Jane, 60, Surrey

I was facially scarred by a bad fall when horseriding when I was 12. I was bullied badly at school because of this and lost all self-confidence and could not for one moment understand why the boys who asked me out even bothered. Even my mother said I was ugly. I grew my hair long when I left school, "curtains" each side of my face and a long fringe almost down over my eyes. By some miracle I married, and still cannot understand why my husband chose a disfigured woman rather than a pretty one - and that's after 38 years. While I was living in Scotland I had a fit one night whilst sitting in front of the fire, and rolled forward onto the hot coals. By the Grace of God I recieved excellent treatment and my face healed beautifully, apart from another scar on my forehead. My skin is still very red on my cheeks, and I get very sick of people laughing and saying "You ought to take more water with it !!!" I never use alcohol but the ever-present redness is invariably put down to drinking. It is made worse by hot weather and/or embarassment. Even, one day when I fell badly on uneven pavement in town, a policeman who was nearby who came to help me get up made a loud comment (with a nice cheerful smile) that I looked as if I had spent long enough in the pub today and should go home. With ignorant, cruel people like this around, at all levels,HOW can I face going out - I stay indoors more and more these days, and rarely go out without my husband. I hope from my heart that Changing Faces will be able to educate people and take away the stigma.

Philomena , 15, Birmingham

Well I have scars and a physical disability, don't stop me from doing anything. =).. It doesn't matter what you look like as a person to be honest, its who you are that matters.. Agree too this? Does any body here seen the bio oil advert? if so I think all of people should make a complaint because the people on there have no scars at all an it really does make me soo angry, I don't about you people but hu agree's?? WE SHOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS ADVERTISEMENT ON T.V BECAUSE IT CAN MAKE PEOPLES CONFIDENCE GO DOWN HILL!!

Jaclyn, 31

Glad to find support here! I was born with a unique facial deformity and it's gotten to the point where I've been barked at and had camera phone pictures taken while out. I'm a mom with 3 children and I worry about what living like this does to my spirit and to theres.

Hayley, 25, Leeds

My daughter Kaitlyn is 5months old and was born with a port wine stain on eye lid and forehead, I saw Max from the new changing faces campaign on this morning and it this is how i came to find this website.Max was inprirational! Kaitlyn has been offered pulsed laser treatment from 1yr old which me and her dad are seriously considering. I wonderd if anyone had experienced laser treatment for this and had any experiences they wished to share? I am very anxious about the whole thing especially about her being put to sleep for each treatment - would love to hear your advice / comments. Thanks

Elsa, 39, New York City

Comment You amazing everytime. Changing Faces has made aggressive moves to tackle facial difference. I am so proud of your work. Please join with New York City we need organization like your down here.

Kathleen, 53, Kent

.... to continue. I wanted to say that most people don't comment or notice my disfigurement immediately and those that do are merely concerned and very kind. I think it has made me a better and stronger person.

Kathleen, 53, Kent

I have a venous malformation in my left cheek. It appeared when I was 37 years old. Before then there was no sign of it. I woke up one morning and one side of my face was very swollen. The doctor treated me for an abcess. The Maxillo Facial Unit at the local hospital told me I needed a biopsy as they thought I had cancer. Nobody seemed to know what the problem was. I was referred to a hospital in London and it was then discovered that I had a venous malformation. I had never heard of it before. For the past 15 years I have undergone several embolisations which did help to control t

Kathleen, 53, Kent

I have a venous malformation in my left cheek. It appeared when I was 37 years old. Before then there was no sign of it. I woke up one morning and one side of my face was very swollen. The doctor treated me for an abcess. The Maxillo Facial Unit at the local hospital told me I needed a biopsy as they thought I had cancer. Nobody seemed to know what the problem was. I was referred to a hospital in London and it was then discovered that I had a venous malformation. I had never heard of it before. For the past 15 years I have undergone several embolisations which did help to control t

Amanda, Ag, Shropshire

My lovely daughter, born with a cleft, has recently graduated from a London drama school where she was made painfully aware of how her looks were not 'conventional' by her fellow students. Getting work in TV and theatre is proving to be a huge challenge as your 'look' is what gets you the part - talent seems to be very much a secondary consideration. I hope Mr Partridge appearance on Channel 5 news helps to challenge and change attitudes in both the creative/media industry and society in general. Well done to him for his efforts! It's a great campaign.

gemma, 27, berwick upon tweed

i was involved in a car accident at the age of 15 the result was a scar running down the left side of my face.the side of my face had to be built back together by knitting the muscles back together with wire.at 15 this is was not wat i had planned for..people staring n whispering,u can either wallow in it or have the "grin n bare it" attitude i chose the latter...my scar will never go away bt ive had to jst come to terms with this.

