19/06/2026
This week marks 10 years since I sat my final GCSE exam.
Over the last week I've found myself reflecting on the last decade, on who I was then, who I am now, and everything that has happened in between.
I keep a huge amount of my personal life private. Most people know me through the rescue, welfare work, advocacy, fundraising, the day-to-day reality of running Hethersett Bunnies and an ambassador for another organisation.
What many people don't see is the journey that got me here.
Ten years ago, I was a very different person.
I was quiet, shy, stubborn, fiercely independent, and struggling with far more than most people realised.
I was the student who rarely put her hand up in class. The student who found it difficult to accept help, praise, or compliments. The student who would often push support away, even when she needed it.
I was the girl who couldn't walk into an assembly hall without support. The girl who needed to stand at the back of the room & by a door with everyone in front of her.
If someone had told that version of me that one day I would walk into a building with 10,000 people and have one of the best experiences of my life, I wouldn't have believed them.
If someone had told me I would one day run a rabbit rescue, build a business, become an ambassador, advocating for rabbit welfare, and dedicate so much of my life to helping animals, I would have laughed.
I genuinely wouldn't have believed them. Yet here we are.
Every year since leaving school, I have emailed a couple of teachers who had a huge impact on my life. I never send those emails expecting a reply, but every year they reply anyway.
Ten years later, they're still cheering me on.
This week, one of them replied and told me she was beyond delighted to see how I had seized every opportunity that had come my way. She told me she had always believed I would make a success of whatever I chose to do, and that I simply needed to see what she saw and believe in myself.
She ended her email by telling me to keep being me, keep being amazing, and reminded me that everything I have achieved, and everything I will continue to achieve, is down to me. That this is my story, and I get to write each chapter.
I won't lie, I cried.
Not because of the praise, but because those words came from someone who knew me when I couldn't see any of those things in myself.
Looking back now, I can honestly say there are people who changed the trajectory of my life.
People who listened.
People who supported me.
People who believed in me when I couldn't believe in myself.
People who refused to let me fall through the cracks.
The gratitude I have for those people is impossible to put into words.
People often ask me why I do what I do.
Why rabbits? Why rescue?Why dedicate so much of my life to animal welfare?
The simple answer is because I care deeply about rabbits. Every rabbit who comes through our doors matters. Rabbit welfare has become one of the biggest passions in my life.
But there is another answer too.
Part of why I care so deeply is because I know what patience can do.
I know what kindness can do.
I know what understanding can do.
I know what happens when someone sees value in you before you can see it yourself.
Because there was a time in my own life when people did exactly that for me.
I think that's one of the reasons I fight so hard for the rabbits who come into our care.
The scared rabbits.
The overlooked rabbits.
The rabbits who need time.
The rabbits who need patience.
The rabbits who deserve another chance.
Because every life deserves somebody willing to believe in them.
In many ways, the values that built this rescue are the same values that helped shape me.
My GCSE results didn't define me.
I got average grades. There are subjects I wish I'd worked harder in, and subjects where teenage naivety definitely got the better of me. At 16, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. In truth, it wasn't until six years ago, when Hethersett Bunnies was born, that I found my direction.
Sometimes life takes a longer route.
Sometimes the journey isn't straightforward.
And that's okay.
Because ten years later, I can honestly say I am proud.
Proud of the person I've become.
Proud of the rescue.
Proud of every rabbit we've helped.
Proud of every fosterer, volunteer, adopter, supporter, and fundraiser who has helped make that possible. And proud of the fact that despite everything, I kept going.
I am still fiercely independent.
I still find it difficult sometimes to accept help.
I still try to carry far more than I should on my own.
But I'm learning.
Every person who offers to foster.
Every person who donates towards a vaccination, castration, via Amazon wishlist or emergency vet bill.
Every person who gives up their time to help.
You matter more than you'll ever know.
You are part of this story too.
So this post is simply a thank you.
To the teachers who never gave up on me.
To the people who helped shape the person I am today. To everyone who supports Hethersett Bunnies and to every rabbit who has trusted us with their story.
Ten years ago I was just barely surviving.
Today, I am thriving. And as someone reminded me this week:
"This is your story. You get to write each chapter."
Ten years later, I think I'm finally starting to believe it.
This is my story.
I get to write each chapter.
