I became involved in the world of eating disorders when my daughter Saskia became ill with anorexia at the age of 16. When she became ill, I had no previous experience of mental health or eating disorders, and so, as a family, we were completely thrown into this world of anorexia without any idea of what massive challenges lay ahead.

After a long and difficult road, Saskia did recover, and on her recovery, I wanted to help others in similar situations, so I became a volunteer at the Stockport Eating Disorder service where Saskia had been treated, attending Parent Support Meetings, running chats and coffee mornings and doing one to ones. This then led onto me becoming an Echo Peer Coach working for BEAT, supporting parents on a one to one basis over a six month period.

Two years ago I qualified as a New Maudsley Approach Facilitator and have been running Skills Carers Courses over zoom alongside The Charlie Waller Trust Charity. After several requests from carers, I have now started to run the courses face to face.