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Love your birthmark - it makes you special
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| Mark of approval Beverley Sky is proud of her birthmark |
BEVERLEY Sky is truly inspirational.
Most of us would want to cover up if we had a scar, burn or birthmark but Beverley couldn't be more resolute: "Be proud of your scars, not ashamed", she said.
The Echo last spoke to Beverley, 40, two years ago after she set up www.loveyourmark.com to help people come to terms with their birthmarks.
Since, Beverley has become a national leader on the subject, regularly app-
earing on TV and offering advice to others as a confidence coach.
May is National Birth-
mark Month, and Beverley will be on a new Trinny and Susannah show, the Great British Body, which encourages people to celebrate their uniqueness.
She said: "There are people on the programme who are really different, a man who was probably one of the tallest in the world, a man with cranio-facial differences and Alison Lapper, the artist who has no limbs because she has suffered the effects of Thalidomide and paints with her mouth."
So how did Beverley learn to cope with her birthmark?
She threw her make-up away to make her feel more comfortable in her skin. She would never choose to have her birthmark removed.
"I would never have surgery," she said. "If you offered me a million pounds I'd never get rid of my birthmark. You don't have to look like supermodels. You can have scars and burns.
"We should be saying if you've suffered an accident you should be proud of your scars, not ashamed.
"The magazines are showing too many supermodels, causing us to be very insecure."
Beverley's website has been a huge success. It is full of inspirational stories and Beverley has received positive feedback from countries around the world, including Tunisia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Canada and the United States, from people who it has helped accept their birthmarks.
"I'm trying to help people accept themselves," she said. "A lot of children are worrying so much about their looks and getting carried away and having plastic surgery and being quite vain.
"We are forgetting that it's what's inside that counts.
"It helps doing a lot of TV and radio. People seem to like the message."
Beverley, who lives in Westcliff, is now a confidence coach and regularly speaks in schools, but only came into the job after chronic back pain forced her out of working in the City.
She said: "I had a skiing accident and eventually my bad back forced me out of the office.
"It's one of those cases where you think it's the worst thing in the world. I had to lose my job and go on sickness benefit. They thought I might be disabled.
"I had been off work a few weeks when I saw a BBC programme was going to be on about birthmarks. I was really excited because I had never seen anyone in my life with a birthmark.
"But when it came on it was so depressing. I thought everyone was going to be happy like me.
"I found that studies show people with birthmarks have no confidence and self esteem. I thought I need to do something about this."
Beverley said the key is to ignore negative comments. "We can't keep running off and changing ourselves because of bullying".
She also wants more people with birthmarks to be seen on television so people come to understand.
She said: "It's really quite strange that complete strangers can come up and ask what is wrong with your face. I think it's rude, but I don't let it get to me."
Beverley had been covering her birthmark up with make up since she was 11 following a comment at school. But she has now thrown it away and is proud to accept her mark.
"Just before I left the City I threw my make up away," she said. "I couldn't be bothered with it. Prior to that I thought people wouldn't like it if I have a birthmark on show. But I heard a comment from somebody about the natural look and it really inspired me.
"It's sad that a lot of people have a scar on their arm and wear long sleeves all summer. There are people who have got these things on their faces and they are OK."
Beverley's site can be accessed at www.loveyourmark.com
8:23pm Thursday 15th May 2008
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