From Despair to Happiness – Yorkshire mum researches what makes us happy
In the lead-up to UN International Day of Happiness on 20th March, Yorkshire-based professional speaker and happiness expert Frederika Roberts launched the ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ Project on 20th February.
Five years ago, on 3rd February 2010, Frederika’s eldest daughter, Charlie, had a cardiac arrest. In her darkest, most terrifying moments, Frederika found herself planning Charlie’s funeral in her head, whilst clinging desperately to the hope that she would never have to actually put those plans into action. Frederika considers herself to be exceptionally lucky, because eventually Charlie recovered and not only survived, but survived without any lasting damage.
20th March is UN International Day of Happiness and Frederika wants to uncover the UK’s ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’: The things we do ‘just because’; because they are enjoyable, they make us feel good, they put a smile on our faces. She will then publish initial results on 20th March, with more detailed analysis shortly afterwards.
Over 1,000 responses have flooded in from the UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Australia and New Zealand for this project so far and initial analysis shows that 1 in 5 people list ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ around family, friends and relationships. Chocolate was the ‘Little Happiness Ingredient’ named by over 5% of respondents.
Frederika’s aim is that this project will help participants to re-discover the things they love doing, just for fun and that, when the final results are published, we can all discover some more ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ we may want to try building into our lives.
“I am delighted that this project has gone global. Happiness is too important to be left to chance. It is a choice and discovering our Little Happiness Ingredients is a small but significant step towards working on our own happiness”, says Frederika.
Both of Frederika’s daughters were born with severe, complex and life-threatening heart conditions. Between them, they have had two cardiac arrests, three open heart surgeries and numerous other hospital stays, both planned and unplanned. Frederika, her husband and her two daughters have not just survived these ordeals, but found a way to thrive and enjoy what at times seemed impossible: a ‘normal’ family life, full of laughter, fun, school runs, work, arguments, banter and teenage angst!
Now, Frederika is ‘The Happiness Speaker’. She shares the happiness lessons she has learnt over the years with schools (pupils, teachers and parents), businesses and charities through her inspirational Speeches, Happiness Masterclasses and Laughter Yoga sessions. Her current project is the ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ Project.
Frederika’s clients to date have included the BBC, Greater Manchester Police, schools and charities. She is the author of ‘Recipe for Happiness’, available in Paperback and on Kindle from www.recipe-for-happiness.co.uk . Frederika is also President of the Yorkshire Region of the Professional Speaking Association of the UK and Ireland (PSA).
You can participate in the ‘Little Happiness Ingredients’ Project until 2pm on 19th March and find out the full results from 20th March by going to: http://happiness-speaker.co.uk/lhiproject
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Contact:
Frederika Roberts, The Happiness Speaker (www.happiness-speaker.co.uk )
e-mail: fred@happiness-speaker.co.uk
Tel: 07984 80 66 51
Twitter: @frederika_r
Facebook: Frederika Roberts / The Happiness Speaker
LinkedIn: Frederika Roberts
Further information
The social media hashtags #LittleHappinessIngredients and #LHIProject are associated with this project. The project web page is http://happiness-speaker.co.uk/lhiproject
Frederika is available for press and media interviews to discuss the survey and also the results, or to talk about happiness strategies and why happiness is important in all aspects of life.
Frederika is a Professional Speaker, Author and certified Laughter Yoga Leader.
She inspires her audiences to take action and work on their happiness as a foundation to success, productivity and improved health.
Born in Italy, of dual Italian and German nationalities, Frederika moved to Luxembourg with her parents when she was two years old. She then moved to the UK in 1990 to study at the University of Bradford, where she also met her husband.
After obtaining her Business and Management degree, Frederika undertook post-graduate studies in education and became a qualified teacher. Over the years, she has worked in education, recruitment and marketing and has set up and run her own businesses.
Frederika’s clients to date have included the BBC, Greater Manchester Police, schools and charities. She is President of the Yorkshire Region of the Professional Speaking Association of the UK and Ireland (PSA).
Frederika regularly speaks to the press and media, including BBC radio, about her expert subject and other topics. She is available to speak on:
- Happiness
- The business case for employers to focus on happiness and employee wellbeing
- Pastoral education in schools, emotional wellbeing of pupils in schools, reducing teacher stress and avoiding burnout
- Laughter Yoga
- Parenting, parenting of teenage girls, dealing with your childrens’ illnesses, surviving hospital with your children
- Resilience
- Cooking, recipes, food blogging, Italian food
Photos & Logos (available in high resolution)
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