I have sat through many a talk from visiting speakers; none have had the impact that Matthew had when he visited Hathershaw.
Hathershaw College, Oldham
Help for schools to tackle cultural & religious homophobia and bullying
One of Naz and Matt Foundation’s core objectives is to raise awareness and provide educational support to schools who are addressing and tackling homophobic bullying and homophobia triggered by religion or culture within their school and wider community.
Since Naz and Matt Foundation started in 2014, we have delivered numerous talks at secondary schools across the UK, including London, Ilford, Birmingham, Altrincham, Oldham, York, Bradford and Leeds with more planned.
Feedback from teachers and students has been very positive, and due to demand we now have a waiting list of schools who have requested a talk.
The talks are specifically designed for schools and provide a powerful platform that encourages conversation and dialogue within schools, leading to increased understanding and acceptance that individuals are born gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans, queer, questioning or intersex (LGBTQI+) within their local community.
Our main priority is to work with schools in areas that have a high concentration of families practicing religion that may be impacting the happiness or wellbeing of children that are LGBTQI+.
Format of session
The format of our talk includes the screening of a short film produced by Naz and Matt Foundation, along with media clips, a visual two-way presentation to students, followed by a Q&A session at the end.
During the session our personal and tragic story is shared, ending with a positive message that students can take back to their classroom for further discussion with their teachers.
Our goal is to connect the hearts and minds of students, by showing the real-life impact that homophobia (triggered by religious and cultural beliefs) can have if not recognised and tackled.
Read more about our story, and why Naz and Matt Foundation had to be created.
What has been the reaction from students?
Feedback has been positive and encouraging. Students often stay back after the talk to ask questions. Teachers are encouraged to continue the conversation back in the their classrooms and future assemblies and be prepared to provide support if necessary. Below is some feedback from a student who attended one of our talks in West Yorkshire in 2016.
Hi, you came into my school today and talked about the Naz and Matt foundation. Thank you so much for talking to us!
Female secondary school student, West Yorkshire
Your story is so inspiring and I am so happy that you are trying to make a positive change about the attitudes towards the LGBT communities in religious communities. This is like the third time I’m crying from watching your videos, you have no idea how much your story has touched my heart and because of this website, I have seen evidence of homosexuality not being a sin.. It is people like you who are going to change the world.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and I pray that no other person has to go through what you and Naz went through.
What has been the reaction from teachers?
Ms Lee shared the following words with us after we delivered a talk during a morning assembly for Altrincham Grammar School For Boys in July 2022:
The talk was very personal and was well received by staff and students. It has helped us start to open the conversation between religion and lgbtq+ issues, for which easy solutions are not easily found.
Ms Lee, Altrincham Grammar School For Boys
Ms Tigue, Head of School, University of Birmingham School sent us the following testimonial following three talks delivered to her school:
An incredible assembly, which both captivated and moved our year 9s and our Sixth formers. Matt’s courage was an inspiration to them all, and many spoke of his bravery at speaking to strangers of his love and loss.
Ms Tigue, Head of School, University of Birmingham School
The assembly also led to a sea change in attitude at a follow up PSHE lesson where many showed maturity and tolerance towards issues raised as part of LGBTQI week that they had not shown before. Thank you Matt for sharing your story.
Ms Kaur, Social, Culture & Ethos Leader of the The Co-operative Academy of Leeds left us this feedback after the three talks we delivered to her inner city school in Leeds:
The talk that Matt delivered was extremely powerful. We are a very diverse school and many of our pupils experience pressure from their families regarding marriage and potential partners.
Ms Kaur, Social, Culture & Ethos Leader of the The Co-operative Academy of Leeds
The talk empowered many of them to question what is going on in the Asian society around our area and inspired them to try and make a difference to the situation.
Chandni Patel, Tutor at Walsall College said:
98% of the students said they had learnt something from the session. Many students felt able to discuss a topic they may have not previously felt comfortable with.
Chandni Patel, Tutor at Walsall College
It touched a lot of our students emotionally, and allowed them to debate their viewpoints with other students. Not only was it informative, it was a topic they were eager to discuss even days later.
How much does this service cost?
As a small charity we receive no financial assistance from the government for our work. To help support the running costs of our service, as of 6th September 2021 we have introduced a charge of £300 + travel expenses for each school talk. Due to the personal and triggering nature of the content in the talk, we are currently only able to deliver one talk per visit.
Please contact us if you have any queries about this or would like to discuss further.
How can my school request a visit?
Currently we only have the resources to deliver a small number of talks each year. But we have plans to increase this by working with a few carefully chosen individuals, with relevant lived experience, to help deliver our important message.
Please click the ‘Request school visit’ button below and complete all questions on the form. One of our team will review your request as soon as possible and get back to you. As we’re a small charity, there may be a delay before we can respond.
Thank you for your understanding.
Request school visitQuestions?
If you would like more information before completing the form, please email [email protected]
An emotional, thought provoking and inspiring talk on the dangers of homophobia within religion.
Hathershaw College, Oldham
As a teacher you often find yourself telling somebody else’s story. You deliver messages that, no matter how strongly you believe them, are other people’s.
You recount other people’s lives, dreams, disasters, hopes and ambitions in the hope that you can in turn inspire, educate or motivate your students. There is however no substitute for hearing the story from the person themselves. When the story is that of Matthew Ogston and Nazim Mahmood this is even more so the case.
By encapsulating our students with the tragic yet inspiring story of their love, Matthew got over his message much better than any teacher ever could. When you have students in absolute silence, engrossed in Matthew’s message, you know that this story is one which has to be told. By the end of the session even the most hardened sixteen year old was deep in thought and many others were in tears. I have sat through many a talk from visiting speakers; none have had the impact that Matthew had when he visited Hathershaw.
I hope he can visit again in the future and keep us up-to-date with his vital crusade to ensure that all parents love their children despite their sexuality.