Walking with confidence

The Waverley Care Walking Group provides an opportunity to discover new places, improve well-being and fitness, experience the therapeutic benefits of being in the great outdoors, enjoy a chat with fellow walkers – and eat plenty of chocolate and bananas along the way!

Jane was diagnosed HIV positive in 1994 and has spent the last 17 years living in a society in which she is often stigmatised, discriminated against or shunned.

However, the 40-year-old refuses to be downtrodden and has overcome the barriers placed in her way to move forward. Jane (not her real name; she prefers to remain anonymous) started coming to Waverley Care after being diagnosed HIV positive, initially to a women’s support group where she was able to access different therapies. When we started a walking group for those with HIV or Hepatitis C six years ago, she jumped at the chance and credits it with causing much of the optimistic outlook she now enjoys.

The contrast between Jane’s life outside the group and her experiences within it can sometimes be quite marked. She says:

“Outside the walking group I have friends who do know my status but I have other friends and there is always a part of myself that I have to keep hidden. It can be quite tricky if they are asking questions; for example the other year I had to go in for some surgery because some of my medication was making my abdomen really swollen. It’s quite hard to think of things to say to people so they won’t actually realise my status.”

The fact that she is HIV positive is not something Jane would want other people to be aware of anyway, irrespective of the stigma that is attached to it, saying that “there are lots of people, as well, who don’t need to know about it”. And she believes that if she told too many people it would become common knowledge, adding that she has “lots of family who don’t know about it”.

However, when she goes to the walking group, which meets two or three Thursdays and one Saturday a month, she can loosen up. “In the group it’s completely different, you are so relaxed and you can be completely open, not hiding anything at all,” says Jane. “You are among people who might have felt similar to you if you are having a bad day or getting certain side effects (from medication) and if not they can still be supportive. You can support other people as well, or just walk along chatting and forgetting about everything which is quite important; it’s not all about our illness it’s quite good to go out and not think about and talk about other stuff and just have fun.”

Firm friendships have been made in the walking group away from the everyday stigma, something which is a big plus for Jane. “It is quite amazing, usually there is friction and arguments (within any group) but it hasn’t happened. It is maybe about walking outside, it’s so much better for you to chat, you don’t get all those heated feelings you might get if you are enclosed in a room.”

The knock-on health impact of the walking group is essential to Jane. The routes can be up to three hours long, with breaks and shortcuts for those that can’t manage the whole walk and see the groups travel from its Edinburgh base across the Central Belt and down to the Borders. “Physically, it does keep me fit which is quite important to me because some of the medication can make you put on a lot of weight,” says Jane. “When I first started I wasn’t that active but I can actually do more than I thought I could do. It (the walking group) probably gave me confidence to try other things and to realise my health was improving. Now I do dance classes as well, as I’ve got my fitness back.”

Confidence building is a spin-off to meeting other people on the walks who have helped Jane in dealing with the effects of being HIV positive. She says: “If it can give you a bit more confidence that other people know and have been through (the same) things and can pass that along to you.”

That confidence is now being carried forward by Jane, who has not worked since being diagnosed in the mid 1990s. She has been on a training course to be a volunteer for Waverley Care, providing one-to-one support for others. “I am going to be a Buddy now, for people who are even more isolated and don’t get out at all. You meet up with them once a week – it could be in their home or in a cafe, whatever they want to do.” Buddying will also see Jane accompanying people to classes such as yoga which they would otherwise be too intimidated to attend. “You can maybe try to integrate them a bit more,” says Jane.

To Jane volunteering is a chance to say thanks for the help Waverley Care has given her, both in improving her physical health and building her confidence. “For me it has been a long slow process, I was really quite ill at the start, now my health has really improved. The volunteering is to give a bit of my time back because I’ve appreciated the things they do that help everybody.”

If you are living in Scotland with HIV or Hepatitis C and would like to join our Walking Group get in touch with Gabrielle Mora on 0131 558 1425 or email gabrielle.mora@waverleycare.org