Introducing Joe Plumb

A St Neots resident and well-known mental health campaigner has been working hard supporting others throughout recent lockdowns.

Not content with keeping his work confi ned to the UK, Joe

Plumb has now joined up with an American organisation to tackle the issues regarding access to music education for young people across the globe.

Joe has recently moved from Northampton to St Neots, and is a multi-award winning public fi gure known worldwide for his campaigning on issues relating to mental health and bullying.

Specialising in Children’s Social Care, Mental Health,

Anti-Bullying and Safeguarding he recognises that many people are forced into silence and feel like they are completely alone at their times of struggle.

Having experienced bullying fi rst-hand during his school days Joe found himself in and out of a psychiatric unit for almost 3 years. During this period he was diagnosed with complex physical and mental health issues which, mixed with the bullying he had endured, led to a number of attempts on his own life.

At the age of 12 Joe found himself volunteering at a specialist youth cafe devoted to young people with additional needs and who were getting into trouble.

Something about this experience struck a chord deep inside him and he went on to volunteer for National organisations such as the British Medical Association,

The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and

The British Youth Council.

At the age of 13 he set up the ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ campaign and enjoyed support from notable fi gures such as James Arthur & Sinitta Malone. This campaign went viral on a global scale and resulted in Joe being awarded a Princess Diana Award, which recognises outstanding achievements of young people. 04 spark Today Joe is honoured to be an ambassador for the National Children’s Charity Kidscape, an organisation that helped him immensely when he was younger. Writing in a recent piece for Metro.co.uk he reflected on his childhood experiences: ‘I don’t condone my bullies’ actions but I don’t hold a grudge, and I understand their motivations. The blame lies with the ongoing lack of education around mental health, and especially additional learning needs like autism.’ ‘There needs to be so much more awareness in schools, workplaces and communities and it should start at a young age so we can all be more understanding and accepting of others. We are all different but that’s precisely what makes the world a great place.’ In this very diffi cult time where many people are struggling, Joe’s work has gone beyond the UK and he has been especially busy connecting with many people in the United States. ‘So many children there have been struggling due to the pandemic and the current events there.’ he explains. ‘I’ve been working hard day and night dealing with and supporting those in crisis and I’m excited to announce that I am now a partner of the ‘Music For Every School’ foundation in the USA.’ ‘Music For Every School’ was set up to address the issues relating to music education schools around the world. They argue that the huge bureaucracies around education are decimating budgets and therefore music education is being denied to many children.

Feature

www.joeplumb.org

The foundation argues that music teachers have an increasingly impossible job as they’re asked to do more with less materials, support, planning time, resources and respect. Also, fewer prospective teachers are attracted to the profession when they see the many problems facing teachers today. Schools in areas serving children from low-income families have reduced or completely cut their arts and music programs. These programs tend to be the fi rst casualties of budget cuts in hard-pressed school districts already struggling to meet other demands of the academic curriculum, and they are rarely restored. Music programs not only cost a lot of money because of the required instruments, playing space at various concerts, but they also require schools to hire extra music faculty and instructors. These costs quickly add up, which is why cutting school music programs is often one of the fi rst solutions to school budget cuts. The Music For Every School Foundation aims to help fund life changing music education for millions of children around the world. They plan to develop the world’s largest global network of Music Education Partners who’ll receive the most powerful life changing music education program ever made available along with a tool chest of social good that will positively impact and transform millions and millions of young lives around the world. If you would like to read more about Music For Every School then please visit: www.musicforeveryschool.com If you would like to read more about Kidscape then please visit: www.kidscape.org.uk Joe is continually working on new projects so the best way to keep up to date is to visit his website www.joeplumb.org or follow him on Social Media by searching @JoePlumbUK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We here at Spark would like to welcome Joe to Cambridgeshire and wish him all the best with the great work he does.