This site is dedicated to those, who by their own determination have overcome adversity.

They say there is a story in each and every one of us and we know that to be true. No one's life is ever that straight forward. Whatever the experiences, good or bad, the continual positive attitude of many people is a true inspiration.

The team: Kate Duarte (top), Janet Stead(left) and Reginald Stead (right)

pictured in Edmonton, Canada. See below for further info: 

Kate was born in South London and has worked with young people over a number of years, currently running a drop in centre for young people aged 11-18. She is also deputy manager for our retail outlet SELF Boutique at 1 Battle Road, Hailsham, East Sussex.

One of Kate's ambitions was to be involved in the film industry, which she achieved by becoming a film extra in the movie, 'Are you ready for love' click image for further details.

Janet was brought up in a suburb of South London, running her own business at the age of twenty-six, repairing dot matrix printer heads, which can be found in (ATM) cash machines. She left in 1996, having acquired a range of skills, which she made good use of within other industries. She went on to work as a 'start-up' business advisor for small to medium sized businesses. Voluntarilly worked for Young Enterprise for 3yrs and runs a drop in centre for young people. She also works for the NHS in adult mental health and is a qualified NLP Practitioner.

She keeps in touch with her emotions by using the medium of art and writing, having been encouraged to do so by her uncle, Reginald Stead. As a result she is a self-published author, titles include ‘Living with Spirit’, Just Another Day by Lucy Day(based on her life experiences) and Beyond Reproach by Jenny Simpson, all are available on our website. Click on links below.

As a qualified NLP Practitioner (Neuro Linguistic Programming), she also offers a regualr clinic, plus workshops at SELF, 1 Battle Road, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 1DS. Tel: 01825 840095

for an appointment please ring the above telephone number.

Reg was born in the Anglo-Welsh border town of Ludlow in 1930. In 1948 he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force and was accepted as a trainee navigator on the condition that he enlist in the regular air force for a period of 7 years. Reg chose not to do so and was assigned to teach recruits basic English and Mathematics.

After discharge he went to work for a local granite quarrying company as a purchaser of parts and equipment. He married his sweetheart in 1954 and the couple moved to Canada, and settled in Edmonton.

Over the years Reg’s literary talents have flourished. Writing a number of plays, short stories and contributing articles for quarrying magazines he then went on to write his first major work. In his retirement he has also become a respected landscape artist and the cover of his book ‘The One Hundredth Airman’ is a reproduction of one of his paintings. You can pick up a copy of his book under the book section of this website. He is also in the process of producing a second book based on the lives of three brothers, which will appear on the site shortly. 

Reg had a successful career in the aggregate industry, which led him to design and build rock crushing equipment.