Spotlight on Leon

Hi, my name is Leon Wander. I am an Actor /Facilitator and soon-to-be psychotherapist. I began working with Face Front nearly 15 years ago, and I have been working with them on and off since then. A couple of years into being there, I was asked to come in on a Research and Development project for a new play written by the brilliant Julie Macnamara, which would be toured once completed. Little did I know how much that play would have such an impact on my career going forward.

Whisper is such a fantastic vehicle to help young children process what Domestic Abuse is and what it can sometimes look like. Being able to offer the children a safe space to come and talk to the actors after the show, if they had any concerns about their household or experiences happening in school. By tour number two, we realised that as actors, we might need a therapist for ourselves.  Disclosures can really take their toll on you as an actor, and Face Front were absolutely amazing in responding to that need. This is where I met the amazing, inspirational Jaquelyn Shreeves- Lee, who not only is a Clinical Psychologist but also sat on the board as a trustee for Face Front. Meeting Jaquelyn and having the experience of young children disclosing to you really hard situations they may be experiencing, really set off something in me.

Now, over a decade later, whilst on my own journey training as a psychotherapist. I was asked if I would like to put myself forward for the role of counsellor on the latest tour of Whisper. I did, and I was picked! What a full circle moment!! As I am coming into my last year of studying, we decided to make me a mentor. Because I had done this tour a few times as an actor, it gave me a unique insight into what the actors might be going through, and I also have prior and current experience of taking in disclosures. I am so grateful for the opportunity from Face Front, for the responsibility given to me, not only with the actors but with the children and liaising with the Designated Safeguard leads/teams at each school. I am also grateful for the actors trusting me in that position. We had such a good tour, and it was a pleasure for me to see how much the care and support system has changed within schools in the last 12 years.