Our Approach
Small groups. Facilitated, never lectured. Conversations that begin wherever a person actually is.
About Us
We started with one conversation that didn't end at 'I'm fine.'
Growing Past Pain is a peer-support community interest organisation, built by people who have navigated loss, change and starting again — and who found that talking, honestly, changed everything.
Our Story
Built around a kitchen table.
We began in 2021 with six people, a borrowed community room and a flask of tea. Everyone there had lost something — a person, a job, a marriage, a sense of who they were. Nobody was there to be treated. They were there to talk.
What grew from that is a community of hundreds: drop-ins, walks, member circles and an annual membership called Kintsugi Club. The principle has never changed. Come as you are. Say the true thing. Leave with company.
Our Purpose
To make sure nobody has to navigate life's hardest changes alone.
We hold open, non-judgemental spaces where lived experience is the qualification that matters most.
Why Peer Support Matters
Being understood by someone who has lived it removes the work of explaining — and that is where honesty begins.
What We Are Not
We are not a clinical or therapeutic service, and we never position ourselves as a replacement for professional care.
Our Values
Seven things we hold to.
Compassion
We meet people where they are, not where we think they should be.
Respect
Every story carries weight. Nobody is a case or a category.
Belonging
The door stays open, whether you come once or every week.
Courage
It takes something to speak. We make that easier for each other.
Honesty
Real conversations, not polished ones.
Hope
There is another chapter, even when it is hard to picture.
Community
What we build together holds more than any of us alone.
“Nobody handed me a leaflet. Somebody handed me a cup of tea and asked how I was, twice.”
“I volunteer now. It turns out the thing that broke me is the thing I can help someone else carry.”