"My name is Chantelle Lesforis and I work at the Royal London as a NICU nurse. I am also one of the Directors of YourStance, a preventative educational program which teaches young people at risk of serious youth violence, life saving skills. The organisation was Founded by Nurse of The Year Ana Waddington, who also works in PCCOT at the RLH. My main role as a Co-Director is fundraising and training other hospitals nationally to deliver YourStance workshops. We have been fortunate to receive a large proportion of funding from Barts Charity and The National Lottery this year amongst other grants.
If you would like to make a donation please go to our website www.yourstance.org
Additionally this year we have featured on the BBC alongside Martin Griffiths - Trauma surgeon and National Clinical Director for Violence Reduction.
Achievements in 2022– We taught 800 young people.
We would love to hear from any health professional interested in volunteering for YourStance and you can register your interest on the Website."
See the bottom of this page for more information on YourStance.
War Doctor: Surgery on the front line - David Notts
For more than twenty-five years, David Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. From Sarajevo under siege in 1993, to clandestine hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he has carried out life-saving operations and field surgery in the most challenging conditions, and with none of the resources of a major London teaching hospital.
Chantelle says: "I actually heard his Desert Island disc and was really moved and intrigued by the work he was doing. I then went on to read his book which is brilliant. It takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions, as it talks about the cruelty of war and his incredible work with some incredible people whilst being amongst that horror."
Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
Noah was born a crime, son of a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the first years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, take him away.
A collection of eighteen personal stories, Born a Crime tells the story of a mischievous young boy growing into a restless young man as he struggles to find his place in a world where he was never supposed to exist. Born a Crime is equally the story of that young man's fearless, rebellious and fervently religious mother - a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence and abuse that ultimately threatens her own life.
Chantelle says: "This is a book that manages to talk of some really dark times during the apartheid but the narration helps to bring a sense of lightness that makes you go between tears and laughter on one page."
This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.
Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn't – about life on and off the hospital ward.
Chantelle says: "Probably a popular one by many health professionals as so much of what he narrates, resonates in some way that makes the stories jump off the page."
Moving Mountains - Claire Bertschinger
One of the most enduring images of the Ethiopian famine that shocked the world in 1984 was that of the young International Red Cross nurse who, surrounded by thousands of starving people and with limited supplies, had the terrible task of choosing which children to feed, knowing that those she turned away might not last the night. That nurse was Claire Bertschinger, and those pictures inspired Live Aid, the biggest relief programme the world had ever seen.
Chantelle says: "I studied tropical nursing and she was the lead lecturer on the course. This biography of her time as a nurse working with the Red Cross during the Ethiopian Famine in 1984 is just an inspiring and motivating book. It makes you want to literally 'move mountains' too. I think my work with YourStance stems from a passion to do more, especially when you read about how it is possible to make waves, even as one person or a team of people."
Midwives - Chris Bohjalian
On an icy winter night in an isolated house in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency caesarean section on a mother she believes has died of a stroke. But what if Sibyl's patient wasn't dead - and Sibyl inadvertently killed her? As Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.
Chantelle says: "A fiction book and just such an exciting page turner. It is also a scenario that you just would never want to face in the health profession and I think the reason it kept me up reading at night was I just wanted to find out did she do the right thing?"
Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah
Jung-ling's family considers her bad luck because her mother died giving birth to her. They discriminate against her and make her feel unwanted yet she yearns and continuously strives for her parents' love. Her stepmother is vindictive and cruel and her father dismissive. Jung-ling grows up to be an academic child, with a natural ability for writing. Only her aunt and grandfather offer her any love and kindness. The story is of survival in the light of the mental and physical cruelty of her stepmother and the disloyalty of her siblings.
Chantelle says: "A difficult read but an unforgettable story about the ability one can have to overcome."
Luxury Item:
"Photo album so I could see my little boy and family."
YourStance
YourStance is a preventative educational project which empowers young people at risk from serious youth violence by teaching them lifesaving skills that enable them to make informed decisions when faced with an emergency. We teach vulnerable youths aged 11 – 25 how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and haemorrhage control.
Started in 2018, the project has taught 1,700 young people and run over 180 workshops across London. Most of those taught felt that what they’d learned had been directly and immediately helpful to them.
Our Goals
To reduce morbidity and mortality caused by serious youth violence in our communities by teaching skills and having open conversations between experienced healthcare professionals and young people. YourStance also aims to improve levels of compassion and understanding among medical professionals vis-a-vis victims of serious youth violence.
Why is it important?
Interpersonal violence involving knives is a major public health problem. Research released 2022 illustrated the influence of age on injury patterns resulting from knife violence, and supported the expansion of outreach initiatives promoting bystander-delivered haemorrhage control of extremity wounds. It highlighted how timely treatment and action can improve health and life outcomes for young victims of serious youth violence.
Our workshops
YourStance creates tailored programmes called ‘Zero Responder’ in conjunction with host partners in alternative educational provisions, prisons and detachment services. Currently, we are focusing on those that our data show are at highest risk of serious youth violence – young people in prisons. Our workshops are taught by experienced healthcare professionals who volunteer their time to teach young people. The workshops cover skills such as bleed control, basic life support, communication skills and psychological first aid.
Project’s impact
- 60% of young attendees said that they had been in situations where what they had learned at the YourStance session would have helped them
- 73% felt they were likely to use what they learned in future
- 79% felt better prepared to respond to emergencies as a result of the session.
The sessions also had a positive impact on perceptions of NHS staff among young people, 83% said they would recommend the sessions to a friend. Said one 2021 participant, “You’ve started the healing process in our communities”.
Feedback from medical staff volunteers shows how YourStance is improving their confidence in communicating with young people at risk of violence. “You will learn a lot about how to talk to other people ... how to communicate with people outside of your own bubble and outside of your own comfort zone,” said one.