Youth Panelist, Phoebe, to take part in BBC One Show’s Rickshaw Challenge!
The BBC One Show has just announced its new team of riders for this year’s Rickshaw Challenge to raise money for BBC Children in Need, and we’re very excited to announce that joining them will be 19-year-old Phoebe, a member of the ASC Youth Panel!
We’re very proud of Phoebe making the team and know she will be an amazing advocate and spokesperson for the stammering community when she sets off on the long journey. Phoebe has played a big role in helping to shape our Youth Panel projects and will be attending our ‘Talking Out’ residential at the end of the month, which is supported by BBC Children in Need. Phoebe is in her first year at Leicester University and she can’t wait to get started on the 423-mile journey.
Phoebe will be joined by five other young people supported by BBC Children in Need, taking it in turns to ride the rickshaw all the way to the finish line 8 days later. They will start out in Calais on 9th November, winding their way across the UK, in a bid to cross the finish line in Salford on 16th November in time for the BBC Children in Need’s 2018 Appeal Show.
Phoebe said of her involvement in the Rickshaw Challenge,
“I’m so excited to be involved, I can’t wait to get started and help raise much needed funding for BBC Children in Need, awareness of stammering and the charity Action for Stammering Children. I know it will be hard work though and I’m trying to do some cycling to get ready.”
Phoebe developed a stammer around the age of 8 years old. Phoebe was a very vibrant, chatty and happy child, but this began to change as the stammer took grip. At secondary school it was at its worse, Phoebe told us:
“The stammer preoccupied my mind every day. Even the smallest speaking tasks, filled me with dread. A few hiccups at the start of her sentences became heavy blocks.”
Feeling like she could not fluently express herself, she felt that her true personality was being hidden. It affected all aspects of life and was on her mind every day. It was like having a heavy burden she could not shrug off. She felt alone, isolated and held back by the speech impediment.
Her speech has since improved with lots of trial and error, hard work and commitment. She has to practice every day, be conscious of her breathing and use a special technique when she speaks. She is also more accepting of the stammer and does not let it hold her back. Phoebe says,
“I’m also grateful for the support from Action for Stammering Children and the opportunity they’ve given me to be on their Youth Panel. This has allowed me to meet other young people who stammer and help raise awareness of stammering.”
We can’t wait for Phoebe to get started and we’ll be supporting her all along the way. We hope you will too!
To find out more about Phoebe, the journey and when to tune in, visit the BBC Rickshaw Challenge website.
