Identity, disclosure and mental illness
Tweetster @Joe0Tuesday writes about telling people about your mental illness “Hi, my name is Joe and I have schizophrenia!” Is that how you’d expect to start a conversation with someone you don’t know? Would it shock you? Whether you are from within the mental health community or not it is quite a lot to comprehend […]
With love from Ireland
Experiencing difficulty can positively impact you, says writer Caoimhe Clements It was January 2021; the weather was cold and unkind identical to my emotions. I was a university student, in my final year studying Photography with Video. With the pandemic creating a public health scare, the degree teaching of my final year took place completely […]
A special place
Erica Crompton discovers peace & calm at Kailzie gardens “People that visit us here in Kailzie gardens all say it’s such a special place,” says Steve, our accessibility guide for the afternoon tour of the gardens. There’s a dedicated off-road wheelchair here that Paul uses, and Steve pushes today as we cast our eyes over […]
Positively Peebles
The Cringletie is the Scottish hotel that wins on accessibility, says Hopezine Editor Erica Crompton As a white snow blankets the rolling hills that frame the River Tweed, we take a left from the scenic Edinburgh Road and over a private bridge to discover the Cringletie, a secluded baronial mansion. Snowflakes blanket the driveway as […]
Bittersweet.
A poem about relocating to Scotland from Spain By Laura Menéndez In the busy morning of a train I have found silence -I was missing- The quiet was daunting, almost oppresing. A monotonous fog had taken over. I had nowhere left to go. In the silence and the quiet, the stillness of one room, in […]
An ode to Scotland
Scotland is the place that will always feel like home, says Laura Menéndez I vividly remember the day I stepped on a plane to change my life forever. After a year of university in Spain, I knew it wasn’t for me. I accepted an offer to study in Scotland. And off I went. A big […]
Writer Alan Hartley finds a job after discrimination
For writer Alan Hartley, rewarding work came along after some nasty incidences of discrimination: When I was first diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia I was about 26 years old and my world fell apart. I had been a well paid sales representative with my own 3 bedroom semi-detached house and doing quite nicely thank you. The […]
Hopezine in Happiful by Caroline Butterwick
Staffordshire based writer, Caroline Butterwick, has featured us in Happiful magazine this month
Come fly with me
By Erica Crompton Some years ago, I attempted to board a flight to Ibiza but had to check out last minute due to some mild hallucinations (thinking I could see people from the past). I’ll admit, it wasn’t very well planned on my part – the flight from Manchester airport was on a Friday night […]
A good night’s sleep at the Pentahotel, Birmingham
By Erica Crompton Pentahotel in Birmingham rests just a stone’s throw from the Chinese Pagoda monument and, also, the city centre. I arrived with Paul and we found ourselves pent-up with excitement – the parking just outside left enough change for drinks and its entrance was accessible not to mention good looking. We quaffed an […]