Real Voices
Personal stories and profile interviews centring lived experience, resilience and the many meanings of rebuilding a life.
Breaking stigma and finding joy: The beautiful realities of raising a child with disabilities
Two mothers break the stigma around having adult children with additional needs, revealing why they wouldn’t change their lives if they could.
Ecstasy, imprisonment, and artivism: Carlotta Allum on both sides of the system
Photo credit: Carlotta Allum Paid £5,000 to import ecstasy from the UK, Carlotta Allum was met with the police when she landed LAX in 1996. It was here that the city of angels would become her personal hell. After six months in prison, avoiding a lengthy sentence, and...
Confidence through challenge: How TikTok has helped Sam gain confidence in himself
Living with a stammer doesn’t stop one man from creating a supportive online community to help with his self-confidence in his daily life.
Rock bottom: The strength of willpower
JJ Glanville’s gambling addiction began before he was legally allowed to gamble, at age 17. Now 29, JJ reflected on the depths of his addiction with me.
The relief of diagnosis: Finding stability in the face of trauma
Wes was 30 when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Following a traumatic psychotic episode, the experience brought about a sense of clarity.
‘Someone saw me as human’: The former prisoner who turned trauma into poetry
43 year old Chris Lynam is no stranger to pain. He has experienced and suffered from drug addiction, homelessness, psychosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and incarceration. He now is a successful poet, activist, mentor and speaker.
‘Families are just being completely missed’: The stigma of CPA
Child to parent abuse, or CPA, is reported by 10% of families in the UK. But experts estimate the true number is much higher. Why? The stigma of shame and blame.
Five lesser-known UK figures who reclaimed their lives
Here are 5 figures in the UK who have managed to transform their lives in the face of unimaginable odds.
A recipe to rebuilding life in a university kitchen
After countless mental health battles culminating in an ADHD diagnosis, life for university student Sebastian Nowak was in turmoil. Aided by his medication and rediscovering his love for cooking, he’s slowly navigating his way to feeling his best, one recipe at a time.
Fashioning defiance after flight from Ukraine
Displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yana Smaglo did not merely rebuild her life in Britain. She founded her own business NENYA, worked through loss, responsibility, and an unfinished sense of home.
How a mother’s journey through prison set her on the route towards a better life
One woman shares her story of life in prison, she reflects on her road to reclamation, and hopes her experience empowers other women to find the same resilience she did.
Surviving LGBTQ+ homeless crisis is ‘luck of the draw’
Laws and rights are one thing, but LGBTQ+ youth are still far more likely to face life on the streets. Uproute speaks to LGBTQ+ people who have turned their life around after homelessness, and questions why the system is still failing people like them.