LAST week the Prime Minister took a break from Brexit negotiations to recognise a Southampton woman for her work in supporting people who are struggling with eating disorders.

Jean Hart founded 'tastelife' in 2013, a charity providing tools for recovery for those with eating disorders, alongside Di Archer, who now lives in Kenilworth but previously lived in Southampton.

After they struggled to find support for their daughters who both had eating disorders, Jean and Di worked to develop a course to support both sufferers and their carers.

Following extensive research and guidance from Dr Ros Simpson, a local GP and medical teacher, the ‘tastelife’ course was published in July 2013 after substantial piloting.

The eight weekly sessions for sufferers and carers help families cope with the struggles of eating disorders, and can be found in 27 locations across the country.

They have also developed a new 'Awareness of Eating Disorders' course that will be delivered in schools to help young people understand more about attitudes and behaviours towards food and eating.

Jean and Di are the latest recipients of the Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding volunteers who are making a change in their community and inspiring others.

Each day, someone is selected to receive the award to celebrate their remarkable achievements.

In a personal letter to Jean, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "Together with Di, you are making a real difference to people suffering from eating disorders, as well as their families and carers.

"Drawing on your own personal experience of supporting your daughter with her eating disorder, you have shown a remarkable dedication to helping young people have a better understanding of eating behaviours and providing them with the tools they need to support their recovery."

Jean and Di said: "We are absolutely delighted that we have been chosen as ‘Points of Light' for our work in combating the hideous modern curse of eating disorders. Through 'tastelife', lives are being changed, families remade and now, with this award, news of this work will surely spread to new areas of the country."

Jean, now aged 78, began writing the course when she was 69, having retired from her busy job at the Hampshire Autistic Society.

A former counsellor, she combined her personal experience with what she had encountered as a professional to write the course.

"My daughter was 13 when she started doing weird things, like pretending she'd eaten her lunch but throwing it in the bin, and she lost a lot of weight," said Jean.

"I couldn't find anyone to help and I did all the wrong things as a mother. I probably made her worse. I tried to take control and make her eat. Then, after three or four years, she became bulimic. I locked up all the food, and she started taking money from my purse to buy food. I'd find all these chocolate eclair wrappers in the rubbish.

"Eventually, we took a different approach which, looking back, was much better.

"We helped her to make her own decisions about how to make herself better, and so that she wouldn't explode if we talked about it in the house, we went out to cafes to have these conversations."

Jean's daughter took around five years to recover from her eating disorders.

"It's definitely the case that the quicker you can reach them, the better the prognosis," said Jean.

Looking back, what advice would she give to herself?

"To be incredibly loving and forgiving," she said.

"On the course, we look at it like animals. You mustn't be like a terrier, worrying at the person. It's better to be a dolphin, swimming alongside the person, nudging them."

The 'tastelife' course welcomes those suffering eating disorders as well as family members, friends and key workers, who can attend with or without the sufferer, although sufferers under 16 must attend with an adult.

"There's no doubt that if the family is treated together, it helps immensely with recovery," Jean said.

"It's often a problem when the person is hospitalised, fed up and released when they are a healthy weight. They can be terrified when they come out and lose all the weight, and the parents still don't know what to do."

Jean says that eating disorders are a growing problem, and while there are still far more girls suffering, the number of boys with eating disorders is growing dramatically.

She puts it down to a wide range of issues, including bullying, particularly cyber bullying, social media, the dispersal of families and body image.

She adds that a lack of government funding for mental health issues has seen organisations like 'tastelife' plug some of the gaps in the NHS.

"It's really important to stress that it's not the parents' fault," she added.

"They may contribute to it, I'm sure I did, but they are not to blame."

Jean and Di are the 1054th and 1055th winners of the Points of Light award, which has been developed in partnership with the hugely successful Points of Light programme in the USA.

Regardless of whether it’s a doctor restoring local monuments in her free time, a father teaching young people life skills, or a local musician giving a voice to lonely people, the Points of Light award honours shining examples of volunteering across the UK.