Welcome

The Daring to Dream^® Charitable Incorporated Organisation developed as part of the legacy of the Leading Wales Awards^®. Initially it was a named charitable fund; now it is an independent charity.

Daring to Dream’s mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of patients, aged 16 years and over, who are under the care of hospital clinics across Wales. It has a primary (but not exclusive) focus in supporting both ward-based and community-based patients within the geographical area covered by Cardiff & the Vale University Health Board.

Being critically ill or chronically ill and sadly, for some very courageous people, living with shortened life expectancy, are all scenarios that bring each of us into remarkably close contact with the NHS.

All the clinical staff who look after us provide much expertise, care, and kindness to each of us providing us with excellent and appropriate medical interventions.

In reality, critical, chronic, and life-shortening health conditions are hugely emotionally demanding of all patients. This emotional demand is on top of the immense physical ones generated by the ill-health itself.

Therefore, as a patient, in order to respond as well as possible on a physical level to our personal health challenges, it is essential that we also dig deep emotionally.

Supporting and maintaining the emotional health and well-being of patients is the mission of Daring to Dream; by doing this we build on the clinical expertise, care and medical provided by the clinical teams. We wish to encourage patients to move into a position where they manage their condition, rather than it managing them. We want to help patients dare to dream that their life can still be full of making their seemingly impossible dreams happen.

Put in here the link to the MP4 file – which is my voice record only

We hope you too will dig deep and become part of our mission.

Thank you so much for your support.

Barbara Chidgey
Chair, Daring to Dream