Hope in the Heart specialises in providing bespoke guidance and support on a journey towards personal transformation. From those who feel their lives could be richer and more meaningful to those experiencing hardship, trauma and distress, we feel privileged to accompany individuals and groups on their unique route to recovery and greater authenticity, via hope, understanding and positive action

Hope in The Heart CIC was inspired by my own experiences of mental health and associated social issues, and the courage of the many remarkable individuals and groups I have worked with. This includes members of the community of Hiroshima and its Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombing) who were kind enough to share with me the key elements that enabled them to move beyond the devastation they experienced following the event that literally blew their world apart..
     The remarkable capacity of the human spirit to survive the worst of circumstances and become stronger as a result is illuminated in the renewal of Hiroshima, as well as the testimonies from the Nazi concentration camps, the millions who have survived poverty, torture and abuse......and the lives of ordinary people like you and me the world over.

Since my own experience as a Mental Health Service user over twenty years ago, I have been working to identify the most effective ways of transcending mental and emotional dis-ease, from general dissatisfaction to debilitating crisis, trauma or despair, in order that those affected may obtain tools to assist them not only to recover but to move on and create a life that is more proactive and fulfilling than it might have been without those challenges.

Personal exploration, study, training, and research collected from many sources internationally have revealed a collection of common factors that empower the journey from despair, through hope and beyond, towards what Maslow termed Self-Actualisation; a more authentic and proactive way of belonging in the wider world.

     My work with many different groups in the public, voluntary and community sectors  in private practice, and in Hiroshima has given birth to The AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation, a six-stage model of recovery to guide individuals and groups through the journey from a life of dissatisfaction or despair to one of meaning, hope and ultimate fulfilment.

The Hope in the Heart Collection

Hope in the Heart's pivotal resource is a unique collection of images created by individuals and communities to express "what hope looks like". Participants at our events are invited to view the collection and contribute their own image as a symbolic gesture of empathy, unity, communion and generosity, thereby acknowledging their place alongside their fellow human beings in the global community to which we all belong. See "images" page for further details.