From the cancer charity founder who wants you to find your greatness, to people of colour who are making access to nature more inclusive, the articles in the latest Positive News magazine offer hope and inspiration
If 2020 showed us anything, it’s that things can fall apart unexpectedly. For this issue’s cover star, Kris Hallenga, her life as she knew it disintegrated in 2009, when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Just three months later, she launched CoppaFeel! to help others get help sooner than she did. The charity’s awareness-raising work is always led by fun, never fear.
And 12 years on, Hallenga is full of wit, warmth and wisdom, particularly on how we shouldn’t wait for crises to jolt us into getting the most out of life.
The pandemic has shown us that, even when life is turned upside down, people are capable of the most extraordinary kindness. In this issue, we report on how kindness continues to show up: from designers who’ve used their skills to encourage people to donate to food banks that are struggling to cope with an influx in demand, to the people who have shaped their careers around being kind to the environment.
The great outdoors, in many forms, helped so many people through the past nine months. Newly aware of its huge capacity to comfort at times of tragedy and stress, what better time for us to ensure that as many people as possible have access to it?
We speak to five inspiring people of colour who are working to open up access to and enjoyment of nature, for everyone. They’ve faced many challenges (and their accounts make for sometimes-uncomfortable reading), but they remain undaunted and full of cautious optimism that things are changing for the better. I love their descriptions of the special places and moments in nature that have brought them joy and solace. And in one of our new regular sections, Cath Prisk of the Outdoor People social enterprise explains why getting children outside is such a passion for her.
Elsewhere, we meet people who launched businesses during the pandemic, and those who insist that it’s possible to have a ‘good divorce’. We also track progress being made on some pressing social challenges, from conspiracy theories to employment insecurity.
This issue of Positive News shows that, as well as the opportunity to get in touch with our own greatness when things fall apart, there are also people near and far to help us rebuild. I hope that theme shines through and inspires you into the year that awaits.
