A Beyond Radio presenter who lost an eye to cancer has spoken about the challenges of living with a visible difference at Halloween.
John Hewson is a campaigner for the 'Changing Faces' charity - an organisation that helps raise awareness for those living with a visible difference.
After losing his eye to cancer three years ago, John had orbital exenteration surgery and now has a piece of skin covering his right eye socket.
"It's been tough adapting to the new normal and part of that is learning to live with a visible difference and I'm not the only one," he said, speaking on his 'Waterside Weekly' show on Beyond Radio.
"One in five people in the UK identify as having a visible difference or to use the outdated term, disfigurement. Half of those people have experienced hostile behaviour as a result."
John was joined by guest, and fellow 'Changing Faces' campaigner, Oliver Bromley, to talk about their experiences of having a visible difference - particularly at Halloween, on 'Waterside Weekly' last Saturday.
LISTEN to John Hewson and Oliver Bromley talking about living with a visible difference
"This issue is very close to my heart and at this time of year, with Halloween right around the corner, we often see fake scars and wounds as part of Halloween costumes," said John.
"This can make it a difficult time of year for those living with visible differences.
"It's common to receive stares. At this time of year I'm always a little bit more cautious because I had an incident about two years ago when I was getting onto a bus, and I heard some young children shouting 'the scary Halloween man is coming up the stairs'. Sadly their parents didn't really do anything to discourage it.
"It's all about education and raising awareness that, that kind of behaviour, while it can happen with kids, it certainly shouldn't happen with adults, and we need to look at how we react to people who look a little bit different.
"Let's be a little more aware of how we are using Halloween costumes. Be a little more inclusive and try not to play into this tired trope that scars and wounds are associated with evil."
Oliver has a condition called neurofibromatosis. He decided to become a visible differences campaigner after being asked to leave a restaurant where he'd been told he was "scary-looking".
"I was quite hurt," he said.
"I then took a longer view and I decided to teach the world about neurofibromatosis.
"It's not easy, and I am only human at the end of the day. People are often acting from a place of ignorance and it's our job to educate them.
"I've had a terrible time and I don't think it's funny or fun, when I see people wearing scars.
"There are people who cannot put the Halloween mask in the cupboard for the next year. This is their reality.
"I'm not a bad person just because I look different. Let's have more open conversations about the way we look. Let's remove the stigma."
Changing Faces is calling on supporters to make a pledge to join them in encouraging a positive shift in awareness and representation of visible difference - and for the visibly different to be truly seen as the standout, incredible humans they really are.
Changing Faces has also called out the TV and film industries for continuing to use visible difference as a sign of evil and villainy, highlighting how this can have a negative impact on the visible difference community, especially around Halloween.
They said the damaging stereotype is often seen in Halloween costumes, not only through the characters people dress as – e.g. Joker and Freddy Krueger – but also in the fake scars, burns and other prosthetics sold in shops.
They say it is wrong that that people’s conditions are used to play dress up, particularly when the aim is to look “scary”.
Research commissioned by Changing Faces found that almost a quarter of people surveyed had seen a character with a visible difference portrayed as a villain, while only 17 per cent had seen one as a hero (Focaldata 2024).
The charity is asking casting agents to do their bit towards positive change by diversifying the actors they hire and breaking down stereotypes in the media.
Listen to Waterside Weekly with John Hewson every Saturday at 5pm on Beyond Radio.
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