New garden room will help people feel good in Stratford area.

YOU never know what will happen when you check which bin is due to be put out – but for wellbeing champion Vicki Holtom it proved critical to the launch of a business that took another leap forward this week.

After checking the rota on the Stratford District Council app, she looked at the news and found out about a free course that helped her turn her bright idea into reality.

And this week, AEB Wellness expanded its work thanks to another district council connection – this time thanks to money from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, an initiative overseen by the authority.

The Herald told in March how that familiar domestic challenge of knowing which bin to put out when, had led to Vicki signing up for the two-week starter course run by the Rebel Business School and hosted by the council at the PlayHouse.

She said at the time: “I saw the course and thought ‘Wow’, so signed up straight away. I knew immediately it was for me – a lot of business courses are intense and heavy going, but the Rebel course was very interactive, upbeat and realistic.

“You learn that you don’t need a bank loan or loads of money to start up.

“It was just so motivating, it gave me the skills and the self-belief, so by the end of my first week I thought, ‘Right, I’m doing it. I’m going to put this into practice’.”

She recalled this week how transformational that moment was: “I’d had the vision for a long time, it just brought the whole dream to life. I didn’t have a clue where to start, I’m not a corporate, I had no idea how to start a business.

“For months my husband would say, ‘how are you going to take it forward?’ – I attended the Rebel School and it instantly gave me clarity.”

And it was with husband Dan, and children Beth, 11, and Ellis, 14, that Vicki decided to launch her business online – on 4th March, the date her late son Adam, who was born prematurely in 2008, would have turned 16.

She said, shortly after that moment: “Adam died when he was two days old, normally we light a candle, but this year we launched my business website.

“We have been quite isolated as Ellis has a congenital cardiac condition which can’t be cured, and I’ve been his full-time carer.

“So the four of us gathered round and pushed the button for my website to go live.”

The business is called AEB Wellness (www.aebwellness.net), in tribute to her children – and since launch Vicki has welcomed clients to her Long Marston home but also had contact from much further afield.

She said this week: “I’ve had people from Kenya, America and other countries as well get in touch.

“In this country, people from Leamington and Coventry, as well as from the Stratford area.

“I think a lot of the contact has come from Linkedin.”

Those customers who visit now, will benefit from having access to a new garden room, thanks to that Shared Prosperity Fund cash.

At first she thought she wasn’t eligible to apply but then realised the nature of her work was in line with the fund’s objectives.

She said: “I have always wanted to have a purpose-built wellness haven.

“It keeps sessions private for clients and keeps the family home separate. There is access to the side of my property which also keeps it private and I can see people when my family’s at home.”

While her background is as a nurse, the AEB website describes her as a living nutrition and reiki practitioner.

On it she explains: “Throughout my life, I’ve harboured a profound passion for nutrition and holistic well-being. This drive has led me to explore the intricate connection between what we consume and how it influences our overall health.”

And she added this week: “I believe knowledge is power and I want to share my knowledge so people can live their best life.

“We have the choice how we live and I just want to support a happier, healthier community.”

With her experiences as a nurse and family history, she was clear about the nature of her work: “Conventional medicine is lifesaving and there is a time and a place for it . I will always be very grateful for our medical services but we also have a responsibility to look after our own health.

“What I do is complementary, not alternative. I will never say I will cure you or tell you to come off something.”

As people experience progress, she added she will always tell people to discuss with their doctor any changes and whether that means any change to their medication.

Monday’s launch is the next step in growing the business and combined a family occasion as it was half-term, with the chance to say thank you.

“I have been using it for a month but wanted to make it official and celebrate with those who made it happen, together with some of the people I’ve met along the way.”