Lainey, 44, County Durham

Comment I was involved in a car accident when I was 17 and have been left with a scar running down the right hand side of my face, although this was not life threatening at 17 it was the end of the world for me. Now 27 years later it is part of me, but can still cause lack of confidence when going into unfamiliar situations.

lyn, 59, bath

ive read some of your letters , the one from stephen london , i have a portwine birhmark on my face and iam suffering a bit at the moment , i have been ok till now , i was going to have laser treatment 10years ago but changed my mind , now it is going lumby and i do not have the option to have it done now as they only deal with children [ which is great ] as that was not possible when i was a child, iam also married [ 39years] and have two grown up childern . but there are days when i do find it hard .

Yvonne Chapman, 38, County Durham

Over 2 yrs ago i found a lump on the side of my face and went to see my doctor about it who then sent me to see a specialist. Various tests were done but nothing could be found so i asked for a second opinion and was seen by another consultant. During this time i noticed my face seemed to be changing aswell as the lump was growing bigger and it was explained to me that the tumor i had was pressing down on the facial nerve causing the palsy. It was later diagnosed as Cancer of the parotid gland but by this time there was too much damage done to the facial nerve so i had to have it removed. I had a radical parodectomy and a radical neck dissection. All that was just words to me until i had the surgery and seen what i then looked like. My appearance has always been important to me but on seeing how different i looked i was devestated by the change. on november 08 i had my surgery followed by an intense course of radiotherapy in the february 09. This has got to be the blackest part of my life as i was really ill during this time. I am due for facial reconstrution in the next coming months. I realise i will never look as i did before and this is something i havent completely come to terms with but i know that with the love and support of my family i will eventually grow in confidence and except what life has dealt me. I dont have any discrimations about anyone who has facial disfigrments or anyone with any disability. i think the attitude of many is of pure ignorance but society has always put a great emphasis on how people should look. I now consider myself different and being different puts me in a catagory all of my own. People dont look at me the same way as they used too.. instead i see Staring or looks of sympathy and i don't appreciate either. I see photos of others including children who have facial disfigerments.. much worse than my own and it makes me feel shame for grumbling at my own problems but i also rationalise that this has been a huge change in my life and i need time to adapt. The changes to me are big ones.. My left side of my face has totally dropped leaving the symatry of my face uneven. My left eye buldges and cannot close and i have a huge void in my neck where they had to take away lymph nodes to remove cancer. I dont want to seem like i am woe is me when i know there are people out there in worse situations and are dealing with it but i just haven't got to that stage in my life but im sure i will. I would love to go to the support groups that has been referred to me but my confidence is at an all time low and even though these people have gone through cancer too and understand the hardships i just dont feel i could be honest because i wouldn't want to come across as a martyr. I would just like to point out that i am a very independant woman with a very stubborn streak so i guess that doesn't help my cause :)

Stephen, 41, London

I was born with a port wine stain on one side of my face. It was not the most severe port wine stain that i have seen and was not always noticable in certain lights. This made it much harder for me to deal with as I never knew when someone was going to notice it. I could have been friends for someone for years before they suddenly commented "What have you done to your face". This was very hard to dela with and in a way I was always expecting this comment and was always on edge. I decided to make sure people kne about it by bringing inot conversation. This meant that at the time that they did notice they would realise that I had mentioned it and I did not have to explain. I went to changing faces for some one -one councilling which helped me deal with situaitons such as this and was extremely helpful. I now want to do more to help people with simiar/ more extreme issues then I have mentioned. There is so much I can do. By the way I am happlily married with 4 children.

Esther, 41, London

Having suffered major facial injuries in an accident which are miracuously unnoticeable to those that have known me for years I now look past facial disfigurements to try and view the person inside. I didn't change, I'm still me, a wife, mother, sister, friend, colleague.

David, 49, Essex UK

Surgery for mouth cancer12/07-all good to date (now 11/08)

Judith, 62, France

I was born with a facial deformity.My mother told me from an early age that anyone who commented on another persons appearance was very rude and badly brought up.She would tell me that I had wonderful long legs and lovely hair which helped my confidence.In my early teens a friend told me that I had a very nice personality and that my appearance didn't matter at all.From that moment I decided to forget about my face and concentrate on being the sort of person that people would like to be with.It certainly worked as I have many, many friends,never lacked for boyfriends and am married with a son and grandchild.

