This is Poppy.
Poppy Eyre’s story sits at the heart of SoulKind 4 — a courageous, compassion-driven act of speaking truth to help others feel less alone. What follows is the story behind our meeting, the impact of her voice, and how it helped shape SoulKind’s emerging mentor-led adventure programme.
Poppy Eyre.
Poppy’s mum, Miranda, first reached out after discovering one of the SoulKind books, moved by the honest, hopeful tone of our stories. She felt we were the right fit to support Poppy and share her message, and asked whether her daughter’s story could be part of SoulKind 4.
I’ll admit, it wasn’t an immediate yes. Not because I didn’t believe in Poppy, but because I felt under-qualified to do her story justice. At the same time, SoulKind CIC was beginning to develop the idea of a beneficiary programme — small, trauma-informed adventures that would help survivors rediscover purpose through shared challenge and connection. The timing, though daunting, felt meaningful.
Then I spent a day with this remarkable young woman. Poppy’s determination to speak openly about her experience of childhood sexual abuse — to break the taboo surrounding a subject so many avoid — struck me deeply. Learning that one in four children are affected by sexual abuse was staggering, a statistic that simply should not exist in modern society, yet remains a very real and urgent issue.
Her BBC documentary, My Grandfather – The Abuser produced by the incredible Alison Holt , reached over 2.3 million viewers across every continent except Antarctica. The response was overwhelming. People wrote to say they finally felt seen, that Poppy’s courage helped them speak out too, or helped them understand they were not alone. Her story showed what becomes possible when someone is believed, supported and held safely — and it spoke directly to the kind of community SoulKind strives to build.
Poppy didn’t just inspire an article; she helped shape the direction of SoulKind CIC, reminding us that stories — when held with care — can change lives.
