It was a bitterly cold winter’s day.

The first Monday of January 2026. My role as Front of House Manager with Creation Theatre had come to an end the day before and it was time to reopen the practice room and welcome in my first coaching client of the year.

I hadn’t been in this room for a while and was surprised at how cold it had become. I know I shouldn’t. It’s winter, but the temperature had dropped quite rapidly over the past few days and I’d not been in here since before Christmas.

I’d not known it like this having got this room last summer. I could see my breath INSIDE! How could I hold an inviting space for my client? I was immediately on the back foot and had a mini panic moment. There was 20 minutes until we were due to start, a wall mounted heater that whispers hot air at you, and an oil filled radiator that clearly wasn’t in the mood to be turned on.

I could have moved room. This is one of 17 available to me in the centre where I hire space and it was quieter today but each is decorated differently and this is one of the only ones I walk into and immediately feel like my shoulders drop an inch and I breathe slower. Perfect. I feel grounded which helps my clients.

It’s also separate to the main building – a standalone – which is particularly useful when working with children and young people as not only can we make noise if we need to, but it is one of only two rooms in the place that has a window that parents can watch us from if they feel the need to hang around. Most leave us to it.

I digress. So here I am, cold day, cold room, and pretty sure that no amount of talking to myself before they arrive will provide the hot air needed to raise the temperature to a comfortable level.

The room warmed up marginally by the time they arrived but I still felt bad that it wasn’t toasty against the cold chill air. I shouldn’t have.

The space is only one part of coaching. It’s what you do in it that counts, and myself and the young person worked together solidly for an hour to explore the challenges that they were facing and work through these in order that they could leave feeling lighter and better able to tackle their part of the world. We didn’t even notice how hot or cold it was until the parents reappared with icicles hanging off their noses.

Warmth comes from the heart and soul that we put into our work, our projects, our day to day. What the coaching room does is provide a ‘warm hug’ essentially that says ‘You can breathe and just be in here’ and reignite the spark inside, and that’s what I love about coaching. Yes, physically the room may be a bit chilly, but if between the decor and a good coach you feel safe and able to build that relationship in order that you can lay out everything in your head and work through it, then coaching is working well.

And holding that space, especially in winter, is so important. It’s a time when a lot of people feel at their lowest due to the long, dark days, Christmas lights now packed away, and Easter probably the next big thing to look forward to which is months away. It’s often in those dreary evenings that the mind wanders to feelings of inadequacy and betterment, but also a wonder of how you go about changing it.

The great thing is that coaching can be a brilliant option. It can get you out of the house, meeting somebody else, help you to notice yourself and your place in the world, learn more about how you tick, and help you find purpose again in order to face the rest of the year head on.

What I especially love is it’s not time limited either. This is especially important when I work with children and young people. You see so many school programmes that are six weeks and that’s it. I’m not knocking them. Some are very good, but schools don’t always have the staff to deliver them successfully, and for some young people six weeks is not enough.

My young client visibily looked relieved when I said we do as many or as few sessions as you wish to do, and I’ve had clients from a few sessions right through to more than a year based on what their needs are and what they want to get out of it.

So if it’s feeling cold and dreary where you are, perhaps coaching is for you…It might provide the warmth, comfort, and change for you to make a difference this year.