My Testimony

Founder's Testimony

This is My Why. This is Flip The Script.

Charlene Price

Founder

Flip The Script isn’t just a name, it’s a lifeline. A second chance. A movement for young people who’ve been through the things I’ve survived: grooming, county lines, trauma, violence, and the crushing feeling that your story is already written and it’s only ever going one way. But I’m proof that it doesn’t have to be.

I didn’t grow up dreaming of being in survival mode but that’s exactly where life took me. Raised in chaos, surrounded by instability, I just wanted love. Safety. Family. That longing led me into dark places, and into the arms of people who took advantage of that vulnerability. Grooming doesn’t always look how people imagine. It can come dressed as love, disguised as protection, masked as attention. But it’s control. It’s manipulation. And once you're in, the world around you gets darker fast.

By my early twenties, I was deep in a lifestyle most people only see in music videos or movies except this wasn’t glamorous. It was grim. There were no champagne glasses or fast cars for me. Just sleepless nights, trap houses, fear, CSE risks, physical danger, and constant anxiety. I’ve chopped up food. I’ve watched people inject heroin right in front of me. I’ve slept in crack houses and lived in constant paranoia. I did it all under the illusion that I was in love that I was keeping him happy. That if I stayed loyal, it would all be worth it.

It wasn’t. In 2019, Police raided my home and arrested me for conspiracy to supply Class A. That was my wake-up call. In that police cell, I had to face the truth: love shouldn’t cost you your freedom. I could’ve lost my son. My future. My life. That’s when I chose to Flip The Script.

I used that time to heal. To learn. To rebuild. And eventually, to help others do the same. Because the truth is there are too many young people out there right now feeling how I once felt: lost, trapped, voiceless, disposable. But they’re not. They just need someone to show them they still have the pen in their hand. That their story isn’t finished.

Now I run Flip The Script CIC, a place built from pain, but fuelled by purpose.

We use storytelling in all its forms poetry, music, visual arts, media, spoken word, film to help young people express their truth, release their trauma, and take back control of their lives. Expression is healing. Creativity is power. Your story can save someone else's life and your own.

Through 1-to-1 mentoring, creative workshops, and consultancy for organizations working with at-risk youth, we provide support that’s rooted in real-life understanding not just theory. Because I’ve lived it. I’ve walked in those shoes. And I got out.

I’ve collaborated with local authorities, police, media outlets, youth charities, and schools to deliver meaningful programs, secure funding, and be the voice I wish I had when I was younger.

Now I stand as proof that

Your past doesn’t define your future.
That broken girls can grow into powerful women.
That lived experience is a qualification.
And that every young person deserves a chance to Flip The Script.