A gift voucher helped Donna Boakes, 46, achieve much more than just weight loss.

I can still remember my friend Nicola telling me all about this great boot camp holiday she’d signed up for. She wanted me to go with her but it was way to expensive for me. Plus, I had my own worries. My 14-year marraige was on the rocks, and my job working in specialist recruitment for people with disabilities was hugely demanding. Boot camp was the last thing I needed.

Later though, talking to my mum about it, I realised just how much I wanted a break. It had been so long since I’d done something purely for me. I was stressed out and overweight- I could see even my mum was worried.

A few weeks later, on Christmas Day, she handed me an envelope. It was a voucher for New You Boot Camp. ‘You need this’, she said as I tried to protest, and I new she was right.

By the time the bootcamp came around, I felt at the end of my tether, wit no strength left, but the minute I arrived at the beautiful manor house in Suffolk my worries started to fade. That night, after dinner, we were marched out to the woods and told to turn of our torches. ‘No one can see who is talking, so it’s time to get it all of your chest.’ the instructor said and, one by one, we revealed the real reason we were there, divorce, bereavement, work stress, sex problems… It was heartbreaking to listen to, but I felt in good company. And for the rest of the week, there was no time to worry about it all. We were up each morning at 6am for a hike and, in between meals, we were trainng, usually outside. There was also cookery demonstrations, one to one life coaching sessions and nutritional support- it was all designed so we could make more changes once we got back home.

Back in Kent, 10lb lighter and the most relaxed I had been in ages, I knew my old life couldn’t continue. I changed jobs, left my husband and stuck out to find happiness. Four years on, I’m a comfortable 9st 5lb. I have given up dairy after realising I was intolerant, and I’m with my fantastic new partner, Ed, who makes me so happy.

Before the boot camp I was truly stuck in a rut. Without Mum’s present, I might never have moved on.*