The year I was in London recovering from my operations, I came across a 'Teens Unite' leaflet that left me feeling intrigued about what the organisation does for young people.
Uniting young people and rebuilding lives from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond. Cancer doesn’t stop when the treatment stops - Teens Unite.
Before I was diagnosed, I had always been the sort of person who loved the outdoors. (Much to my mom's dismay😂 ) I used to go on trips where I did rock climbing, canoeing, mountain walks, camping among various other social things that I just loved and enjoyed! It wasn't until I had cancer and I lost all my confidence, however, was when I stopped doing those things and I became more introverted. I was torn, on one hand looking at the leaflet and seeing all these smiling young people having fun on a canoe or being outdoors really appealed to me, but on the other, I was just recovering from an operation and I didn't want to see, do or even think about being social with anyone.
It took a whole year of healing and me going on both the sailing and music trip for me to decide to give this charity a chance, and as I look back at it now, I’m so glad I did.
First conversation with Teens Unite 🤝🏾💜💚
I may have mentioned this before on my other blog posts, but I've discovered that every new person I meet beforehand, I feel like I have to 'warn' them about the situation with my face, so they know where I'm coming from before they meet me. I do this so there is no awkwardness when we first meet and there isn't a moment where they are trying to figure out why I hide my face, or why my face looks different.
This is the reason why when I first emailed 'Teens Unite' to get more information about their organisation, my first open liner (as it always is) is the same old story of my diagnosis about how it's different from everyone else, how I'm afraid of being an outsider whilst also asking them if I would be in a safe non-bullying environment if I were to join their organisation . They quickly asked to speak to me over the phone and I was surprised at how lovely and helpful they were! I didn't know what to expect if I'm being honest, and I should have predicted they would be understanding, but I just felt safe knowing they actually cared about my well being and interests to the point where I had a really good feeling that this was the right place to join.
They asked me about my likes and dislikes and tried their best to look for events that best suited me. I told them I loved the theatre, the outdoors and makeup and they gave me a list of things that were in that area of interests. They were really helpful.
The next event that was close to coming up was their annual 'Teens Unite' pamper day. This included hand massages, henna, makeup advice, nail painting and food (obviously😂) and It all sounded so good that I brought my mom and Rebecka from the sailing trip to accompany me.
Teens Unite - Pamper Day 💄😊
The Teens Unite pamper day was held at the beautiful COMO Metropolitan hotel in London at this amazing hotel room where a handful of girls (myself and my friend included) each were pampered for the day.
I'm not going to lie to you, it was a bit awkward walking into a room full of people I didn't know and I wanted to hide in a corner straight away, but I stopped myself from doing that because I knew it wasn't going to help with my confidence at all. Instead, I decided to become more social by speaking to people I had never come in contact with before (which I was so proud of myself for doing) and I decided I wasn't going to make my fears overrule me as it did in the past, I was going to make an effort in trying to make new friends and not have too much anxiety when trying to do so. Everybody I encountered on the pamper day whether it was a member of staff or a young person was nice, kind, respectful and didn't ask too many questions about why I was hiding my face or the subject of my face at all. I honestly felt like I was in an accepting environment and I'm so glad I attended. I would 100% go again!
Here are some pictures I took of that day😁🌟 :
Teens Unite Christmas Ball 🎄🎅🏾
After having an amazing time at the pamper day, the 'Teens Unite' staff told me about their annual Christmas ball they have every year that includes party games, a sit-down dinner, dancing and having fun (they even once rented a party boat on the River Thames in London for their parties😲) So of course I said I would go!
Side note:
Just wanted to take this moment to say, I was highly impressed by the professional invitations that were sent to me for this Christmas ball. Here is me thinking it was just a standard party that was run by Teens Unite (and in a way it was), but by having the invitations look so legit and professional and by giving us control with what type of music we wanted to play (which can be said more so then other parties I’ve been to this year...no names mentioned😏 ) , The first impression I had of my first big 'Teens Unite' event was it showed that they really cared about making this party special for us, which made me even more excited to go.
