When they said you could just drop-in to Day Hospice it was really nice to know it was there in the background.
You can say things in the Day Hospice that you cannot say to friends. You can come if you feel low. There is an acceptance, a gentle acceptance of where you are at that time. It feels like a really important back-up.
When I first started coming last year I was thinking ‘Go to a hospice? No way!’ At the time I was teaching yoga and doing all sorts, but over time I have come to value its presence. It’s not serious, you can have a laugh. It can be as light hearted as you want. I think it’s really valuable.
I think for me it is the support aspect. I’m not a great one for saying ‘I’m on this drug or this has happened’; I like to take each day as it comes. I have an active social life. I have been to a group before where everybody has been quite depressed and you absorb it and that’s not for me, and you don’t have that here. There are so many different things you can do and there are other like-minded people.
When I came last year I did quite a bit in the art room and I keep saying I am going to do more. I do lots of crafty things at home. In fact I am in the middle of upholstering a chair.