Abbi Morrall, 17, was bullied for the first five years of her school life, but is now using her experience to support other bullied children and to raise public awareness of the issue. Her efforts have earned her a Young Achievers Award in the community category.
Abbi became a peer-mentor in junior school and then joined the Anti-Bullying Alliance in Leicester, and in November 2005, after winning a Champion of Respect award and £500, Abbi set up her own anti-bullying website www.abs-kids.co.uk. She currently receives in excess of 30 e-mails per day from bullied children across the UK. In February 2009, Abbi fulfilled her ambition in making the website a Registered Charity and she visits schools and community groups to talk about her experiences and how she beat the bullies. She is often a guest speaker at special events and functions, and has had meetings with the Shadow Secretary for Education, Nick Gibb. The publicity that Abbi has gained through her campaign, as well as the personal and friendly support that her website offers, has helped to bring the serious issue of bullying to the forefront of people’s minds. Abbi loves her work and spends most evenings answering her many emails, putting this before her social life.
Although Abbi was bullied for so many years, she has turned her life around to help others through their suffering. The website she created was her idea, her design and her vision. She wanted to see a website that was run by a young person who knew exactly how the children who contacted her felt. On the ground, Abbi runs a Soccer Camp for local children on a Saturday morning for two hours, where children aged between 5-12 years-old can play football in a relaxed atmosphere, and most of all, have fun. She charges the children £3 per session and all proceeds received (beyond pitch rental) go to the Abs Kids charity. Abbi is currently spending £2500 of the charity’s money to add live chat to the website, as well as some podcasts, which will cover every area of bullying.
Abbi intends to make Abs Kids a major name in anti-bullying campaigning and would like her website to go live internationally. She already receives e-mails from children in Spain, Greece and Malta, proving that bullying is a worldwide problem. In an ambitious effort to raise money for her charity, Abbi recently did a 13,000 ft skydive, and is already planning her next fundraiser.
Abbi’s mother and supporter, Alison, says her daughter has grown stronger and more positive through running the website. Abbi has gained confidence speaking publicly about bullying and the effect it has on not only the individuals, but on their families too. Alison is sure that her daughter will succeed in raising her charity to an international platform. Abbi’s website has already featured on prime time television and has the backing of celebrities such as David Beckham and Sharon Osbourne, who Abbi met through running the site. Abbi’s transformation from bullying victim, to peer-mentor, to local, national and now global anti-bullying representative, is an incredible one and she has achieved great things in drawing attention to this important issue.
[...] Abbi Morrall has the opportunity to shadow either the Chief Executive or a Trustee from YouthNet. The charity guides and supports young people, enabling them to make educated life choices, participate in society and achieve their ambitions. [...]
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