William Hewitt personal journey:
June 2008
Year 6 pupil William Hewitt designs a cartoon strip to illustrate his own journey and shows the positive changes he has made as a result of U Can Shine (see cartoon below).
July 2009
His inspirational journey and transformational change has inspired thousands of others, leading him to receive the South East Sheffield Oscars 'Young artist of the year' award 2009.
Please click on the following images to enlarge them:
4th August 2009
"I want to personally thank Shaun at U Can Shine for transforming Will's life over the past 18 months. I always knew that Will had an artistic talent but not only did Shaun recognise this talent he actively encouraged and inspired him to further develop his skills. Not only has Will produced comics for U Can Shine but, following Shaun's nomination, he also won the South East Sheffield Oscars “Young Artist of the Year” award 2009. Shaun attended the awards ceremony with us and Will was astonished to win and he was so very proud of his achievement – as were we all.
"U Can Shine has boosted Will's confidence and he now has a huge desire to succeed in life and he aspires to be a professional cartoonist or animator. Without Shaun's recognition, dedication and encouragement I believe that Will's talents would have simply fallen by the wayside. Shaun's enthusiasm and belief in Will has been astonishing and I don't think I could ever thank him enough.
"As parents we all want the best for our children and whilst we may believe our child has a “talent” or a “gift” how often do we think that perhaps we are being biased or perhaps it's not really that significant? My son's experience just goes to prove that young children do have talents and with inspiration and encouragement from others they truly can shine!"
Debbie Hewitt, mother of Will Hewitt aged 13
Letters from kids
Thomas Howard:
"U Can Shine has been a very big part of my life, it has changed me as a person and has made my life happier and more rewarding."
Melissa (SATs letter)
"I have been feeling really ill and worried about my SATs."
Dominic
"Before U Can Shine I was a very naughty kid..."
Impact on kids
Click here to see children giving their feedback on U Can Shine
(7.5MB Windows Media Player file)
"Don't normally get chance to do anything like this - but when you do it makes you feel good"
Jordan, 10yrs old
"You learn different things about yourself, things you didn't think you could do"
Andrew, 8yrs old
"Everybody has got more confident and is going up talking much more in class"
Shannon, 9yrs old
"Makes you braver"
Brannah, 9yrs old
"I've improved my behaviour and I ignore people who distract me"
Nasif, 8yrs old
"I wish they could do U Can Shine at every school, especially the ones I'm in"
Jessica, 9yrs old
"I want U Can Shine to help me make friends and be friends"
Siobhan, 8yrs old
"Since U Can Shine's come I feel a bit better.... I feel a lot better actually"
Lewis, 9yrs old
