Highlights from our resource library (2)
Every Friday, I highlight three interesting or meaningful resources from our ever-expanding library. Useful links to date: 1,155.
1. Electric Umbrella: Where Music Unites People and Creates a More Inclusive Society.
Electric Umbrella promotes diversity and strengthens community bonds through wonderful workshops and engaging performances, both on stage and in schools. They support individuals with learning disabilities of all abilities, fostering confidence, skills, and leadership potential.
Music has always played a vital role in my life. I still remember some of the many songs my dad used to play before he passed away – "Needles & Pins" by The Searchers, "The Last Waltz" by Engelbert Humperdinck, and "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw – who, incidentally, was a counsellor at Middlesex University when I was a student there in the early 1990s! My tastes have always been eclectic, and I'm pleased to say that I can still enjoy some of the new music my twenty-something son listens to today.
2. The Curator of Things: Delving into the world of a hoarder – Virtual Exhibition by Brendan Walker 20 April 2025
I’ve always placed great importance on personal possessions (perhaps because we lost almost all of our family’s belongings when we came into care), and I find it difficult when others take or use my things without permission. That’s why this virtual exhibition resonated so strongly with me.
I learned a valuable lesson when I helped my (foster) parents sort through their belongings as they prepared to downsize from South London to the Kent Coast. And after recently moving from our home of 24 years, I unearthed boxes filled with memories – including every one of my high school exercise books from Year 7 to Year 11!
A handful offered fascinating insights into my experience growing up as a Looked After Child. The rest, I am pleased to say, were promptly filed in the shredder!
3. Breaking Out HQ by Janice Nix (2021)
From petty shoplifter to gangland empress. From frightened runaway to proud mother. From drug dealer to probation worker.
Janice Nix led a life of crime. Trained to be a shoplifter in London’s West End, she entered a glamorous underworld filled with beautiful possessions and drugs. As she climbed to the top of her criminal empire, Janice gained the money and status her family had never known. But one day, it all came crashing down.
Several prison stretches later, Janice was reformed and inspired to join the probation service. Using everything she learned in her years on the streets, she’s devoted her life to ensuring girls like her don’t make the same mistakes.
Growing up in the care system has made me very aware that my life could have gone in a very different direction. While my teachers and foster carers were positive influences, I genuinely believe it was the strong friendships I built at high school that kept me on the right track.
I tested boundaries with my uniform, occasionally skipped lessons, and no doubt displayed some attention-seeking behaviour – but that’s as far as it went. It wasn’t the detentions, the threat of exclusion, or even the risk of police involvement that deterred me – it was the fact that my friends wouldn’t accept that behaviour.
Attending an all-boys grammar school in South London in the 1980s was, I believe, quite mild compared to what young people face today. But friendships and peer groups still play a significant role. That’s why those who groom children for exploitation work so hard to isolate them, either by cutting off trusted relationships or by establishing a new social network that fosters and encourages harmful behaviour.
To genuinely safeguard vulnerable children, we need to look beyond individuals. We must support peer groups, year groups, schools, and entire communities.
More than ever, we must listen to parents and children – truly listen – and act upon what they tell us.
They understand the risks. They face them every day. What they need are professionals willing to act on their lived experience and respond with empathy, urgency, and dedication.
To explore our ever-expanding catalogue of useful links, please visit Resource Library — Jingling Lane Training.
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