Giving back and
f l e s y m g fi nd i n
When Shana Hindle was diagnosed with PH, she had no choice but to take medical retirement from the career she loved. Then a chance Facebook post led to her volunteering her skills to open a supported housing complex for homeless veterans in Lancashire – a role which has helped her in unexpected ways. Here, Shana takes up the tale.
My
illness came completely out of the blue. I was diagnosed with PAH in 2015 and at the time I was head of supportive housing for a housing association. I struggled on for 18 months, but it was a demanding job, and it was making me worse, so I took medical retirement. I had been there for 17 years, working my way up, so it was a hard decision. I always say I’m sick in body, but not in mind. Going from a career focused on problem-solving to doing very little was hard, and I missed helping people. I felt a bit useless really. So, I started volunteering my time to help people in need with their benefits applications and that kept me busy for a while. Former colleagues and work contacts would pass people my way who needed help, and I was happy to do it for free. Then in June last year, shortly after shielding restrictions were eased,
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I spotted a post on Facebook advertising a new support service for homeless veterans in Burnley - a supported housing complex, managed by a community interest company called Healthier Heroes. At the bottom it gave the address - Elizabeth Street - and I realised it was being opened in the same building I managed in my former life, which felt like fate.
“I always say I’m sick in body, but not in mind” I decided to give them a ring and see if they needed any help with referrals, signposting, and partnerships, and it all went from there. Initial conversations evolved into me taking on a volunteer director role and I now do about three
days a week for them. The work involves looking after ‘behind-the-scenes’ things like funding, partnerships, policies and procedures, staffing and financial administration support. I helped bring in new volunteers, and pulled favours from previous colleagues, to help the team turn an abandoned building into a 22-bed housing complex, Bancroft House, which opened in December. The role was office-based until shielding returned but luckily all the work can be done from home. Being back in an office environment was a bit overwhelming at first as it was so similar to what I did before. But the passion that Andy and Rio Powell, the directors of Healthier Heroes, showed for the service made me sure I was doing the right thing. It’s been a real partnership with them, whose idea it all was. The beds at Bancroft House are always full, which shows how much the need
