As a poet and outspoken individual, I struggled to find places, events and local forums that offered me the opportunity to express my voice. There were the usual open mics in bars and pubs but that's not my kind of environment. So, I wanted to start a poetry event but I never brought myself to do it, because I didn't believe I could.
It wasn't until recently I became more open about writing poetry that my mindset changed. I always had this belief that people would think it was weird or it was an 'old' people thing. After doing a couple of performances, I grew in confidence and now I've left school it's the perfect time to start something new.
Once I decided that I would start my poetry event, I got straight into thinking of a name and believe me when I say I spent about a week finding one! I wanted the name to have a hidden meaning rather than be a boring standard name. So, I came up with union in speech. The idea being that we are united and stronger as a society when we come together and share our voices; whether that be through poetry, spoken word or speech. I want union in speech to be a place for everyone to share their voice in whatever way they choose.