What led to your introduction to Keighley Healthy Living?

For a good proportion of my life, I have believed I was never good enough and when I retired in 2008 I considered my working life from 16 through to 65 as having been simply a catalogue of failures. There has never been any aim, purpose or ambition to speak of and at a very early age, I never felt as though I ‘fitted in’ or really belonged anywhere. Periodic bouts of depression have been the norm and I never accepted that it was alright to ask for help. Everyone may well have their own personal difficulties and because I’ve lived in fear for most of my life it has resulted in much loneliness and isolation. Because of my low self-esteem and sense of inferiority, I developed a false façade that gives the impression that there’s nothing troubling me.

Not so long ago I ended up being referred by my GP to a psychotherapy department at a Bradford Hospital and I attended 37 sessions of this treatment. My GP also referred me to a social prescriber who made valiant attempts to counteract my low opinion of myself. Initially, there was no real progress even though I was made aware of the valuable work carried on at the KHL centre. On two occasions I stood outside the centre but was too afraid to enter. I still believed I wasn’t good enough or worthy of help and so the debilitating self-doubt persisted.

How did you find your first interaction with Keighley Healthy Living?

Even now, I do not know why I summoned up the gumption to make contact with KHL but one day I did succeed in going through that door and was received by the project manager. I didn’t know how to express my needs and soon realised I needed to emphasize that I was in fact seeking help.

Thankfully, on my first contact with KHL, I was treat with considerable kindness and I was introduced to some of the centre’s projects. I won’t deny that I still harbour doubts about my own worth, but it was refreshing to discover that there is a varied set of people who attend the centre, each with their own personal issues, which made me feel more comfortable.

What groups do you attend and what impact have they had on your life?

One particularly valuable asset of attending the KHL centre is that it has added more structure to my days and I have come to know some really pleasant people. The exercise classes I attend are all of benefit due to a degree of chronic pain emanating from past operations and deteriorating aspects of my ageing body.

The History Walks have been a wonderful and a useful eye-opener to where I now reside, the facilitators being founts of considerate knowledge, and the Gardening group is a microcosm of interesting folk and they have made me feel very welcome which is appreciated.

Attending the KHL centre has to date proved to be of value. The staff are so kind, from the moment one enters the door to the minute one leaves. Making the effort to get through that barrier of a door has enhanced my life in a number of ways. The low self-esteem won’t be eradicated easily and a lifetime of believing oneself to be simply not good enough isn’t going to disappear overnight. However, as my excellent social prescriber intimated, finding a purpose to do something to benefit oneself and maybe inadvertently help others as well, may lead to a more worthwhile and perhaps happier existence.