This whole interest around ‘love’ really started for Hot Chocolate at the beginning of 2014.
The Dundee Partnership was hosting an event on ‘Dundee: A Confident City’ and had invited us to present on ‘growing confidence with young people’.
For this, I made a short film with a former young person (now late twenties), asking her to reflect on her personal journey: what her experiences had been growing up; how she had been affected by the significant traumas of her past; what helped (or hindered) her recovery; and what has enabled her grow into the confident and capable woman she has become.
Her reflections overwhelmingly focussed on love.
“… I think that’s why Hot Chocolate is so good, because kids come here who haven’t been loved before, and they don’t know what love looks like. I’m still a bit icky about love, but when you experience that love in its purest form it changes your life forever.”
Ooft.
The film certainly packs a punch. But suddenly I found myself nervous about sharing it. How would the audience receive it? What would they think about this focus on love? Might it be misunderstood? Is it appropriate for professionals to use the word love? Should I instead use the more clinical language of acceptance or empathy or unconditional positive regard?
Then it struck me: we weren’t the ones using this word… she was.
If we’re serious about people being the experts of their own experiences (and Hot Chocolate definitely embraces this community development approach), then it was absolutely, unquestionably, entirely right to use her choice of language, her reflections, her experience.
Love changed her life.
So, since then, Hot Chocolate has been on a journey into ‘love’ and what it means to different people, what it looks like in different contexts, and how we might be able to reclaim the concept of ‘love’ in a professional context…
Charis Robertson // Assistant Director (Development) // Hot Chocolate Trust
Watch the short film (6 minutes) here:
Warning: this film features the real voice and experiences of a former Hot Chocolate young person. It is very honest and raw, and it is not easy to listen to. And… it has a lot to teach us, if we are willing.