SWEDA Offers People Living with an Eating Disorder Strategies for Coping with the Holiday Season
By Bethany Skinnard
SWEDA has launched a Christmas appeal to support people living with eating disorders during and after the holiday season.
Based on insights and research gained during SWEDA’s 32-year history, the charity has produced a downloadable guide (available on SWEDA’s website) for people to help them navigate the festive season. The charity has also launched its annual Christmas Fundraising Appeal and hopes this will enable their specialist team to help more people recover in 2025.
Established in 1992, SWEDA is a Somerset-based charity that provides support to people living with eating disorders across the South and West of England. The charity undertakes invaluable work which focuses on preventing the escalation of disordered eating before people become seriously ill, improving the likelihood of a sustained recovery.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that there are 1.25 million people with eating disorders in the UK. If you, or someone you know is worried about the festive period, SWEDA’s guide features strategies to help cope with this period and to hopefully also find joy in it. The resource also highlights the support that is available 24/7 (including on Christmas Day).
The festive season can feel like a worrying time for those affected by eating disorders. Disrupted routines, a food-centric narrative and societal pressures (often including many invitations to work and social gatherings) can be overwhelming and exhausting in general, but for people living with an eating disorder these feelings are often magnified ten-fold. People affected by eating disorders often speak of guilt, shame, anxiety and being overwhelmed and / or distressed during this time.
People living with an eating disorder often also find the period after Christmas and New Year hard to navigate. The dialogue often changes to offsetting the holiday season “excess” and “getting back to the gym”. However, help is at hand and SWEDA hopes to help more people this holiday season and in the future.
“Christmas made me feel so afraid and isolated. When I met my SWEDA counsellor, everything changed. SWEDA made me feel less alone, truly seen and listened to, with absolutely no judgement. I’m now at university and feel excited about my future. Recovery is absolutely possible.” - A SWEDA client (2023/4). Read their story here.
2024 saw SWEDA’s turnover exceed £1 million for the first time (in the year 2023/2024). However, for the team at SWEDA the biggest success of the past 12 months was ultimately people-focused:
‘’Reaching the £1 million turnover mark was a huge milestone for us. However, our team’s biggest success of 2024 was witnessing the positive impact that we’ve had on the lives of people with eating disorders.
Our data shows that our therapeutic services have maintained a high success rate in reducing disordered eating behaviours and psychological distress and improving wellbeing. We hope that our 2024 Christmas appeal will enable us to help more people to recover from their eating disorders through our range of services (including specialist counselling and nutrition-focused sessions and support groups).
Our vision is to support everyone affected by eating disorders across the South and West of England.”
- Paula Blight, CEO of SWEDA.