Tender Workshop

Here at Blatch we were delighted when a member of our community got in contact to let us know that she had recently raised some money for charity, and would like to include us in her plans for raising awareness of domestic abuse.

Xeni Milonas, a parent at Blatchington Mill, decided to run a marathon with a friend after they both discovered that they had been in abusive relationships in the past. Their aim was to raise enough money to run workshops in two schools which they successfully achieved after running the Athens Marathon!

After doing some research, Xeni and her friend decided to work with the charity Tender, who then came into Blatch to run a workshop with some of our year 9 students. Tender delivered an excellent and thought-provoking drama-based workshop involving role play and script work that taught our students how to recognise the signs of unhealthy relationships and where they can find support if they, or someone they know, is experiencing abuse.

Xeni also popped into the workshop to see how our students were getting on and said, ‘Seeing the workshop in action was such a great experience. Pupils were really engaged and showed understanding and awareness of what can be quite a difficult subject matter. It’s reassuring to see that young people are wanting to learn and discuss these issues, and through education and a more open dialogue hopefully young people and adults will be less likely to end up in abusive or unhealthy relationships.’

Blatchington Mill would like to extend a huge thank you to Xeni and the Tender team for providing this excellent opportunity. A massive thank you also goes to Ms Auld and Ms Wilkinson for their help in organising this, and of course to our year 9 students who took part for their wonderful enthusiasm and participation!