“When the Active Ostomates programme started, I signed up straight away,” Carol says. Having regained strength after chemotherapy, she returned to swimming and walking with family and friends – but she was eager for more structured support tailored to ostomates.

In May 2023, I discovered the Active Ostomates programme through Tidings Magazine. The Chair Yoga sessions immediately appealed to me – something gentle, inclusive, and suitable for people managing a stoma. Since then, I’ve taken part in more than 60 sessions, and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them.

Seven years ago, in my mid-sixties, I finally had the stoma surgery I’d needed for decades. A childbirth injury had lingered far too long in my life, and although the idea of surgery always felt daunting, eventually it became the right – and only – choice.