About 14 years ago, I was very badly bullied from 1st to 3rd year in secondary school, all for the crime of being a gay in an all boys school. The bullying was carried out mainly by one guy who had an obsession with me and my sexuality. I always think he’d be great at marketing, as he was so creative with the ways he’d bully me each day – he put a lot of thought into it. One day in 3rd year, he attempted to pass a survey around my class asking the question ‘How Gay Is James?’ – ruled beautifully and written with different coloured pens. One of the guys in my class stopped him passing it around. It was the first time someone had ever stood up for me and (as dramatic as it sounds) it completely changed my perspective on life. It took one person to break me for those three years, and just one person to make me, in that one act of kindness. Never underestimate the simplicity of kind gestures. Be nice to absolutely everyone you come across and you could, albeit unknowingly, take them out of a dark place.

100 Voices was published in the Hot Press Mental Health Special in conjunction with Lyons Tea and Pieta House as part of the Now We're Talking Campaign. For more please visit hotpress.com/now-were-talking/