Spotlight on: Our facilitator Alison

Alison is a facilitator at The Juno Project

Alison joined The Juno Project in 2024 and is one of our facilitators. 

What do you do in your day job?  
 
I’m lucky – I have several different roles, not least of which is being a busy mum to my two boys which is a huge privilege, great fun and utterly exhausting! For The Juno Project, I enjoy working with the team to plan and deliver sessions to the young women involved in the projects we run.  My favourite time is delivering those sessions, being with these young people and seeing where the session takes us.  

I also deliver Youth Mental Health First Aid training for Mental Health England, and I am starting to deliver internet safety for The Breck Foundation too. Each of my roles means that I get to work with a range of young people and help to prepare the adults involved in their lives so that they give support in the best way possible. 

What made you want to join The Juno Project? 
 

At a good friend’s Christmas party, I met Christina, one of The Juno Project facilitators, who was talking passionately about the work that she does. I was pretty sure that I had the skills to offer as facilitator too, so I immediately got in touch with Sanchia (our CEO) to apply for a role within the charity. I was delighted to be accepted! I am inspired by every member of our team and the work that we do raises my hopes for a more empowered generation of girls and young women. Our programmes are specifically designed to do just this, and we are currently branching out into the community so that we can reach a broader range of participants. I’m so excited about this, because it means that we can have a positive impact on a more diverse group of individuals in different contexts. 

What do you think are the biggest challenges our beneficiaries are facing? 

Young people today experience a lack of autonomy; there is a great deal of control around their lives, from the education they receive, the freedom they have, their bodies, their routines, even down to the food that they eat. Yet, many also have huge responsibilities as carers perhaps with relatives with ill-health or special needs. The contrasting experiences of control and responsibility can be frustrating and disempowering.  

Meanwhile, most young people are interacting with their peers and with the world online, which exposes them to adult content they wouldn’t necessarily have had to deal with at the same age a generation ago. They are constantly having to make decisions – some huge and others more trivial – but have not had the chance to explore this in real life due to their lack of autonomy. They live in fear of doing or saying the wrong thing online, knowing that it is hard to retract or recover from a social faux pas. 

 What are your passions and concerns about the world? 

The threat from aspects of political regression, and misunderstood application of feminism is a global challenge. The impact of these wider structures influences the institutions in which we learn and work and there is a great deal needed to be done. Women are under pressure to undertake all roles (work, family, parenting, learning) and are expected to be ‘superwoman’ with high performance in all these roles. Consequently, many experience ‘burnout’ or other detrimental impacts on their mental health and emotional wellbeing. 

I am passionate about promoting true equality and respect between people. Everyone has great value in our society and has something unique to offer. I strongly believe in supporting people to embrace their differences and qualities in a non-judgemental and accepting environment. 

What do you like to do in your free time? 

I love the outdoors and enjoy walking my dogs on the beach or in the countryside and go horse riding as often as I can. I have recently fallen in love with yoga and feel so much better for it! Mostly, I spend time with my partner and children, cooking together, being creative and visiting parks and different places in our local area.