My top 3 inspiring songs of 2012

As with any year, 2012 has had its ups and downs. To get me through the harder times, I've relied on a few key songs to help me stay positive and inspired.

Here are my top 3 songs: 

Who's laughing now? - Jessie J

My favourite lyric from this is 'I'm still rising' as it suggests you can never be defeated. 

Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think

This song gives me goosebumps and will always take me back to the Paralympics, reminding me how inspirational those athletes were in that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. 

The Script - Hall of Fame

I find this song extremely empowering - it similarly states that only you can control your own destiny and to actively pursue your dreams. 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year - I hope you achieve all the happiness and success you deserve.

Inspirations from London 2012

As 2012 comes to an end, I'd like to reflect on the amazing amount of sport it's housed and witnessed in the UK. It's been named 'the greatest year in the history of British sport', with a focus on the Olympics in London this summer. This success was recently celebrated at the BBC's Sports Personality Of The Year Awards (SPOTY). It was Bradley Wiggins who won this title, being the first Briton to win the Tour de France and then claim Olympic gold.

It is awards and triumphs such as these that have inspired many in the UK to try out new sports or revisit ones they left behind years ago. Including myself. Following on from my last post, I'm itching to tell you about my rowing taster day with City of Cambridge Rowing Club in November. But before I do, I'd like to share a few memories and highlights from my time at the Paralympics in September:

We're here!

Paralympic athletics

Aled Davies wins gold medal in the discus

Me and Chris

Goalball - Japan v Australia

Experiencing goalball for the first time

Wheelchair basketball - Poland v Germany

Supporting my homeland team - Poland

Lovely end to the day

Chariots of Fire 2012: we did it!

Sorry for the radio silence, my evenings have recently been taken up with training (quite) hard for the Chariots of Fire relay race 2012, which happened last Sunday 16 September...

After much anticipation, I am proud to say my team and I completed the 1.7 mile (2.7K) relay race in 1 hour and 35 minutes. I also managed to achieve my personal best of 15 minutes! 

Me sporting my number,  medal and t-shirt! 

Although I swore afterwards that I would never do it again, the pain seems a distant memory now and the temptation is kicking in. Is this the addiction runners talk about? Have I crossed that threshold? 

In the meantime, I am hopefully going to keep going for runs in the evenings (I wake up at night you see), and push myself to run further each time. Maybe I will even enter a 5K run...who knows. I am also currently waiting for City of Cambridge Rowing Club to get back to me about a one day taster course in October...exciting times! 

I know my sudden sport frenzy has definitely been influenced by the Olympics this year and then attending some athletics, goalball and wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics shortly after - pictures coming soon.

 The idea of trying out rowing came about once I had watched Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking win gold in the women's lightweight double sculls. As with many I've spoken to, I never imagined the Olympics would affect me in this way, or even at all, but I'm extremely happy they have. 

Katherine and Sophie overjoyed by their success

It's been a great year for sport and I'm hoping it has and will inspire many, like me, to carry on and try new things.

Chariots of Fire: to run or not to run?

My friend kindly reminded me today that I agreed to enter Chariots of Fire a couple of months ago.

This is an annual charity race in Cambridge, this year on Sunday 16 September 2012, following in the footsteps of the famous film. Each team of six journeys through the streets and colleges of Cambridge, running a 1.7 mile course in relay format.

If you know me at all, you'll know that I find nothing worse than running. Walking or cycling any day. Running, not a chance. So why did I agree? 

To run or not to run? 

• Well, avid runner friends have always raved how liberating it is and the sense of achievement after a race is indescribable and exhilarating. It's also free and limitless. This is true, the rates I pay for the gym are stupidly high! Maybe I'm halfway convinced...
• My boyfriend is also aiming to complete a half marathon in October and has been at me for months to start running with him. I think his persistence paid off as I finally gave in and reluctantly made my way down to the park near my work on Thursday evening. I'd been trying to put it off all day - the rain was a great excuse - but conveniently it stopped raining as soon as I finished work. 
• I have to say, the first lap round the park was excruciating - my breathing was all wrong, my heart was burning and we kept stopping (probably not the best form of exercise to ease myself back into it after a week of no physical activity and gluttony at a work conference!). 
• However, a few more laps in and my fitness levels quickly adapted - I pushed through the pain and got into a nice rhythm. I think the first time is the worst - once past this barrier, it's all uphill (not literally I hope!). 

To run: So, despite my resistance to running in the past, I think I will persevere with it - at least until the race is over - I'd hate to let any one down...and you never know, to quote Casablanca this may be 'the beginning of a beautiful friendship'.

Plus, it's for a good cause - this year funds are being raised for charities; Cambridge Past, Present & Future and Cam Sight. 

If you have any tips on running or completing a race, please get in touch. Or if you've done Chariots of Fire before, please leave your comments and share your experiences here. 

I'll be posting any updates on this, so watch this space :) 

My love for health comms: where it began

To christen this blog, I thought I'd start it with the thing that inspired me to take an interest in health communications.

As I mention on my 'Who am I?' page, my real love for health communications began when I volunteered with the British Liver Trust as part of a placement at Bournemouth University.

The Communications Manager kept mentioning how useful it would be to measure to what extent the stigma of liver disease was affecting donors and general public perception - and so the idea for my final year dissertation was born!


It was so rewarding knowing I was creating a piece of research that would actually help contribute to real life issues. It was then I realised the power of health communication and fell under its magical spell. I have been captivated ever since. 



Just to give you an idea of the content, here is a quick summary of my aim and findings:

Aim: to examine the extent to which a sample of the UK public stigmatised liver disease and whether their level of education was related to their level of stigmatisation.

Findings: 

• the sample did stigmatise liver disease to a certain extent, as they believed it was purely caused and self-inflicted by alcoholism,

• however, this stigmatised perception did not stop the sample supporting a liver disease sufferer, even if they were responsible for their condition,
• results also showed that a higher level of education may loosely result in increased knowledge of liver disease and therefore lower stigmatisation, 
• yet it was found that the type of education and experience attached to it were more strongly related to the sample’s knowledge and level of stigmatisation.

Overall, findings suggest that the existing stigmatisation of liver disease can be easily reduced and prevented by introducing it into the secondary curriculum and increasing public awareness of the other types of liver disease through campaigns and medical centres.

To read my full dissertation, please click here. I hope you find it as interesting as I did - please get in touch with any feedback you may have. Thank you.

Inspiring pictures

Site in progress - coming soon!

Watch this space :)