The Windmills community have been working hard over the past few months to make sure they’re living the very message that No Regrets teaches. From treks along Peru’s Inca Trail, to seeing an anthology of poetry published, many people have been making positive changes to ensure they are living their Golden Ticket.

Our very own Helen Wakefield lived a lifelong dream of her own, as well as raising vital funds for the NSPCC’s Childline, at which Helen is a volunteer, when she and her husband headed to Peru in October to trek the Inca Trail.

Helen says: “My husband and I filled in a golden ticket a few years ago, and our commitment to various charities, as well as a love of walking and travelling, emerged for both of us. The opportunity, then to do this trip and raise money at the same time was perfect for us.

“We had a fabulous time, although reaching the peak of the trail was really emotional – a lot of people had helped us to make that journey, both emotionally and financially, and just standing there having completed the trek, realising how much support we had had, was quite overwhelming.”

Helen wasn’t the only one who was overwhelmed – the couple raised over £5,000 for Childline, helping troubled children across the country in the process.

No Regrets graduate, Nick White, also changed his life after working through the No Regrets course at Birmingham City University, where he worked.

He explains: “When I went on the No Regrets course I thought it would help me to focus on what I really wanted to achieve in life. 12 months on, I have had had a poetry of anthology published and am now working on my first full-length fictional novel.

Without a doubt the No Regrets course helped me to consolidate what I wanted to do. I had always wanted to write a book, and while I was doing the course we were discussing the meaning of jobs to us personally. I remember at that point taking a notepad and writing on it ‘I was born to write’. It was the Windmills course that helped me to realise that, and as a result I released a poetry anthology later in the year.

“I had written a lot of poetry but had never really thought of having a book published. I think it was just discussing with other members of the group the meaning of the jobs that we do that made me feel really determined to do it.

“I work as an academic notetaker for disabled students but the course made me think a bit deeper about what we want from life, what we enjoy and how we can build on our strengths. The course helped me realise I should focus on my strengths and what I do well.”

The congregation of two churches were also given the No Regrets treatment when a Lancashire vicar realised that his parishioners were spending most of their waking hours in the workplace.

Revd Simon Glynn, who is the Vicar at Christ Church in Parbold, and All Saints Church in Appley Bridge, decided to hold the Life In Focus workshops to help his very driven congregation to find a work/life balance.

More than 25 people completed the course, which tackled different topics each week, including issues such as ‘time’ and ‘where am I in my life’?

“We wanted to give people time to reflect on what they are doing with their lives,” says Revd Glynn. There were one or two of the members who had been with young children for a long time and felt as though a little of themselves had been sucked out.

“I thought that the course was excellent and valued that Helen was willing to put the time and effort in. The material was quite challenging and brought a breath and freshness of insight.”