Impact of Our Work
Our 2025 Impact Report is due to be released shortly. Please see our 2024 Impact Report and a report about our Healthy Ageing sessions in the meantime.
Testimonials
In their own words, older adults share what it was like to take part in one of our programmes and how the support has made a difference.
HARRY'S STORY
Harry (75) is a full-time carer who has supported his wife, who lives at home with dementia, for over thirteen years. After noticing his own mental health and stress levels worsening, Harry decided to try something new for himself and joined our 6 week online Mindfulness for Older Adults course, looking for a more holistic way to support his wellbeing. Hear from Harry below:
AUDREY'S STORY
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When 90-year-old Audrey joined the Blood Pressure Balance Course, she had recently become wheelchair-bound following a period of declining mobility. Widowed and living alone, she was also navigating a new diagnosis of hypertension. Although prescribed medication, Audrey felt strongly that she wanted to explore holistic and non-pharmaceutical approaches. She described feeling "slower and not myself" and feared that losing her mobility would mean losing her independence.
Audrey found The Mindful Life Group’s six-week Blood Pressure Balance course for adults over 65’s through a local community newsletter. She chose to join because it offered a supportive environment with an emphasis on mindfulness and peer connection without pressure to take medication. From the first session Audrey engaged fully by actively participating in group discussions and embracing the weekly mindfulness practices.​
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Midway through the course, Audrey emailed to say she had "got her mojo back" and was "feeling so much better than when she started". She reported feeling calmer during moments of stress.
​Audrey attended the session designed to help participants set up their own peer-led mindfulness groups and the focus group. She was motivated to help others access what she had gained and offered to contact several local community organisations to spread the word about The Mindful Life Group and the courses available.
Audrey continues to practise mindfulness daily and uses the breathing exercises to calm any anxiety. When asked whether she enjoyed the course, her response was immediate:
"I enjoyed the course and found it very beneficial. I'm very glad I
joined the group; I looked forward to it every week.”
LINDA'S STORY
Before joining the Better Sleep Course, Linda had been struggling with ongoing sleep difficulties that were starting to affect her confidence and wellbeing. Some nights, she described feeling ‘anxious before bedtime’, worried that she wouldn’t sleep. Over time, this created a cycle many people recognise: the more you worry about sleep, the harder it is to relax.
Linda tried seeking help from her GP. He suggested she attend the course, and his personal recommendation reassured Linda that she might benefit from it. She made the move from ‘coping’ to actively trying something structured and supportive.
Over six weeks, Linda joined a small online group and was guided through practical, evidence-based sleep strategies. The course focused on:
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Understanding common sleep patterns and what’s normal as we age
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Building a ‘toolkit’ of techniques to use at night and during the day
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Learning skills to reduce bedtime anxiety and calm the body
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Establishing helpful routines and sleep hygiene habits
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Normalising the experience through group discussion and peer support
A key part of Linda’s experience was learning to use her breathing in a way that felt doable and flexible. Rather than aiming for ‘perfect sleep,’ the course helped her focus on practical steps she could control.
For Linda, one of the most powerful parts wasn’t just the content - it was realising she wasn’t alone.
She found it reassuring to hear other people describe similar struggles, and to learn that different strategies worked for different people. That sense of shared experience reduced shame and self-blame, replacing it with encouragement and motivation to keep trying.
After the course, Linda described feeling “less stressed day-to-day” and more able to manage anxious moments - not only at night, but in everyday life too.