Choose the Lemonade

Why Lemonade?

You've probably heard the saying:

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

But sometimes life doesn't just give you lemons.

Sometimes it turns everything upside down.

  • An accident.
  • A diagnosis.
  • A loss.
  • A relationship ending.
  • Losing your job.
  • Becoming a carer.

Or simply a moment when the life you thought you were living suddenly looks completely different.

And when that happens, nobody hands you a recipe for what comes next.

That's why Choose the Lemonade exists.

It isn't about pretending everything is okay.

Choosing the lemonade doesn't mean finding the positive in something awful.

It doesn't mean being grateful that it happened.

And it definitely doesn't mean you have to be strong all the time.

  • Sometimes choosing the lemonade is asking for help.
  • Sometimes it's finding somebody who understands.
  • Sometimes it's getting everything out of your head.
  • Sometimes it's making one small decision about what happens next.
  • And sometimes it's simply getting through today.

There is no right way to do this.

You don't have to know what you need.

That's part of the reason Lemonade is here.

When life changes, knowing where to start can be one of the hardest parts.

  • You can tell Lemonade what's going on.
  • You can read stories from people who've lived through something similar.
  • You can find real support.
  • You can write privately.
  • You can find someone who understands.
  • Or you can simply talk.

You don't have to work out the whole future.

We'll help you find the next little step.

What we believe

  • We believe life can change in a moment.
  • We believe people shouldn't have to navigate what comes next alone.
  • We believe lived experience matters.
  • We believe asking for help is allowed.
  • We believe tiny steps still count.
  • We believe moving forward doesn't mean forgetting what happened — or leaving someone behind.

And we believe that even when you didn't choose what happened to you…

you can still choose what you do next.

Choose the Lemonade.

Some people change the way we live.

Sometimes the way we choose to live differently begins with another person.

Someone who inspired us. Someone who stood beside us. Someone whose life changed ours.

The Lemon Tree is a place for them.

Visit The Lemon Tree

Where Lemonade began

Choose the Lemonade began when my family's life changed overnight.

My husband was involved in a serious accident and, in a matter of hours, everything we knew as normal changed.

One day I was a working mum, raising our children, juggling work, school runs, family life and all the ordinary things that felt important.

Then suddenly I was sitting beside my husband in intensive care.

And somehow, while trying to understand what had happened to him, I was also trying to hold everything else together.

Our children.
Work.
The house.
The hospital.
The practical things nobody prepares you for.
And my own emotions somewhere underneath all of it.

There were incredible people around us. People wanted to help. I heard the words:

“Tell me what you need.”

But that was the problem.

I didn't know what I needed.

I didn't know which organisation I should call. I didn't know what questions I should be asking. I didn't necessarily want counselling. I didn't always want advice.

Sometimes I wanted to speak to somebody who had lived through something like this and could simply say, “I know.”

Sometimes I needed somewhere to put everything going around my head.

Sometimes I needed practical help.

And sometimes I just needed somebody to help me work out the next little thing, because thinking about the whole future was simply too much.

And somewhere amongst all of that, Choose the Lemonade started to grow.

I kept coming back to one thought:

Why isn't there one place I can start?

Somewhere that doesn't expect me to know what kind of help I need.

Somewhere I can simply say:

“This has happened to me. I don't know what to do.”

And it starts there.

Why “Choose the Lemonade”?

We've all heard the saying:

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

But real life isn't quite that simple.

Some lemons are bloody awful.

Choosing the lemonade isn't pretending what happened was okay.

It isn't searching for a silver lining in something painful.

And it isn't about being endlessly positive, inspirational or strong.

For me, it's about recognising that there are things in life we simply don't get to choose.

But we still get choices about what happens next.

Sometimes choosing the lemonade is asking for help.
Sometimes it's getting out of bed.
Sometimes it's going back to work.
Sometimes it's letting yourself laugh again.
Sometimes it's deciding that what happened has changed the way you want to live.
And sometimes it's simply making it through today.

I'm still living my story. I don't know exactly what our family's future looks like.

And maybe that's part of Lemonade too.

This isn't coming from someone who has everything figured out.

It's coming from someone who found herself needing something that she couldn't find.

So I'm creating the place I wish I'd had when our world changed.

For the person sitting in a hospital corridor.
For the person whose relationship has just ended.
For the person who's received the diagnosis.
For the person who's lost their job.
For the person caring for somebody they love.
For anyone staring at a life they didn't expect and thinking:
“What do I do now?”

You don't have to figure out the whole future.

Let's just find the next little step.

So, what do you need today?

You don't need to have the answer. That's what we're here for.

Tell Lemonade what's going onI just want to look around