All posts by : bumbleprint

A Safe Space for Women to Speak Their Truth Talking Truth with LUV is an empowering safe space created by LUV CIC for women to share, heal, and grow through honest conversation. In a world that often silences or judges women’s experiences, Talking Truth with LUV invites openness, vulnerability, and sisterhood. Through guided discussions, storytelling, and reflective activities, we explore real topics — from confidence and relationships to trauma, motherhood, self-worth, and personal growth. Each session is designed to help women find strength in their stories, release what no longer serves them, and reclaim their power — surrounded by compassion, understanding, and community. Because when women speak their truth, they not only heal themselves — they inspire others to do the same. Talking Truth with LUV is more than a conversation; it’s a movement of honesty, empowerment, and collective healing.

LUV E-Learning – Learn. Grow. Empower Yourself — Anytime, Anywhere. LUV E-Learning is the digital learning platform of LUV CIC, created to make empowerment, education, and personal development accessible to everyone. Through interactive online courses, videos, and self-paced modules, learners can explore powerful topics such as confidence-building, self-love, healthy relationships, emotional wellbeing, resilience, and life skills. Each course is designed with compassion, real-world insight, and the LUV ethos — helping individuals build stronger mindsets and practical tools for everyday life. Whether you’re a young person discovering your voice, a parent seeking guidance, or a professional wanting to support others, LUV E-Learning offers flexible, engaging resources that meet you where you are. Empowerment shouldn’t be limited by location or time — with LUV E-Learning, growth is always within reach.

Bloom with LUV – Dates to be announced soon!!

Walsall, West Midlands — LUV CIC is proud to announce that its Founder and CEO, Sara Maynard, has been recognised as Frameworthy for her exceptional commitment to empowering women and girls across the community.

The Frameworthy recognition celebrates individuals whose dedication, courage, and impact deserve to be honoured and remembered. Sara’s work stands firmly in that category. Through LUV CIC (Listen Uplift Vent), she has built safe, transformative spaces for women and young girls to speak their truth, heal from challenges, learn vital life skills, and rediscover their confidence.

Over the years, Sara has pioneered multiple empowerment initiatives — including Talking Truth with LUV, EmpowerHER, and LUV Yourself — each designed to uplift those who often feel unheard or unsupported. Her programmes reach schools, community groups, and families across Walsall and the wider West Midlands, offering practical tools around self-esteem, healthy relationships, resilience, emotional wellbeing, and personal growth.

Speaking on her recognition, Sara shared:
 “Everything I do is rooted in love, community, and purpose. Being recognised as Frameworthy feels incredibly special, not because of the spotlight, but because it reflects the real lives touched by the work we do at LUV CIC. I’m proud, grateful, and inspired to continue supporting women and girls who deserve to feel empowered, valued, and seen.”

Sara’s leadership has been particularly impactful at a time when local women and girls face increasing pressures — from social media expectations to relationship challenges and emotional wellbeing struggles. LUV CIC’s programmes offer both preventative and restorative support, helping participants build confidence, develop self-awareness, and strengthen their voice.

This Frameworthy moment is also a reminder of the organisation’s wider mission: Empower, Educate & Elevate. Under Sara’s guidance, LUV CIC continues to expand its reach through new initiatives, community partnerships, and digital learning opportunities.

As Sara steps into this honour, the LUV CIC team, local partners, and families across the community celebrate her dedication and the powerful ripple effect of her work.

Sara Maynard — Frameworthy, inspiring, and leading with LUV.

Bloom with LUV – Dates to be announced soon!!

We are pleased to announce that LUV CIC has signed up to the Employer Domestic Abuse Covenant (EDAC).

EDAC is a pledge taken by organisations who commit to supporting women affected by domestic abuse to enter or re-renter the workplace. This Covenant, is the first in the UK to address Domestic Abuse and is the third of its kind in the UK, following on from the Armed Forces and Care Leavers Covenants. It has also been included as a recommendation in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

Adella Fletcher, Director of LUV CIC said: “ By signing up to EDAC we are showing our commitment to supporting domestic abuse survivors, not only with our service offer but also by ensuring that our staff are knowledgeable & policies are in place to protect them too. We are practicing what we are preaching!”

At the very least, our staff will be trained on how to spot signs of domestic abuse and have sufficient awareness of domestic abuse. We are currently working on creating opportunities to allow women to enter or re-enter the workplace, alongside our employability & life skills training offer.

Our founder & CEO Sara Maynard said: “As a domestic abuse survivor my passion has always been helping other women understanding their true worth. Being part of EDAC gives me great pleasure, as it enables our organisation to help that little bit more by giving women opportunities to move forward an extra step towards living unapologetically themselves” 

We are proud to be part of a network of organisations, who are committed to supporting women affected by domestic abuse to reclaim their lives and live it on their own terms.

