Asha: “The staff are so approachable and knowledgeable, I just knew that I was in the right place”
Sometimes, when you’re recovering from an injury or coming to terms with a diagnosis, the biggest challenge can be rebuilding your confidence.
Asha Lal, a Community Safety Advocate with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, knows that feeling all too well. On two occasions, support at Jubilee House, our centre in Cumbria, helped her regain confidence, connect with others facing their own challenges, and realise she wasn’t alone.
“I contacted the charity initially after a back injury. I had just lost confidence and I just needed some support to get me back into the gym,” says Asha.
“To have professionals who knew what they were talking about, and who were so knowledgeable, to guide me and increase my confidence in the gym was amazing.”
Asha was on our Kickstart Programme at the time, where she worked with our physiotherapy and exercise therapy teams while meeting others facing similar changes and challenges.
“I found it really useful just to meet others who also had injuries they were struggling with,” she adds.
“It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one. Also, to work with the staff here, they’re so approachable, they’re so knowledgeable as well, and they just put you at ease – straight away I just knew that I was in the right place.”
The experience stayed with her, so when life took an unexpected turn in 2025, she knew she could reach out again.
“In November last year, I was diagnosed with MS, which came as a shock,” she says.
“It’s been a hard eight months but physically I am well and I want to keep myself physically active. Work have been fantastic, too.”
Having seen we run tailored weeks at our centres, Asha enquired about our Women’s Wellbeing Week – which combines time in the gym and pool with walks and wellbeing workshops covering different health and wellbeing topics.
When we caught up with her during the week, she spoke about the impact of being surrounded by women with different experiences, but a shared understanding.
“It’s just fantastic meeting other women who might all have different reasons for being there, but actually we’ve bonded so quickly and it’s just been lovely,” she told us.
“That initial doom and gloom of fear that you might have, actually once you speak to people, it was good for me. It put my fears to rest.
“Knowing the charity is there is really reassuring, nobody knows what the future holds – I might be absolutely fine for however many years to come, but if I’m not and I need help with physio or anything else, it’s really good to know that it’s here and that I can be supported, both mentally and physically.”
Asha hopes, by sharing her story, it’ll help other people working in support roles across the UK to know that we’re here for them too.
“I was a college teacher before I joined the fire service, teaching health and social care,” she says.
“When I saw the job opportunity with the fire service, I knew I had a lot of transferrable skills that I could use while working in the community, promoting fire safety.
“I actually didn’t realise at first that I could get support through the charity because I’m not a firefighter, and I’m classed as support staff. When I found out, it was amazing to see what we could access and the support we could get.”
If you feel you’d benefit from our health and wellbeing support, you can call our Support Line on 0800 389 8820, make an enquiry online or click below:
