When Anne-Marie Lawrence travelled to New Zealand with a group of young people to explore approaches to tackling gender-based violence, she did not know the trip would change the course of her career.

The project had been part of her day job with a national charity. But when the organisation announced that it would no longer deliver UK-based programmes, Anne-Marie felt a spark.

“We were having the most amazing experience and the young people were brilliant,” she said. “I remember thinking, this can’t be the end of something. So I decided, let’s just do it ourselves.”

That moment planted the seed for Our Voice Our Journey, the Cardiff-based social enterprise she launched in spring 2025. The organisation works with young people, communities and institutions to challenge violence and inequality with particular focus on working with boys and young men around gender based violence.

Drawing on her background in youth work, Anne-Marie wanted to create something different from the traditional third-sector model.

“In the sector, a lot of people sit in offices and design projects for other people,” she said. “I didn’t want to do that. If we’re going to do something that really works, we have to co-produce it with young people. Their lives are so different from those of any previous generation. We can’t design things for them without them.”

Our Voice Our Journey focuses on prevention, participation and systems change. The organisation works with Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, Colleges Wales, Child Friendly Cardiff, local authorities, and other third-sector partners to understand what is happening for young people, co-design solutions, test them in real settings and share what works.

“It might take a month or it might take ten years,” Anne-Marie said. “Once we find a solution that resonates, we share it so others can use it. One organisation can’t solve a problem like this alone.”

A major strand of her work focuses on boys and masculinity.

“I realised that for years I had been running projects for girls, creating safe spaces for them to talk,” she said. “But where were the boys? Where were they figuring out what it means to be a man?”

While researching, Anne-Marie discovered the TED Talk The Barbershop Where Men Go to Heal by New Zealand campaigner Matt Brown, co-founder of She Is Not Your Rehab. The message struck a deep chord: that unhealed trauma often becomes transmitted trauma, and that men need spaces to take accountability without shame or blame.

A simple Instagram message led to a collaboration. Through the Welsh Government Taith fund for international partnerships, Anne-Marie brought She Is Not Your Rehab to Wales in 2023. The response, she said, “was phenomenal”.

“We worked with hundreds of boys, and the way they connected with the message was incredible. It resonated so strongly that it’s grown into an ongoing movement.”

To date, Our Voice Our Journey and its partners have worked with more than 3,500 boys across Wales. The organisation is now piloting boys' support groups across five local authority areas to give young men safe spaces to talk about gender, identity and mental health.

The pace of growth has surprised even Anne-Marie.

“I thought we’d have a turnover of around £30,000 in the first year,” she said. “Instead, it’s going to be over £100,000. It’s not about money for me, but it shows how much demand there is for this kind of work.”

Our Voice Our Journey’s early success was recognised when it won the One to Watch Award at the Social Business Wales Awards 2025, celebrating organisations creating outstanding social value.

The team is now expanding its reach across the UK and internationally. New projects include a collaboration with New Zealand organisation Blue Light, which works to build trust between young people, police and communities. This exchange will see Welsh and New Zealand youth visiting each other’s countries to share learning and co-design new initiatives.

“We don’t always know exactly where the journey will lead,” Anne-Marie said. “But that’s the exciting part. We learn, we adapt, and we’re led by what young people tell us they need.”

Anne-Marie’s progress has been supported by UnLtd through the Millennium Award Trust, providing £6,615 in flexible funding to help build the foundations of the organisation.

“The UnLtd funding gave us space to strengthen the organisation itself,” she said. “ It helped us redevelop our website, work with a marketing and branding specialist, and pay for freelance support. It even made a residential for young people possible that we couldn’t otherwise have afforded. Having that flexible pot of money has been so valuable.”

Beyond funding, Anne-Marie said the ongoing support has been just as important. She meets regularly with her UnLtd mentor, Jane, whom she described as “invaluable”.

“She challenges me and keeps me on track,” she said. “She makes sure we’re putting the right foundations in place – governance, policies, all the things you don’t necessarily want to think about but that keep everything running.”

Anne-Marie has also taken advantage of UnLtd’s training and peer opportunities.

“There is so much on offer – sessions on AI, paying yourself as a founder, time management. It is a brilliant range,” she said.

The combination of financial and practical backing has given her the confidence to make the leap from her day job to leading Our Voice Our Journey full-time.

“It feels like having a safety net,” she said. “Knowing UnLtd believes in me and what we’re doing makes it feel possible.”

As she prepares to step into 2026, focusing solely on Our Voice Our Journey, Anne-Marie is determined to keep building partnerships that amplify youth voices and create safer, more equitable communities.

“We don’t speak for young people,” she said. “We stand beside them. Their voices and experiences have to shape the solutions. That’s how change happens.”

Asked what advice she would give to other founders starting out, she said: “Be brave. You don’t have to know your destination when you start. Just take the first step.”

Find out more about Our Voice Our Journey: www.ourvoiceourjourney.org.uk