BreathChamps closed in July 2026 after 6 years.

This is our legacy website: a record of what we created, what we learned and the people and communities we worked alongside.

We believed that helping people to breathe better shouldn't always feel clinical, complicated or frightening.

So we tried something different.

We took respiratory health into community spaces, parks, schools, workplaces and public events — using music, movement, nature, storytelling and play to make breathing knowledge easier to understand and easier to remember.

We didn't just help people with breathing problems. We shared simple breathing knowledge with  EVERYONE, because we believed that the strength of communities is in people helping people, not just relying on 'services'

We turned breathing advice into something people could actually enjoy

Over the years, BreathChamps created and supported activities including:

🎵 Singing for Lung Health
Bringing people together online and in person to connect, control their breathing and exercise their lungs.

🌳 Forest Bathing
Using the restorative power of nature to encourage relaxation, wellbeing and better breathing.

💃 Dance Easy
Accessible dance for people who were breathless, unsteady, less fit or simply wanted to get moving.

🏅 Asthma Challenge Badges
Fun, practical asthma activities for groups including Brownies and other community organisations.

📖 Asthma Storytelling
Using puppet shows such as 'The Big Bad Wolf Has Asthma' to help young families understand asthma and feel more confident talking about it and helping their friends.

🔎 Children's Asthma Treasure Hunts
Taking asthma education out of the surgery and turning it into an adventure in the park.

🩺 Asthma First Aid & Training
Helping PE teachers, personal trainers, coaches and community groups recognise and respond to asthma.

🎤 Talks & Inspirational Speaking
Sharing practical ideas about breathing, respiratory health and the things we can all do to breathe better.

Our approach was simple

Make it social.
Make it enjoyable.
Make it accessible.
Make it useful.

We didn't want people to feel that respiratory health was something that happened to them in a clinic.

We wanted people to feel that they could understand their breathing, look after themselves, look out for others and enjoy being active and connected with other people.

And we didn't want to keep it to ourselves

BreathChamps also trained and supported community groups to take these ideas forward themselves.

Because the most useful legacy isn't a programme that depends on one organisation.

It's knowledge, confidence and ideas that other people can pick up and use in their own communities.

What remains

BreathChamps may have closed, but the ideas, resources and experiences gathered here are being preserved so that others can learn from them, adapt them and keep them going.

Thank you to everyone who sang, danced, walked, played, learned, taught, volunteered, funded, partnered with and championed BreathChamps.

You helped make it what it was.

Heather Henry, Queen's Nurse.

Founder of BreathChamps CIC

2020–2026

Helping people breathe better, live better and have a bit of fun along the way.