Heather's Hope Story

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit Heather hard, before she joined the Hope Programme for Long-term conditions. She was working in a bank and shielding with her immune-compromised daughter, when her employer cut her hours. 

Then, when her daughter took a turn for the worse, Heather had to take unpaid carers leave. “I’ve worked in Customer Services my whole adult life” Heather explains “but I lost all that social contact, not being able to chat to different people”. As time went on, it got worse “I felt like I was sliding down a hill. I knew I needed to pull myself back up. I was sad and angry with life.”  Having signed up for the Hope Programme, Heather was pleased that the organisers kept in touch before it started. “I wasn’t just strung out waiting on my own – there was a nice two-way conversation”.

Heather found the Hope Programme very helpful and, since finishing it, has carried on using several of the techniques that she learned. The positive self-talk section has shown Heather how to be kinder to herself. “I phrase things slightly differently and think about myself differently” she says. “I question things in my mind that I say to myself. It’s helped me when I’m facing with a problem, I deal with the situation better now.”

The mindfulness section is another take-away from the course that Heather is still using. “I have to practice it regularly, but it’s now part of my routine. When I’m having a real stress-out, it really helps!”

But Heather found the Gratitude element of the Hope Programme so beneficial that she has even passed it onto a student group that she is part of, to help them with their mental health. “It’s helped me to recognise that the small things in life are important as well. I get out of bed, the sun’s out. Things that I wouldn’t otherwise think of.” Heather still does the gratitude activity every day.

Since finishing the programme, Heather has felt that she’s in a better position. Her daughter has improved and she is working again. But Hope has played a part in this improvement: “Yeah, I feel like Hope gave me some Hope and control back over my life”.