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"I want to help people be happy, and my work, as both a healer and tour guide, is all about looking after others. That's what I’m happy doing. I've been a healer for 30 years, and my parents and grandparents were very involved in healing too. But of course I had to stop doing that face-to-face, or taking tourists on river cruises and London tours, when the pandemic happened. I was always travelling out there and busy, and suddenly I was thrown into a retirement that wasn't planned and I didn't want. That was the toughest thing, not being out there amongst people, and there's only so many times you can clean out a cupboard. So I started volunteering at the Lane End medical centre, helping with the vaccine rollout - just queue control and anything else that was needed. I've also been helping to organise clean-ups of the rivers and parks with Thames 21 and Friends of Silkstream, and doing weapons sweeps with the Safer Neighbourhood Team for many years, so I carried on doing those. It's very satisfying when you see the huge mountains of rubbish everyone's collected at the end. You name it, we’ve found it.
"There was so much fear being put out there. On the news that's all we heard. But I refused to go into a state of fear because that depresses your immune system quicker than anything. I've been meditating for many, many years, I taught it at one time as well, and that did help keep me calm. Now I'm also volunteering at the RAF Museum - I can walk there in 20 minutes - as a Visitor Experience Assistant. You’re meeting people as they come in and making sure they use the hand gel and are wearing their face masks, and there are a lot of interactive things, so you’re spraying and cleaning everywhere all the time. I had to do an online health and safety test first. You have to get at least 60% to qualify, and I got 100% and was sent a certificate, which was hilarious. I always like to be doing something and I’m so much happier if I’m helping too."
"I want to help people be happy, and my work, as both a healer and tour guide, is all about looking after others. That's what I’m happy doing. I've been a healer for 30 years, and my parents and grandparents were very involved in healing too. But of course I had to stop doing that face-to-face, or taking tourists on river cruises and London tours, when the pandemic happened. I was always travelling out there and busy, and suddenly I was thrown into a retirement that wasn't planned and I didn't want. That was the toughest thing, not being out there amongst people, and there's only so many times you can clean out a cupboard. So I started volunteering at the Lane End medical centre, helping with the vaccine rollout - just queue control and anything else that was needed. I've also been helping to organise clean-ups of the rivers and parks with Thames 21 and Friends of Silkstream, and doing weapons sweeps with the Safer Neighbourhood Team for many years, so I carried on doing those. It's very satisfying when you see the huge mountains of rubbish everyone's collected at the end. You name it, we’ve found it.
"There was so much fear being put out there. On the news that's all we heard. But I refused to go into a state of fear because that depresses your immune system quicker than anything. I've been meditating for many, many years, I taught it at one time as well, and that did help keep me calm. Now I'm also volunteering at the RAF Museum - I can walk there in 20 minutes - as a Visitor Experience Assistant. You’re meeting people as they come in and making sure they use the hand gel and are wearing their face masks, and there are a lot of interactive things, so you’re spraying and cleaning everywhere all the time. I had to do an online health and safety test first. You have to get at least 60% to qualify, and I got 100% and was sent a certificate, which was hilarious. I always like to be doing something and I’m so much happier if I’m helping too."
"I want to help people be happy, and my work, as both a healer and tour guide, is all about looking after others. That's what I’m happy doing. I've been a healer for 30 years, and my parents and grandparents were very involved in healing too. But of course I had to stop doing that face-to-face, or taking tourists on river cruises and London tours, when the pandemic happened. I was always travelling out there and busy, and suddenly I was thrown into a retirement that wasn't planned and I didn't want. That was the toughest thing, not being out there amongst people, and there's only so many times you can clean out a cupboard. So I started volunteering at the Lane End medical centre, helping with the vaccine rollout - just queue control and anything else that was needed. I've also been helping to organise clean-ups of the rivers and parks with Thames 21 and Friends of Silkstream, and doing weapons sweeps with the Safer Neighbourhood Team for many years, so I carried on doing those. It's very satisfying when you see the huge mountains of rubbish everyone's collected at the end. You name it, we’ve found it.