8 year old Luke* was feeling really anxious, getting knots in his tummy and then would stop eating. He was becoming quieter and quieter. He didn’t understand what was happening. But then when things got too overwhelming, he would lash out at his mam Tina.

Luke didn’t know how to express himself and would either become withdrawn or have tantrums. Luke and his mam came to Barnardos, where he attended individual sessions with his project worker Monica, who used creativity to engage with Luke.

Together they used feelings cards to try put names on what Luke was experiencing. They did an activity where Luke would colour an image of his body, using a different colour for each feeling and colouring in where he felt it. When he was finished and saw all the colours mixed up together all over his body on paper, he started to understand why he was feeling so overwhelmed.

Luke loves coming to Barnardos. He is making friends and loves all the arts and crafts activities. It enables him to be himself and have fun away from all the worries. Here he can just be a child.

It’s thanks to generous support of people like you, hosting a Barnardos Big Breakfast fundraiser, we can help more children like Luke have happy, worry-free tummies.