I am a mum to a disabled child, a published poetry author, performance poet and founder of Lost Souls Poetry events. The main topic of my Fellowship is poetry and bringing it to children of all ages to promote expression of self and personal development for inclusion, diversity and equality in classrooms and in society.

The main purpose of my Fellowship is to learn from a highly successful poetry model in the USA that has become a multi-platform educational tool. I want to research and develop a similar model for the UK as I believe children in the UK are not as well educated in poetry as they are in the USA.

I was kicked out of school at 13 and labelled a problem child. At the age of 33, I started writing poetry. I have had three years of incredible success and I have been able to speak about my life experiences (trauma, abuse, domestic violence etc) through poetry. I believe that children from as young as 7 can and should express how they feel through poetry.

I hope, as a result of my Fellowship, that poetry will become part of the UK National Curriculum as a standalone subject teaching how to become poet (rather than analysing other poets) and to promote good mental health in children.