The group of students all had very different ideas about what they felt the most important issue is, ranging from bullying to mental health. They brainstormed their separate ideas and eventually decided that the one common theme that united all of their big issues was the stigma that surrounded them.

Wrexham came into Eirias to deliver a training session on how to write and present a public speech. They learnt that their speeches must contain:

• A head – facts, figures and hard-hitting statistics
• A heart - a personal story or a way to relate to the audience
• Hands – Actions that they think we need to take to make a difference

The students then wrote and practiced their speeches ready to perform them at the Wellbeing Festival in Wrexham University.

Students went to Wrexham University on the 15^th of July. There were 7 other schools participating, and through the day we were able to watch their speeches and take inspiration from their big ideas. The other big ideas varied from ‘Helping the environment’ to ‘No homework in schools.’

Ysgol Eirias’ topic was ‘The stigmas around varying big issues – bullying, mental health, disabilities, differences, and family issues. How do stigmas affect us?’

A stigma is a negative attitude or idea that results in social scrutiny towards a person or group based on mental, physical, or social differences. The talk explored a range of different stigmas that the students have personally faced and explored how their current selves have been affected, and how being stigmatized has impacted their futures too. The aim of the talk was to bring awareness to the stigmas that everyone can face so that we can start moving towards a society where everyone can be accepted regardless of their differences, disabilities, or background.

The stigmas that the speech focused on were:

• Bullying
• Disabilities
• LGBTQ+
• Racism
• Family issues
• Mental health

The focal point of their speech was a drawing of a stick figure called ‘Bob’. After each section of the speech the students would scrunch the drawing of Bob up. The conclusion of the speech focused on how the crumples in the paper can never be smoothed or taken away, much like how the trauma of being stigmatized can never be fully taken away either. Many members of the audience were brought to tears by the speech and how impactful the visual of Bob was.

Due to this impact, the ‘Wrexham Wellbeing Festival’ has now been renamed ‘Bob Talks’ after the students of Ysgol Eirias.

We had an email from the team at Wrexham university inviting our students to perform their speech again in front of the Childrens Commissioner of Wales. Wrexham were so impressed with the speech delivered by students from Ysgol Eirias that they felt they would be doing the commissioner a misjustice by not inviting them back. Ysgol Eirias were the only school invited to the convention.

Prior to performing their speech, the students took part in two different workshops. The first workshop was based around the ‘Recipes for Childrens Rights’. The students were able to contribute valuable opinions and information to the professionals and were able to share their personal experiences. The second workshop was based are the fantastic work of Ysgol Eirias and their speech, as well as other incentives that Wrexham University lead in. This workshop gave the students a chance to interact with all the professionals, to ask any questions or offer any advice that they had. It was also highlighted to everyone that the festival was renamed to ‘Bob Talks’ thanks to our inspirational students.

They then performed their speech in the afternoon in front of all the professionals (around 60 in total), as well as the Childrens Commissioner of Wales. They received a standing ovation and an abundance of praise.

Da iawn to our inspirational students for making such an impact!