Respect Yourself is a registered UK charity, helping young people make their own decisions using others’ past experience and wisdom.

Respect Yourself was born when founder Claire Burke was horrified to hear her half-brother – 20 years her junior – had been told he didn’t need road tax to ride his new motorbike.

Frantic to get the message to him that this was untrue, and knowing the serious repercussions if he was caught, Claire knew she had to reach him, but needed to think from a young person’s perspective to make sure he took notice. The result was a text conversation in which Claire explained the consequences, and her brother decided not to ride until he’d gotten his road tax. He acted on the new information to come to a different, more positive, conclusion, without feeling he was being ‘preached’ to, or being given advice when it wasn’t wanted.

From this initial idea, Respect Yourself emerged in September 2011 as a daily text message service for young people aged 13-25, sharing the wisdom we gain through life in an accessible format – information which has a positive impact on the defining choices at a critical time in life.

If you had the chance, what would you tell your younger self?

Respect Yourself is an independent organisation and, as well as creating daily messages, works in partnership with other UK charities and organisations to help get their important messages out to the younger generation to make a real impact in our lives, our communities and our world.