay to Say to tackle mental health stigma with talks and events. So that’s where we start...

Every now and then, we need to stop. Stop making ourselves available 24/7, stop saying yes to every invitation, stop running ourselves into the ground for fear of missing out. JOMO is the “joy of missing out”, and it’s the wellbeing phenomenon that’s telling our 21st century sense of obligation to take a seat. But, if we want to understand the necessity of JOMO, we’ve got to understand its energy-zapping cousin that got us in this burnt-out-mess in the first place: FOMO. FOMO is the “fear of

Throughout life, we’re bombarded with messages about who we should be. From the films we watch growing up, to the clothes we’re dressed in, and the toys we play with. When business psychologist Jennifer Toll stopped to think about the messages that were seeping into her young daughter's life, she knew she had to do something – and so Not Just A Princess was born. More than a brand selling modern, aspirational slogan T-shirts, Not Just A Princess runs deeper to fuel a movement of parents who want to show their daughters that the sky truly is the limit. And it’s right on time

Latin Dance specialist, World Mambo Champion, and Strictly Come Dancing star, Karen Clifton is no stranger to high-stakes environments. But even under the spotlight, Karen’s sunny outlook continues to shine. As she embarks on a new chapter in her life – and her seventh year on Britain’s best-loved Saturday night show – she shares the unique pressures of the series, the key to sustaining a supportive relationship after a split, and the practical mental health lesson passed on by her mum

When midwife and mother to two daughters, Clemmie Hooper first started blogging about her maternity leave in 2010, she could never have predicted that it would pave the road to them becoming one of the country’s most well-loved families. Eight years, twin daughters and two book deals later, 1.3 million people are now following the family of six on Clemmie and her husband Simon’s respective Instagram accounts: ‘mother_of_daughters’ and ‘father_of_daughters’.

2003: the year the M6 Toll opened, Mick Jagger received a knighthood, and two friends – Travis Garone and Luke Slattery – were having a beer in a bar in Melbourne, Australia, lamenting the fact that moustaches had been all but left behind by the fashion industry.

On screen, actor Bronagh Waugh doesn’t shy away from complex characters. As Sally-Ann Spector, wife of a serial killer in The Fall, and Jessica Reid, whose twin sister had gone missing in Unforgotten, Bronagh celebrates the unique opportunity that these dramas give us to examine the shared experience of grief, pain and anger. Off-screen and onto the streets, she is a fierce campaigner for LGBT+ and human rights. Here we talk about the catharsis found in gritty dramas, and how each and every one of us can help bang the drum for equality

‘You say you have depression but you still go to work every day, so how bad is it really?’, ‘OK, so you often feel anxious, but I saw you went to a packed-out concert the other day so you can hardly say you have anxiety.’ Do these comments sound familiar? We hope not, but judging someone else’s experience is called gatekeeping, and we need to close the door on it

Whether you’re doing it 10 feet under water or 10,000 feet in the air, how can ‘extreme sports’ keep us grounded?

From a role in The Lion King to the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent, and over the pond to play Effie in Dreamgirls on the West End, Moya Angela’s power-vocals speak for themselves. But walking on stage to perform what is commonly known as the “biggest sing in theatre” night after night doesn’t come without its unique challenges. Here we talk mental health support for actors, getting through the bad days, and learning to leave a role behind as the curtain falls

In 2018, we’re finding more ways than ever before to talk about historically taboo topics. Rosalind Peters and Rochelle Thomas are the co-directors employing the sensuous powers of burlesque to start conversations about mental health with their troupe: Invisible Cabaret. Kathryn Wheeler caught up with Rosalind and Rochelle, to learn more about this affecting creative venture

TV presenter, radio host, DJ, creative content producer, TEDxTeen Global Livestream Host, and voice-over artist, Pips Taylor is an unstoppable figure of broadcasting gusto. But when she’s not in the studio, Pips devotes herself to the causes close to her heart. While studying Spanish in Mexico, Pips narrowly avoided sexual assault after a cab driver attempted to abduct her. Now she’s helping women through the courts of law with charity Rights of Women, and working with global partnership Vital Voices, to nurture the next generation of world-changers

Standing at 135cm tall, with a functioning vagina, anus, mouth, and soft-to-the-touch silicone skin, Meghan has been in Scott’s life for five years.

After suffering severe burns as a child, Sylvia Mac now runs swimming sessions for those with skin disfigurements, offering them the chance to develop their confidence, and embrace their differences. At the age of three, Sylvia fell into a pot of boiling water, leaving her with third and fourth degree burns. Sylvia recovered, but was left with scars across her back and various parts of her body. As a child, Sylvia became a competitive swimmer and, while she loved being in the water, would work