CHRISTMAS may be a time for giving, but Kathleen Barlow has dedicated most of the past two years to helping others through times of crisis. We spoke to a beacon of the Blackburn community who revealed why this festive season will be an extra special one.

OVER the last two years, Kathleen Barlow has helped over 200 people through the charity she founded – Blackburn Lighthouse.

And yet none of them will realise that the woman who has been their emotional support through times of crisis has been hiding her own worries.

For Kathleen, 57, has lived with epilepsy for most of her adult life and could suffer up to eight painful fits each day.

She has also had three brain haemorrhages – the latest in June this year – but throughout it all she has refused to let it affect her work at the Lighthouse.

Now she is looking forward to a healthier Christmas and is optimistic about the new year for the first time in more than 20 years having finally got to the root of her health problems.

Specialists have diagnosed that Kathleen has the rare condition of a birthmark on her brain.

Just nine weeks ago she underwent surgery to remove it and already she is planning her return to the charity in time for an increase in demand as a result of the added stress of the festive season.

Kathleen, of Feniscowles, said: “I could just feel inside where they were working getting really warm, and then it would stop and move a few millimetres or so and they’d start working on the next bit.

“I was frightened but at the same time I felt like I was floating in a sort of cocoon of prayer — and that I was safe.”

It is this strength of faith which has seen Kathleen become the driving force for her tea and sympathy listening service, based in King’s Court, King Street, Blackburn.

She said: “When people come to the Lighthouse, they see the cosy room and realise it’s not like counselling.

“We make a brew, people relax and feel more at home. We just want to listen and encourage people to have confidence in themselves to cope.”

Coping is something Kathleen has become an expert at due to her own health issues.

“Doctors have always tried to put my fits down to epilepsy and scar tissue on the brain, but the tests found that I had had this birthmark since I was born,” she said.

“I had started to think it was in my imagination, so it was a relief when they could say there was something.

It was my choice to have the operation, but I had to take that chance.”

Seven weeks on, Kathleen still has some minor seizures and doctors say it will take two years for the treatment to be completed. But for now, she and her Lighthouse friends and colleagues have been amazed at her progress.

“Every week has been getting just that little bit better, so I know not to go running ahead as it could knock me back. The difference since the operation has been tremendous.

“When I was having the spasms, they were very painful. It was happening quite a few times a day and they were so unpredictable I couldn’t just go out.”

Now she is looking to the new year, with plans to extend the Lighthouse service by going out on the road to other parts of East Lancashire to share her experience and the listeners’ own stories with church groups, Women’s Institutes and various other organisations.

With financial pressures increasing, combined with the stresses and strains of the festive season, the team is expecting a busy few weeks.

Kathleen said: “Everyone has their own problems. And at Christmas you find they become more apparent.

“One of the things with me being ill was that I didn’t know I was going to be home, or even here, for Christmas.

“I have to try not to get too hyped up about Christmas this year, as it could hit me and knock me back again.

“I take each day as it comes. And my long term vision is simple; to do more fundraising for the Lighthouse.”

* Need someone to talk to over the festive season? Contact Blackburn Lighthouse on 01254 296078.