Vanda Bingley founded the Mountain of Hope project in January 2003. I trained as a cadet nurse between the ages of 16-18 years and continued to train as a registered general nurse. I did not complete the training, as I married Brian at the age of 19 and had a son, and within 3 more years twin daughters. I returned to work at the Psycho-geriatic hospital in Halifax, West Yorkshire, as a Nursing Auxiliary but finally gave up nursing practice with the arrival of another daughter. I chose at this time to remain at home and raise my family. After 24 years of marriage, my husband Brian became addicted to alcohol and for 4 years there was much chaos and destruction within the family unit. I sought help through The Alchemy Foundation and began to attend for a personal healing programme. This helped me to regain my strength and I began to make decisions with greater clarity. At this point I decided to retrain to become an Holistic Therapist and commenced training with The Alchemy Foundation. I trained and qualified in Reflexology, Crystal Healing, Soul Recall and Energy Balancing and now run a very busy practice. I also frequently lead group meditation sessions. Sadly, Brian died at the age of 46. His, mine and my family's experiences left me wishing to use my experience of living with addiction to help others. I had grown and developed a passion to help heal those living with addictive patterns and their families. I commenced my addiction healing training and founded the Mountain of Hope project to heal and teach others. I feel hugely rewarded by my work and the project continues to grow. |