The Hotel 🛏
This year the Christmas ball was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in London and....wow. Just wow. The hotel was so extraordinary and looked so amazing that I'm so blessed that I was fortunate enough that my mom and I were able to stop the night. I mean we even had a self- branded welcome cookie at the check-in desk! I had never had that before! There were many comfortable seating areas, the staff were nice and helpful, breakfast in the morning was great and it was honestly a very good stay. You probably must be reading this thinking, 'what the hell is this girl really fussing about? Cookies? really?' 😂😂 but you got to understand, I don't go to a lot of nice places (especially in the last two years) and so going from staring at my four walls to staying at Hilton hotels for an event as great as this, I was easily impressed at this moment.
Christmas Ball 🎉🎄🎅🏾
At first, I felt so awkward and uncomfortable when I first showed up at the ball that I felt completely out of place. Yes, it is true that I did know two people from the music residential and another girl who I had met on the pamper day, but I still felt awkward being there at first.
It was a shame really, the time spent going on the sailing trip and the music residential was the same time that ‘Teens Unite’ had their own activity say (which of course I couldn't attend) and so this meant most people basically knew of each other from the activity stay and this was sort of like a mini-reunion for them. Even though this was very convenient for many people there, it was kind of daunting for me because people had already formed their friendship groups from months in advance and I just felt weird jumping into a conversation going, "Hi I'm Crystal!" to then make everyone look at me weirdly like 'Who the hell are you'😂 . So yeah, in-between arriving and the sit-down dinner it was a bit awkward and scary, but I survived and adapted which was fine.
I find making small-talk to be very uncomfortable, especially when people give one-word answers to the point where you are sat there thinking, 'Well, how can I get out of this?' and then start to quickly look away without being rude, but I did try small talk anyway and it went fine. I didn't have any negative paranoia in my head I usually got in the past with thinking ‘If I don’t speak to anybody then they might not notice my facial appearance', but instead because I knew within myself I looked beautiful with my dress, hair and makeup, I decided to manifested that positive thought out to the universe and it helped boost my confidence a lot into talking to people.
I find banishing any bad thoughts and letting in good ones have really helped me grow and heal this year. I've begun to realise that instead of putting myself down and feeling like crap, I've decided to lift myself up whenever I can and think more positive, and even though this sounds like an easy thing to do, I have to admit it has been hard, but as I grow, learn and overcome a lot of things, I find begins to get a lot easier. 😁
Party time!🎶🎉
I believe that everybody was a lot freer once we hit the dance floor, I danced with people I didn't even know the name of and I even had a dance battle with one dude! Yes. Me the introvert😂😂 . (I wish to god I had got it on video!) But that is how much fun I had once I started dancing. Yes, It is true that once I first came onto the dance floor some people did look at me in curiosity, especially this one blonde girl who I think was trying to work out why I had my hair in my face, but once they got used to me and we started dancing and laughing together, that was when all of the tension magically disappeared and I started to have loads more fun.
I don't think I would have come next year if it wasn’t for connecting with people later on in the evening, but by going on that dance floor and just having fun, it made me not only want to come again next year but also go on the next activity stay so at least I will know a lot more people once I return to the ball again.
Here are some of the pictures I took whilst at the Christmas Ball 😁:
Here is a video including clips of the whole day and the Christmas Ball😁 :
Wrap Up:
I just want to thank 'Teens Unite' personally for inviting me to this amazing Christmas Ball and the relaxing pamper day. I appreciate so much how the team/staff of Teens Unite treated me with kindness, respect and love and at both events made sure that I was okay and comfortable.
Thanks to Chantelle and Sara especially for texting me and making sure I got to the venue Ok and just basically checking up on me throughout both events. I really appreciate the kindness, so thank you!
Thank you and million hugs to Alastair who throughout the night asked if I was okay, danced with me, laughed with me and was just an awesome friend throughout the whole experience. I know you don't like compliments or praise but thank you anyway 😂
Lastly, thank you to the Teens Unite Co-Founder Debbie for all the time, effort and hard work you put into making such amazing events like this. It was truly a great night, and I can't wait to tell my friends, family and more people about what teens unite does for young people like me so you gain more support.
If you would like to donate some money as small as £5 please do!:
Me and many young people dealing with cancer and in recovery would really appreciate the help and support to keep this organisation running x
Thank you (and Merry Xmas)
- Crystal 🎄💖