Research by UK charity, I Can & I Am, discovers that over a third of UK parents feel that their children's self-confidence has been a negatively impacted by the pandemic and 45% stated that their children are suffering from increased anxiety.

Stats also reveal that 80% of UK parents believe that that their children's education would benefit from learning how to improve their self confidence

I Can & I Am is a charity founded in 2015 by inspirational educational speaker and former teacher James Shone, who lost his sight due to a brain tumour. The charity provides young people with the tools to navigate life with self-confidence.

The I Can & I Am wellbeing double decker bus, sponsored by Howdens, was launched at the end of the last lockdown to visit schools and educate young people on how to increase their self-esteem.

:73% of young people who have been on board the bus said that their self-belief was higher after having attended a session on the bus.

The research has revealed that over a third of parents (39%) believe that their children's self-confidence has decreased since the pandemic began. The research also shows that 45% of parents believe their children's anxiety levels have increased. 21% of parents believe their children's interpersonal skills have been negatively impacted. I Can & I Am is a charity with a passion to inspire confidence, founded by the inspirational educational speaker and former teacher, James Shone. James visits hundreds of schools and businesses each year speaking to pupils, parents, educators, and employees, about how to inflate their 'balloons of self-belief' and increase self-esteem. Founder of I Can & I Am, James Shone, said: "Even before the pandemic young people often felt like they're not of value, with low self-esteem impacting on their education and preventing them from learning as effectively as possible. We aim to inflate balloons of 'I can do it' and 'I am of value' and to instil a culture of believing in taking small steps of progress. "The past two years have been especially challenging for young people due to less peer contact, and less access to real-life scenarios where skills of self-confidence can naturally develop. Not only does showing young people how to manage and increase their self-belief help them to confidently approach their education, it can also equip them with the skills that are necessary to achieve dreams and goals throughout their lives." Part of the research conducted also showed that four-fifths of UK parents (80%) believe that teaching their children the skills and techniques to improve self-confidence would have a positive impact on their children's education, with 69% believing that these lessons should be part of the national curriculum. Following a 16-year teaching career, and on the cusp of his first Headmaster role, husband, and father of four, James, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2012. Unfortunately, after 27-hours of brain surgery, James lost the majority of his sight. James' positive attitude to life and determination to turn setbacks into springboards lead him to found I Can & I am in 2015, and to spread his messages of the importance of maintaining self-belief to as many individuals across the UK and beyond as possible. James added: "The heart of this charity is to inspire confidence in every individual, to enable them to know who they are and what they're able to do, rather than focussing on what they can't. I am so pleased that schools are taking us up on the offer to meet with children, teachers and parents to help spread this message, especially after such a testing couple of years." In 2021, Howdens, the UK's number one trade kitchen supplier**, donated a double-decker bus, fully refurbished using Howdens' products, to the charity to allow them to embed the message of I Can & I Am even further. The charity visits schools on the bus and invites pupils and staff on board to take part in cooking in the converted kitchen on the ground floor of the bus followed by wellbeing workshops in the comfortable seating area on the top deck. Those who come on board are taught how to recognise their own balloon of self-belief and are equipped with the tools to keep it inflated. Since April 2021 the bus has welcomed over 3,000 young people on board from schools throughout the South West of the UK. 73% of those young people who have spent time on the bus said that their self-belief was higher when they left the bus than when they arrived. Andrew Livingston, CEO of Howdens, said: "We are so pleased to support James and the entire team at I Can & I Am. The work they do is simply inspirational, and to be able to give them access to a vehicle that can help embed their messages further is something I know the entire company is behind. We look forward to supporting them as their story is shared." To find out more about the charity click HERE: and the work they do