After successfully completing our LUV Yourself Program one of the women had her story published in Birmingham Live. Take a read on the below link. 

Celebrating International Women’s Day discussing our community fund raiser with Aviva for our anonymous venting corner and more.

Meet the Inspirational CEO who is using her past to fuel her future. Take a read of the article by Inspired2consultancy below. 

Have you ever lived in fear? Fear of saying the wrong thing? fear of doing the wrong thing? Fearing for your life? Fear is something I have lived with for the last 10 years, for over a decade now my life has been STUCK!

Around year 7 out of the 10 I was given an escape route, and I for the first time since I could remember I felt free, I felt at peace. Over the next 3 years I really worked on healing myself, changing my mindset. I started my business, which took off quite quickly. I was happy! I felt in control of my life, things were good. Then suddenly my biggest fear was now going to be in my life again, I remember having a panic attack and crying uncontrollably.

What should I do?? I decided to take what I believed was control of the situation and talked myself into believing that this person could have changed, this relationship could work. If we take things back to the beginning with no pressure, we had some hope. In hindsight I realise this decision was made from fear, fear of what may happen if I did not make the decision I had made.

Very early I realised that there was no change, the lies, possessive behavior was still there. There was this level of entitlement rather than accountability which was making me feel unhappy. Now I’m in a situation where I am slowly losing control, my voice is not being heard. I can feel myself reverting to the ‘old’ me and it’s making me unhappy.

This situation went on for the next 16 months, me feeling unhappy in my own home as it’s no longer my peace my space has been invaded. It was a milestone birthday year for me, but I was unable to feel happy or excited due to my current situation and the constant threats to ruin my plans. Depression hit me, and I was just feeling so low and kept blaming myself. Early in the year I met someone who became my friend, someone who brought a little sunshine into my cloudy life. He helped me to see myself in a different light for the first time in my life!!

This person was someone who I would never have looked at as a potential before, but here I was falling….. Here comes fear again… Do I be honest about my life or do I just say nothing.

Me being me and wanting to be wanted for me and all I am I was honest. Unfortunately this was to my detriment as although he helped me in so many ways, I was also left feeling like I wasn’t worth very much. This leaves me fearing being honest with potentials I may meet in the future. Then it finally all came crashing down the day after my Birthday…

Over the next 3 months I would be assaulted, harassed and stalked daily. FEAR was here again!! Fear of walking out of my front door due to threats of violence, fear of driving down the road as he would be waiting for me on corners, fear of being embarrassed due to him calling people and acting erratic, fear of being judged by others if caught on a bad day.

I sometimes wonder how I smile most days, how I can continue working full time, being a mother, running my own business. I have a lot going on and even though I have been that person to many, not many have stepped up for me.

I have honestly been at the lowest point in my life, I fear breaking down as I am unsure if I would be able to get back up…..

*Trigger Warning: this post mentions miscarriage*

Depression and anxiety can hit you at any stage of life. For me, I was pregnant with my second child; a rainbow baby after a loss that crippled my entire outlook on pregnancy. All considered, you would’ve thought I’d be ecstatic, but nope, I felt quite the opposite…

Before I miscarried, I took pregnancy for granted. I didn’t have to try to get pregnant with my first born and I was blessed with a relatively straightforward pregnancy (albeit the morning sickness lasted much longer than desired!). However, my second child involved more planning; not only was I broody, but I wanted my eldest to have a sibling and three and a half years seemed like the largest age gap I wanted my children to have. So, it worried me when I stopped taking birth control and I didn’t get pregnant straight away. I was scared. What if something was wrong? Were the maternal issues within my family hereditary? Thankfully, these worries were eased after a few months when my pregnancy test was confirmed positive. The doctor checked for an ectopic pregnancy because I hadn’t missed a period yet and was occasionally spotting, but the scare was over…or so I thought. 

Three days later, I got out of bed and felt something dripping down my leg. I looked down and saw red. Bright red. FRESH BLOOD. Tears fell down my face. With each tear I felt my hopes and dreams for my new baby, my daughter, and my family slip away too. Almost immediately, I started to blame myself. What did I do wrong? Was it my fault? I begged and I pleaded with the hospital for a check-up but there were no emergency appointments for the next five days. I needed hope that my little baby still had a heartbeat. Instead, I was told, “what will happen, will happen”. 

I prayed. I prayed so hard. I begged and I pleaded with God too, making so many promises and covenants to Him if he saved my baby. I thought the bleeding had finally stopped. Another three days passed and I sobbed my entire heart out in the toilet. Clots. In that short period of time, I had googled enough to know clots were not a good sign. It was the beginning of the end for my baby. 

