BREATHE EASY BRIGHTON&HOVE

SOCIAL EVENTS – DISCUSSIONS – REFRESHMENTS – INFORMATION

Breathe Easy

 
Breathe Easy is the support network of the British Lung Foundation. The network includes over 22,000 people, with over 200 support groups across the UK - and the numbers are growing all the time. We support people through regular group meetings, or simply by offering help over the phone. We have a PenPals scheme, enabling people to be in touch with others in the same situation. 

A brief history of Breathe Easy

Breathe Easy began in 1991 and was the aspiration of Trevor Clay, the first male General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing and a BLF Trustee. Trevor was very aware of how isolating it could be to live with a lung condition as he himself had emphysema. He recognised the need for patients to come together for mutual support and advice, as well as the importance of patients and family/carers receiving information on lung health so that they would be better able to help themselves. Trevor felt passionately that people should 'live with their lung condition' and not 'suffer from it.' To this end the Breathe Easy magazine was developed, providing information and news about lung health (this has since been replaced by Breathing Space magazine). The Breathe Easy support groups followed, allowing people to come together to share experiences and support each other. Trevor died in 1995 but his legacy of Breathe Easy continues to grow and help thousands of people live with their lung condition every day.

Campaigning for breathless people

Many people with lung disease, and their carers, face a daily battle to live a relatively normal life. Breathe Easy supporters strengthen the voice of everyone living with lung disease by lobbying local politicians and health authorities. They campaign to improve services and make people take lung disease seriously. Breathe Easy is represented on government bodies, and has had a real impact on services for people with lung disease.  It was thanks to a Breathe Easy campaign, for example, that the Department of Health agreed to a complete review of the way oxygen is provided in England and Wales.

If you would like to get involved in campaigning, please click here for more information.