About Unlocking Children
Meet the diverse child and adult characters featured across Unlocking Children—created to bring real-life learning and support scenes to life.
About Me
There’s a lot I could say about myself—and at nearly 39, I carry more lived experience than most people would expect. I grew up in a chaotic environment, with an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score of 7. Much of my teenage and early adult life felt confusing, as my thoughts and emotions often clashed with how my body reacted to the world around me.
It wasn’t until I began doing the deeper work on myself that things started to make sense. As I began to unpack my childhood experiences, I started to understand the impact they had on my adult life. This self-awareness helped me make positive changes—recognising why I react the way I do in certain situations, identifying my triggers, and even making sense of more subtle behaviours that I now understand to be forms of stimming.
What this journey has made clear is that I want to spend my life helping others—especially disadvantaged children and young people. My work is rooted in empowerment, advocacy, and support. I want to help young people become confident, compassionate, and well-rounded individuals who go on to create a ripple of positive change in the world.
If you know me, you’ll recognise the image to the below right. I’m rarely seen without a notebook in hand, a can of Pepsi nearby, and my head full of ideas—usually scribbling down thoughts from a meeting, training, or something I’m passionate about writing.
How This Website Got Started
In October 2023, I began studying for a Youth Work Degree—something I never imagined I’d be doing. I left school without any qualifications and didn’t attend college, so higher education felt out of reach for much of my life.
Over the years, I’ve gained valuable skills through hands-on experience and training across different industries. For the past seven years, I’ve worked in education, with the last four spent in a specialist SEMH (Social, Emotional, and Mental Health) school—where I continue to work today.
It was during my time in this role that the opportunity to join a Youth Work Apprenticeship Degree came up. This pathway allowed me to study for a degree while continuing to work full-time—a challenging but incredibly rewarding balance.
As part of the course, I began writing assignments and quickly discovered that not only do I enjoy writing, but I’m actually quite good at it. Over time, my confidence has grown, and I now write new articles almost every week.
These articles are written to support people who work with children—whether parents, educators, or other professionals. I wanted the name of the website to reflect that purpose, and so Unlocking Children was born: a space dedicated to helping children grow into the best version of themselves.
Meet The Characters
To bring the articles to life and make the content more engaging, I’ve created a cast of 13 recurring characters—5 adults and 8 children—with the help of AI. These characters appear throughout the site to illustrate key ideas, bring scenes to life, and add a human touch to the topics I write about.
Each character has been thoughtfully designed to reflect the diversity of children and adults we may work with or support. Over time, they may grow and develop alongside the site.
Adult Characters
- Mrs. Ahuja - Indian British woman, 52, a calm and wise teacher.
- Mr. Reece - White Scottish non-binary support worker, calm and engaging.
- Mrs. O’Connor - White Irish woman, 48, structured and warm.
- Mr. Adeyemi - Black British man, 37, supportive and energetic educator.
- Ms. Patel - Indian British woman, 31, nurturing and emotionally responsive.
Child Characters
- Sophie - White British girl, 6, shy but expressive, always with her teddy.
- Jayden - Black Caribbean boy, 13, emotionally sensitive, expressive with his hands.
- Liyana - Somali British girl, 11, wears a lavender hijab, observant and quiet.
- Ethan - White British boy, 10, curious and imaginative.
- Freya - White British girl, 15, neurodivergent, anxious in social settings.
- Liam - Irish Traveller boy, 9, energetic and tactile.
- Aisha - Pakistani British baby girl, 6 months old, joyful and expressive.
- Zain - British Pakistani boy, 14, analytical and thoughtful.
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