Welcome

Hi Everyone

Welcome to the British Lung Foundation (BLF)online support community.

My name is Mark Pilling and my grand job title is Advice Services Manager – but quite simply I am responsible for the BLF Helpline and for ensuring this online support community provides the support people are looking for. I’ve worked for the BLF for over 5 years – to be honest I don’t pretend to have the answers to everything – but I know lots of people either at the Helpline or around the wider BLF who can help you make some sense of what is happening to you –and hopefully make life that little bit easier.

Living with a lung condition can sometimes be a lonely existence, people think that breathlessness is something that only happens when you’ve run for the bus, not something that can affect everything you do. Living with a lung condition can sometimes be frightening - fighting for breathe – when is the next infection going to come along. Living with a lung condition can be frustrating – not being able to do things you used to do, things taking longer to do – people not understanding what it’s like to have lung condition. I hope that this community in some way provides you with the support, encouragement, advice and information to help you cope with the day to day adventures that having a lung condition can bring.

I also hope that you will feel able at some stage to offer support to others who find this community – without you and everyone else who contributes this community will not be a success.

The BLF provides a whole range of support services – our Helpline (03000 030 555), PenPals, BLF Breathe Easy Support groups, Membership scheme, and website (lunguk.org). Also the BLF campaigns for changes and improvements in services, raises awareness of lung conditions and what it’s like to live with one, funds research into new treatments, and raises money to fund all of our work. People from across the BLF will be posting on the community to keep you up to date with what we do – how we can continue to support you – and how, at some stage, you may want to choose to get involved.

So that’s all from me for now – more than likely I’ll be back soon to give you a run down of what the BLF Helpline does – and where it fits in the BLF support puzzle.

Thanks for reading

Mark

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Thank you, Mark. I am really looking forward to this community building up.

Auntymary

[Nancygirl]

I enjoyed reading your letter Mark, I have just recently been dianosed with COPD and in the beging I was very afraid but since joining this comunity I feel a lot better and more confident, please keep up the good work.