Breatheeasylancs

Our story

RE: Breathe Easy Lancs

Breathe Easy was launched in January 2019 after a study of local health data revealed that Morecambe Bay has a significantly higher than the national average prevalence of asthma, COPD and lung cancer and that the highest proportion of non-elective hospital admissions related to respiratory conditions.

Health care services, as we all know, are under pressure and the vision of Breathe Easy was to help relieve pressures on all the statutory services, whilst promoting self-care through education and peer support to ensure our residents living with chronic lung disease understood how to stay optimally healthy, and that when needed, were cared for by the right people at the right time in the right place.

Health promotion and education via group consultation has shown that patients feel connected with others who live with or are recovering from the same condition, which builds knowledge and confidence. Informal peer support networks can help to reduce anxiety and isolation through learning and reassurance from others about what works and their experience of treatments and medicines. This empowers people to take control and self-manage their condition, all of which leads to improved health outcomes and care experiences.

During our research, we found that the only community based respiratory support in the Lancaster district, at that time, came in the form of two fixed short-term programmes, Pulmonary Rehabilitation provided by our local hospital trust and FAB (Fatigue Anxiety & Breathlessness) provided by our local hospice day care team, both reliant on continued external funding streams.

After speaking to these groups and those that lead them, there was unanimous assent that a continuous, semi structured, peer support group would add unquestionable value to current provision to our residents, the wider community and our local healthcare ‘system’.

Breathe Easy Lancs now has two monthly groups running in the Lancaster district with a core attendance of approximately 30-40 members and another group Morecambe and Carnforth geographically located across Morecambe Bay.

At each session we have a speaker, a gentle exercise session and coffee and chat time where our members can ask questions and/or support one another. Many of our members now also meet up socially outside of our sessions which further enhances the purpose of Breathe Easy.

Feedback from our members includes “I have COPD and was too scared to come out of the house after Covid but with encouragement from my GP I came to Breathe Easy Lancs and now it’s my lifeline…”; “when I was given my diagnosis I thought my life was over, but after coming to Breathe Easy Lancs and meeting others with similar conditions and issues, I’ve realised what I can do rather than what I can’t and that lung disease is not always an immediate death sentence”.

Breathe Easy Lancs was initially set up using non recurrent seed funding through Morecambe Bay Hospitals Charity. From January 2025, four of our members who went on to become amazing Breathe Easy Lancs volunteers, lead the charge to establish Breathe Easy Lancs as a Small charity with a Constitution, so that they can ensure its sustainability as a well-attended, much appreciated and needed, on-going support network for people who are physically and mentally affected by receiving a long term condition diagnosis.

Our history