Fast forward to a month later, it was five days into the New Year and I had a positive pregnancy test. However, this time I wasn’t elated. In fact, I was scared, if not petrified. I no longer had confidence in my body’s ability to carry a child. As much as I wanted my baby, months went by and I could not allow myself to be excited because I expected something to go wrong. Everything felt too close to home and it didn’t help that my friend had a stillborn midway through my pregnancy. So, even till the day she was born, I found myself holding my breath every time I went to the bathroom. I was confident I was going to see red. 

My anxiety continued to increase. Things had been too good so far and I was waiting for something bad to happen. I couldn’t sleep at night because I thought, “what if someone breaks into my house whilst I’m asleep and kills my daughter”. I tried to be rational; I would tell myself the house is locked and secure…but what if somebody was hiding under the bed and I forgot to check? I needed to stay awake to listen out. I needed to stay awake to keep us safe. I needed to stay awake. Sometimes, I convinced myself I could hear footsteps and ran to my daughter’s room to check on her. There I was, heavily pregnant, unable to sleep because I was listening out for invisible threats. 

The catastrophising became worse still. What if I get into a car crash driving to work? What if I die and leave my daughter motherless? Is her Dad capable of raising her like I can? So many dark thoughts filled my mind. This anguish was compounded by the loss of my Grandad on the day of my 20-week scan. Yet I didn’t realise just how much my anxiety was crippling me. I stayed home after work and on weekends. I had no energy to clean. I didn’t want to socialise with anyone outside of my house. All I wanted to do was hold my first daughter tight and not let go.

Everything seemed fine after having my second daughter. My heart melted every time my eldest held her little sister or when she’d help her daddy change the little one’s nappy. As expected, on her first day home, I did the customary “stare” while she slept to make sure she was still breathing. But this continued and intensified. After breastfeeding (which, in itself, impacts your body and sleeping pattern), I would stay awake to make sure she continued breathing. I stopped doing housework. I only cooked quick meals. I avoided and despised going out in public. I stayed in my bedroom at any opportunity. I wanted to stay in my bubble, where I felt safe. The problem being that, even in my bubble, I didn’t feel protected. Something bad was going to happen. I could feel it. 

I carried on living like this for two years. That was two years too long. I realised I couldn’t continue living in a constant hypersensitive state of fight or flight. It was exhausting. I was exhausted. My doctor mentioned the words anxiety and depression, and then recommended cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Like many others known to mental health services, I was disappointed by the waitlist for psychological treatment. I carried on fighting that invisible demon that only I could see for another year as I waited for CBT. But I no longer wanted to be a victim of this condition. Enough was enough. I knew I needed to actively take part in my healing journey if I wanted to emerge from the darkness. So, I started to meditate, which at first, felt weird. Eventually, not only did meditation help improve my sleep but it offered me clarity on my life. I was finally able to see through the lingering fog that once overwhelmed me. 

Then, I paired my meditation with positive affirmations. Every day when I woke up, I looked in the mirror and repeated aloud, “I am safe. I am blessed. I have everything I need to live a happy life”. I’m not going to lie, actively changing my mindset was not easy. In fact, it was very hard. It was difficult to contradict everything I had become accustom to, if not accepted. Indeed, there were some days where it felt easier to stay as I once was, but I had to remind myself that it was not healthy for me or my family. Eventually, going to work became easier. Going to sleep became easier. Going to the park became easier. Living my life, being the best mum I could be, became easier. Slowly but surely, I learned to accept life for what it was and learned to only focus on what I could change. Now, nearly eight years down the line, I am standing up to say it will become easier. 

Focusing on my mindset allowed me to be in control of both my mind and my life. Yes, I am human and sometimes I can feel the depression worming its way back in or the anxiety creeping up on me and, you know what, that’s okay. My experiences have made me wiser and now, I can identify those negative thoughts and feelings slithering into my subconscious. Now, I have all the tools I need to get back to where I need to be mentally. Now, I am more resilient.

LUV Ladies is a plethora of women with different experiences and different coping mechanisms. We’re here to support women and offer guidance on whatever they have been or are going through. We want to listen to your story, uplift you when you’re low, and provide that space for you to vent when needed. No matter what life has thrown at you, we’re here to help you through. We’re here for you. 

Our Positive Affirmation Book is now available via www.amazon.co.uk/IAM-Afirmations-Miss-Sara-Maynard/dp/B08CFSNBMG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sara+maynard&qid=1594569962&sr=8-1 It contains positive affirmations to support you on your (healing) journey. The ebook is available to order on our website: www.listenupliftventcic.com the paperback includes an interactive journal that uses CBT techniques to help you identify your triggers, take ownership of your feelings and enable you to become an active member on your path. Ultimately, this book aims to assist you on the road of becoming the best version of yourself. 

#IAM not just an illness

#IAM better for the experiences I’ve had

#IAM Blessed

#IAM Grateful

#LUV

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