Christo Hudson had always wanted to be a pilot, and spent 12 years doing the job he loved, until it all stopped overnight with the pandemic. He suffered anxiety and bouts of depression, unable to see a way forward. “My dream was stolen from me. I had been completely defined by the job I had. […]
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The most empowering work you can do, Christo Hudson
Helping people belong, Augustine Ihm
Augustine Ihm and his family were in and out of homeless shelters in Chicago through his childhood. Often alone and vulnerable, he was abused and the experience left him racked with shame and estranged from his mother when she didn’t protect him. He has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and uses mindfulness and his […]
Strictly Come Dancing star, Amy Dowden
Former champion dancer and Strictly personality Amy Dowden started suffering debilitating attacks on her health when she was 11, causing her to be in and out of hospital regularly. Eight years later, it was diagnosed as Crohn’s Disease. She went public about her Crohn’s to help raise awareness to the condition and to show other […]
From Soho to sheep farming, Zoe Colville
Zoe Colville was a hairdresser in Soho until she gave it all up to protect her mental health. Moving to the countryside, she and her partner Kriss started farming their own flock of sheep. Following the death of her father, she got therapy to deal with extreme anxiety and panic attacks. “There wasn’t a minute […]
Rapper, musician and mental health campaigner, Nick Brewer
Rapper and musician Nick Brewer has suffered anxiety since childhood. He found a lot of peace in reading, as well as being able to escape from his worries. When his father gave him a rap CD, it connected with him, and how he could tell his own story and make sense of his thoughts. “Writing […]
Barber and Suicide Campaigner, Tom Chapman
When a friend died by suicide, barber Tom Chapman realised he had to do something to try to encourage colleagues and clients to open up. He founded The Lions Barber Collective to raise awareness for suicide prevention. But the combination of the privacy of the barber’s chair and the personal relationships has provided a salvation […]
Celebrity fitness trainer, Tyrone Brennand
As a teenager and young adult, Ty Brennand wasn’t interested in academic lessons, but lived for art and sport. During his early days at art college, he got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Lacking discipline and proper role models, he fell deeper and deeper into a dark hole until he felt there was no […]
Don’t suffer in silence, Jack Fowler & Marcus Tisson
Love Island star and mental health campaigner Jack Fowler and Don’t Suffer In Silence co-founder Marcus Tisson discuss the pressure to “man up” and how they want to open up discussion over mental health issues and suicide after Marcus lost his mother.
Journalist and Author of The Shift, Sam Baker
Journalist and author Sam Baker noticed an escalation in her anxiety, crashes in self-confidence, and depression in her 40s. “I felt like I had lost sight of myself.” When she was researching her book, The Shift, she realised those feelings weren’t uncommon in women – and they weren’t being discussed. Midway through HRT, she was […]
Forgiveness brings us peace, Swati Dlamini
Swati Dlamini, granddaughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, vowed to carry her grandparents’ work and values with her through her life. “One of the great lessons I learned from my grandfather was one of forgiveness. Forgiveness is for me to have peace, and not being imprisoned by what others have done.” During the pandemic, she […]
Loving the skin you’re in, Eryca Freemantle
As a child, Eryca Freemantle was bullied at school for being different, and remembers the constant feeling of heaviness and sadness. Home was her safe space. But when a life-changing accident left her with serious facial scarring from burns, those memories of childhood bullying came back. After suffering a breakdown, having suicidal thoughts and finally […]
International Music Conductor, Charles Hazlewood
Conductor Charles Hazlewood created the Paraorchestra for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, as a way to enable virtuoso disabled magicians to share their musical gifts. But music has played a greater role than that in Charles’ life: it has helped through the recovery from deep-buried sexual abuse when he was young. “The trauma that […]