Spotlight Interview- Anne-Marie Lawrence -Our Voice Our Journey
We chat with Anne-Marie Lawrence from Our Voice Our Journey about how they started and the support they are providing across Wales for young people.
Can you tell us a bit about Our Voice Our Journey and how it started?
Our Voice Our Journey was born from a Taith exchange to New Zealand, where we experienced inspiring, community-led approaches to healing, accountability and violence prevention. Witnessing this work firsthand, we knew we had to bring these ideas home to Wales. It was through this transformative experience that Our Voice Our Journey was created.
The name reflects the coming together of two Welsh youth groups—Her Voice Wales and We Know Our Journey—who took part in the exchange. Today, we are a movement empowering young people to help shape safer, more equal communities across Wales.
Can you tell us about the programmes you run?
We recently launched Safe & Sound Wales, a new national bilingual website designed to help families prevent harm and build safer futures for children and young people. The platform supports parents who are worried about an immediate concern by helping them understand the issue and access support, while also providing practical resources to build awareness and resilience before problems arise.
Our flagship programme is REWIRED, a growing practitioners' network that addresses the underlying attitudes and behaviours that drive gender inequality and violence against women and girls. Rather than relying on traditional top-down programmes, REWIRED equips the practitioners closest to young people with the confidence, skills and community they need to create lasting change. Our REWIRED practitioners' network is currently open and fully funded for practitioners in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Powys, Cardiff, Islington and the surrounding areas. We would love those teachers and practitioners to join.
Last year, we launched our Real Talk Conversation Cards, which help schools and organisations create safe spaces where young people can explore important topics, challenge harmful norms, and build the skills needed for respectful, healthy relationships.
We are also proud to continue our partnership with She Is Not Your Rehab, the globally recognised anti-violence and mental health movement founded by Mataio (Matt) and Sarah Brown in Christchurch, New Zealand. In September, She Is Not Your Rehab will be back in Wales on tour. We would love for as many people as possible to attend an event and hear them speak. The impact they make on young people and parents really is profound. Keep an eye out on our social media channels for when the dates launch. You can watch the impact video for 2025 here.
Is there anything you’d particularly like to share with our community?
Our newly launched bilingual website, safeandsound.wales, offers practical resources that parents and carers can use with young people today.
One of our most popular sections is Tools for Talking, which provides conversation starters, practical approaches and simple frameworks to help make difficult conversations with young people feel more confident, supportive and manageable.
What does the next year look like for Our Voice Our Journey?
Over the next year, our focus is on growing the reach and impact of Safe & Sound Wales, ensuring more parents, carers and professionals know where to turn for trusted advice and practical support before problems escalate.
We are also excited to welcome She Is Not Your Rehab back to Wales this September, creating new opportunities to inspire communities, strengthen partnerships and continue important conversations around healing, accountability and violence prevention.
Ultimately, our ambition is to help shift the culture around violence prevention—placing young people, families and communities at the heart of lasting change.
Where can we find out more about your work?
You can find Our Voice Our Journey on social media: