A huge thank you to Matt Lucas for taking the time to record this incredibly personal and inspirational message for the children attending this year’s Children Heard and Seen Summer Residential.
Matt isn’t speaking simply as an actor or writer. He’s speaking from lived experience.
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“๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ, ๐บ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ.”
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He knows first-hand how isolating parental imprisonment can be, and in his message he shares something that really resonated with us:
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“๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป’๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฑ.”
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Today, because of the kindness of our supporters, children from across the UK will spend a weekend making friends, building confidence and, as Matt says,
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“…๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ.”
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At the end of his message, Matt tells every child:
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“๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐.”
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We couldn’t agree more. 
Matt has previously spoken about his experience of parental imprisonment in this article for The Guardian in 2017:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/01/matt-lucas-i-wished-i-had-told-my-dad-i-was-gay