A WOKING life coach is joining a worldwide event helping poor women in Africa to start their own businesses.

Helen Snape is taking part in the annual “coachathon” tomorrow to support the MicroLoan Foundation.

Helen will be one of 200 coaches giving 45-minute online coaching sessions for £25, which will go to the charity.

She got a diploma in transformational coaching in 2018 after 20 years working in human resources and training.

“I found I more enjoyed the side of the job where I was mentoring,” she said.

“A few people suggested to me that I’d be really good as a coach and I had the opportunity when I got redundancy at the end of 2017. I thought ‘it’s now or never, let’s go for it’.”

Helen says she calls herself a healthy relationships coach as this is the basis of most aspects of life.

“I now mainly work with women, but a few men as well, on building their confidence, helping them to communicate with clarity; to fulfil their potential in life.

“I often talk to a lot of career coaches. They say they might start off a session talking about what is going on at work, and then suddenly they are talking about what is going on at home.

“How you come across in one area of your life is likely to be how you show up in other areas as well.”

She said the coachathon is a “win win win” in which people can improve their own lives and help women creating businesses in Africa.

A spokesman for the Women Leaders’ Association, which is organising the event, said: “Whether it’s for yourself, or for your team, there is no better time to try coaching. Realign your goals, overcome challenges, tackle change, and increase your self-belief.

 “Whether it’s life coaching, leadership, confidence or otherwise, your next coaching session is affordable, accessible and promises to have a life-changing impact in more ways than one.”

Last year, there were 735 coaching sessions that raised more than £22,000.

Helen said: “To me, relationships are the key to our happiness. Whether that’s relationships with your partner or your children, but at work as well with your colleagues or boss.

“That’s the bread and butter of life.”

* FOR more information, contact Helen at her website www.helensnape.com/   or visit coachathon.thewla.com