Matthew's Story

To mark the close of Black History Month 2024, on 31st October Journey came together to hear Matthew's inspiring story.

Matthew knew very little about half of his heritage – believing his biological father was Jamaican. His life changed forever when he appeared on BBC’s ‘DNA Family Secrets’ in 2022. We heard about his journey of self-discovery and exploration of identity growing up in foster care, we watched the video of BBC's DNA Family Secrets first and then Joe from Journey asked Matthew a few questions to find out what happened after the programme was aired, watch the video of the Q&A here. Matthew didn't just discover the answers about his heritage he was searching for, he discovered a whole family he never knew he had.

Comments from attendees included:

"It was really emotional watching your documentary and hearing how this has impacted you."

"I love the show and watched it regularly. What i remember stood out for me from your story is that it highlighted the historical impact around colonialism, diaspora and how much mixed heritage is both misunderstood and fascinating"

"Thank you so much Matthew, incredible session!" 💗