Founder Story Continued...

The Work Chose Me: Why I Started Feel Grow Connect

A Message from Our Founder

Feel Grow Connect grew out of my independent work with young people and a personal understanding of what it means to struggle without the words to explain how you feel.

At 14, I lost my granny, the person who made me feel safe. Without the space or support to understand that grief, much of it became anger that followed me into early adulthood. That experience shaped a question that still sits at the heart of this work: what could be different if young people had more opportunities to understand and express what they were feeling?

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, delivering girls’ groups at Kensington Aldridge Academy brought that purpose into focus. Sessions exploring self-worth, life skills, and emotional safety became an important foundation for the work that followed.

From independent practice to a programme framework

Through that independent practice, I designed and developed the original programme from scratch: its concept, themes, session structure, and practical activities. This work became the foundation of Feel Grow Connect, including In Your Feelings and the six-week school programme It’s Been Emotional.

The programme connects six themes:

• Self-reflection: understanding identity, thoughts, and emotions.

• Social media and digital wellbeing: exploring online pressures and boundaries.

• Bullying and peer relationships: recognising harm, group dynamics, and the impact of our actions.

• Text Simulation: exploring tone, interpretation, and choices in digital communication.

• Lean On Me: recognising trusted support and practising how to ask for help.

• Final reflection: recognising learning, change, and areas for further support.

As the programme developed, it became clear that this was a framework with room to expand. Each theme could become a standalone workshop or a longer sequence of sessions. Digital communication, for example, opens up conversations about belonging, peer pressure, boundaries, and conflict. Self-reflection creates space to explore confidence, identity, and emotional expression in greater depth.

That flexibility now informs both group delivery and individual support. Creative activities, practical scenarios, and guided conversations provide different ways to participate, with space to explore without pressure to disclose personal experiences.

Feel Grow Connect brings together lived experience, independently developed practice, and a commitment to continued learning, safeguarding, and professional responsibility. Its purpose is to make emotional learning accessible and meaningful, giving young people space to understand themselves and navigate their relationships with greater awareness.

Siobhan Buckley

Founder, Feel Grow Connect CIC