Interviewer
What is your name, age, and just a little bit more about yourself.

Claire Bullimore
My name is Claire Bullimore. I’m 43. So because of what happened with my brain tumour and that was
removed.

Interviewer
How old were you when it happened?

Claire Bullimore
I was 25, so I wasn’t able to do the job I did, so I had to find something to do with my life, and I did try
and go back to work, but it was difficult. Then I went to Attend and they helped me, and I got into
volunteering, and so ever since then I’ve really enjoyed being on the volunteering side and just giving back
to help other people and mainly people who have had a brain tumour

Interviewer
What volunteer groups have you been involved with?

Claire Bullimore
When I left Attend, they had set me up with volunteering with St. Christopher’s Hospice, and they gave
me loads of options to go and join. But I knew St. Christopher’s because my friend had been with St.
Christopher’s, and so I joined that one and I was in their charity fundraising department. I was just helping
with putting things together, basically like putting up all the ribbons, and they had quite a big event
that was coming up, and so I helped with that, and I just really enjoyed being there, and I just enjoyed doing
that, and I already knew I wanted to help other people. I liked the whole volunteering and feeling less
stressed in that it was volunteering. It’s not as pressurised.

Interviewer
How did you get involved with Attend in the first place? How did you hear about this?

Claire Bullimore

I was with an insurance company who were trying to help me get back to work after I was made
redundant, and so afterwards they were supposed to help me find a job and they just couldn’t, they weren’t
very good. I was still with that insurance company, but I went to my local job center, and I went in there to
say “I have all these problems but I need to find a job”. At the time I had to try and find another job anyway,
and they just didn’t have anything that would be suitable for me. Again, I couldn’t do anything to do with
machinery or anything where you had to drive because I can’t drive. So it was all those
little things and all the jobs they had they weren’t suitable for me.

Claire Bullimore
And the lady who was there, I think she felt quite sorry for me. She said, “I’ve seen this new programme
that’s come up,” which was at Attend, and she said, “you should give them a call and see what you think.”
And I said, “okay.” And I was just desperate to try anything. So I went up to Attend to have a look and I
didn’t really know what it was. I didn’t know what to expect. I was open to learning something or to
be any help, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to work for me because I never thought of myself as
having an ABI, I just saw myself as I’ve had a brain surgery,  and now I have the effects of having had a
brain injury from surgery. So Attend. Yes, they organised it. It then gave me the idea that I wanted to
help other people within the brain tumour community, and I just built up lots of relationships with charities,
and tried to just put myself out there as much as possible

Claire Bullimore
I now support other charities.  There are three or four charities, if ever they are doing stuff I’ll get
involved because now I just help where I can. I spend most of my time on my website, letting people
share their stories so that people can feel like they’re not so alone. Because there are so many types of
brain tumours, and  so many different side effects from having treatments and stuff. So it was my
goal, and what I love doing is my hobby as well, is to get people to share their stories, and then hopefully
someone will say, “Oh, I’ve got that” , or “Oh my gosh, I haven’t met anyone else that has what I have”. And
then they get to share their stories, and the people just don’t feel so alone and that’s what I love doing.

Claire Bullimore
So I wrote one book, which is the Brain Tumours Travel Tale, because I learned so many things. I wanted
to share it with people, like Attend and show the things that were possible. And also to see  what it
was like having had a brain injury and having to go up to London, and showing what it was like as a
person to get on with life or cope with challenges. I wanted people to see that, which is why I added
chapters with things like Attend, because of how helpful it was. And it was a big part of my recovery. So,
full circle is, even though I wasn’t going to work with a brain injury, it still was opening doors that
made me think that I could do this as well. I could help people. What Attend did for me was validated
how I felt and how things were not going to be easy for me, but that I could still be useful. And that’s why
then I kept on looking for the next opportunity to do things that were out of my comfort zone, but that
I think I can do it. And that’s what I  grew from being at the volunteering with St. Christopher’s