Celeste, 32, London

I just cannot understand sometimes how people can make fun of those with a disfigugurement and to taunt them. I bet those same people would be devasted to be accused of rasicm or bullying. Yet to them to discriminate someone becuase of how they look is acceptable. I do not have a disfigurement. I was about to write that I know no-one with one then after some thought realised I work with two women who both have a facial disfigurement. But they are not defined by it. they are who they are. I personally envy them both as I find them equally attractive and confident and I would love to have some of the qualities they have!

Colin, 46, Woking

Experience I have a partial palsy, after remarkable surgery 16 years ago to remove a tumour from my facial nerve and regraft the nerve. I had a full palsy on one side of my face for a year, until the facial nerve began to recover. I married during that year. It only occurred to me afterwards that the way I looked might have been a reason for delaying the wedding. I have no problem with people’s visible reactions to my relatively minor disfigurement. In fact most people do not seem to consciously notice my facial asymmetry, which leaves me worrying whether they misunderstand my facial expressions. I suspect that unconscious reactions to facial asymmetry are strongly negative. It reassures me, and appeals to my sense of mischief, when an occasional child comments to me or their parent that my face looks odd. My facial neuroma was misdiagnosed as hearing loss caused by otosclerosis for several years, because health professionals either did not notice my facial asymmetry, or did not realise its relevance. Sometimes, when I see relatively young people with possible partial palsies, I wonder whether they are aware of the potential medical significance of their facial asymmetry.

Simon Barnett, 46, Derbyshire

I have had a harelip and cleft palate and all its attendant problems which has made me slightly less than bilaterally symmentrical. My parents treated me like anyone else for the most part and I was never sheltered from other people. Strangely I wasn't bullied much at school which seems quite strange compared to today.For all of you people out there who are suffering from some sort of facial disfigurement it is possible to have a reasonable life in spite of it as I have an MSc and spent over 10 years working as a teacher in Africa. It might be important to remember, if you haven't worked it out, that when the normal (haha) people treat you badly its because there is something inside them that is fundamentally wrong so while they may think they can fool everyone by paying attention to the outward appearance their ugliness shines from within. Having this disfigurement does get tiring as you have to deal with the attitudes and behaviour of so many unpleasant people in this country who are just looking for someone to get at to make themselves feel better about their lives. Even if they don't mention the facial difference they can show by the words and actions how they feel. Funnily enough I don't seem to be able to be nasty in the same way unless seriously provoked which begs the question - Who is the better person?

Will, 62, Alba

Experience: My mother always said that I was born with rose coloured corneas (in the figurative sense) I have always believed that ugly and beautiful are words which only have meaning when coupled with understanding. Ugly can be conveyed by cruel and callous remarks or a disdainful look, whilst beauty invariably is conveyed by a spontaneous laugh, a joyous expression or by uplifting conversation or mellifluous words. In my early youth (about 14) I encountered a lady whose face was terribly scarred by a truly dreadful disease. The scars were usually well concealed by bandages for public outings but as a grocer’s errand boy I encountered the victim of this terrible affliction unawares. I entered her house and unpacked her groceries and all the while complained about my miser of a boss who always overloaded my delivery bike, she tipped me a silver sixpence and did so every week thereafter but I never saw her face again. I have not the slightest doubt that her state was tragic and must have been a source of unhappiness to her but I did not consider her to be ugly, and it has taken me 48 years to mention it. About three years later whilst working as a student in a hospital I happened to see a group of young children being escorted through the grounds. Amongst these was a young girl whose face had been obviously dreadfully burned this brief encounter still remains fixed in my mind because when I looked at her eyes she conveyed the most beautiful expression I had ever seen in my short life, and I received thereby an understanding of the hackneyed phrase “the eyes are a window to the soul”. So the eyes be they open or closed may convey sadness or bitterness or anger or other negative emotions but also beauty and grace. Perhaps those who cannot see this are emotionally blind?

