Rachel's Hope story

Rachel was working full-time in a demanding role as a primary school teacher when she caught Covid-19 in December 2020. At first, she had only quite mild symptoms, but, rather than feeling better as time went on, she kept getting worse.

“It was horrendous. I couldn’t work for so long”. She eventually went back to work on phased return in September 2021, but had to cut her hours.

The online format of the Hope Programme for Long Covid course suited Rachel well, as she could fit it in around work. “I could just do small manageable chunks. Five minutes at a time. I could go backwards and forwards over bits that I liked. It gave me the freedom of being able to explore a bit. The site itself is really easy to use!” Rachel also liked the fact that the organisers understood that not all of the course will suit everyone.

“I could just take what I need. If something’s not my cup of tea – that’s OK”.

Rachel found the positive thinking and gratitude activities the most helpful for her. “It sounds silly, but something so small can have a BIG impact” she explains. “When I’ve had a bad day – what good things can I see? And there are some!” As well as using Gratitude in her everyday life, Rachel even hopes to pass this simple but effective life-skill on “I might try to bring it into the classroom, to share it with the children. My Year Six (10-11 year olds) would understand it and I think it’s simple enough even for my Year One (5-6 year olds)”.

 But the best part of the Hope for Long Covid course for Rachel was the weekly Zoom cafes. “There was no pressure to join in, you didn’t have to put your camera or microphone on. You could just sit and watch. The facilitators were still really welcoming.” Rachel was pleased to find that there were other people like her, wanting to get back to work and get on with life. “That whole social aspect of Hope was fantastic. Being with other people who really understood the frustration. Being able to connect with them.”

But did she ever get as far as putting her camera on? “Yes, I did – they all eased me in but I was never pressured. So I was asking questions and joining in with the discussions by the end!”

Read about the course evaluation in our Insights blog.

Hope Programme courses are delivered part of Live well with Hope project, funded by NHS Charities Together, working in conjunction with University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire Charity.