RP, 36, London

Afters years of suffering from a facial skin condition I know all to well what it is like to be treated differently. After all these years, living in London and being surrounded by people of the 'normal' nature I have concluded one simple and empowering emotion: you are what you are on the inside. Through positive thinking, embracing the world and the happiness that shines from it, anyone and everyone can turn their own minds into a feeling of contentment whether disfigured or not. Beauty can be seen if one has the eyes to see it. It is all around us, and unless we give in to the surface pressures from the likes of the media and social upbringing's; we will continue to see the beauty that there is. People are beautiful, and we are the apex of creation. We choose to live our lives from the decisions we make in our minds. Our minds, the one thing we all own and possess of which we have total dominion over. That decision making process is all that is takes for one to feel comfortable in the presence of others, others who may not be 'perfect' as they would like them to be. I admire those who face challenges, through disfigurement or other physical and mental struggles. However if we give in we have lost, and life is not for loosing, it is for living. I hope this message brings one of positivity. I could write and write from my thoughts, but my goal is clear: face the world no matter what you have on the outside, and as the saying goes, you attract what you feel. Stay positive and you will see the good in many people. Yes, hurdles will be required to cross, but these are within you, they are internal and not on the outside world. people may feel uncomfortable in your presence but let those emotions pass and remain positive and you will witness that there are many who will welcome you into their lives. Our parents gave birth to us, make them proud regardless of what you have on your face, body or skin. I would like to thank the organisers who made this site possible. Warm wishes. RP

RP, 36, London

Afters years of suffering from a facial skin condition I know all to well what it is like to be treated differently. After all these years, living in London and being surrounded by people of the 'normal' nature I have concluded one simple and empowering emotion: you are what you are on the inside. Through positive thinking, embracing the world and the happiness that shines from it, anyone and everyone can turn their own minds into a feeling of contentment whether disfigured or not. Beauty can be seen if one has the eyes to see it. It is all around us, and unless we give in to the surface pressures from the likes of the media and social upbringing's; we will continue to see the beauty that there is. People are beautiful, and we are the apex of creation. We choose to live our lives from the decisions we make in our minds. Our minds, the one thing we all own and possess of which we have total dominion over. That decision making process is all that is takes for one to feel comfortable in the presence of others, others who may not be 'perfect' as they would like them to be. I admire those who face challenges, through disfigurement or other physical and mental struggles. However if we give in we have lost, and life is not for loosing, it is for living. I hope this message brings one of positivity. I could write and write from my thoughts, but my goal is clear: face the world no matter what you have on the outside, and as the saying goes, you attract what you feel. Stay positive and you will see the good in many people. Yes, hurdles will be required to cross, but these are within you, they are internal and not on the outside world. people may feel uncomfortable in your presence but let those emotions pass and remain positive and you will witness that there are many who will welcome you into their lives. Our parents gave birth to us, make them proud regardless of what you have on your face, body or skin. I would like to thank the organisers who made this site possible. Warm wishes. RP

Wenona and Triniti, 45, UK

We know people with facial differences and feel it is very important to make everybody realise we could have all been born with or had a disfigurement through an accident. If we did have a disfigurement, we know it would hurt us if people were not kind, and so think it is important to support this campaign to educate the world

Evan, 21, Michigan, US

I think this campaign is incredible. Discrimination is far too common to be ignored and people everywhere need to be reminded. They need to know that the even the smallest thought or action can have a massive impact on anyone around them. Thank you for standing up and I too wish you all the success!!

John, 33, London

I'm one of those people who doesn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. In my experience, people who experience hostility based on their appearance have a lot more going on in their heads, a lot more to say and a much greater sense of empathy for fellow human beings. In these times where people like to 'brand' themselves and follow the crowd, I think that counts for a lot.

saygin, 28, istanbul

Whenever i see someone with a facial disfigurement ,i act as normally ,i don't take my eyes away or i do not directly stare .I just do what i have to do , i hope those people who stares learns something from that. I hope you integrate much more with the society and people give up their prejudice on them. God bless all of you.

Natalie, 20, Edinburgh

Having been born with a severe facial Cystic Hygroma I have always had a facial disfigurement in some form. It has ranged from being very swollen,red and irritated(extremely noticable) to what it is today(a hollow space where my cheeks fatty tissue should be). Don't get me wrong growing up with a facial disfigurement is not easy, infact it can be extremely difficult but at the end of it all it only makes the person and their family stronger. My mum always brought me up in an open way, never kept me from being exposed to the public so from a very young age I soon got wise to all the ignorant, uneducated people out there. Anyone that passes comment on disfigurement in any way obviously has their own personal insecurities. My word of advice to any parents that have a young child with a facial disfigurement is do not hide them away, one day they are going to have to be in the public eye so the sooner that day comes the better.It thanks to my mum that I have managed to combate people like school bullies and become the young women I am today. Changing Faces is a very worth while charity and everybody should give it their full support!! x x

Hannah, 16, Location

Experience i have a facial disfiurgment and although it is small it helps me treat other people who have large disfurgments as equal! this is a wonderful campaign and i wish it all the success in the world!

Andrew Hague, 35, Wokingham

A friends child who I baby sit for regulay has a facial palsy, this doesn't stop her being a wonderful kid

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