About

Our Story

Gentle Hope was created from love, grief, and the belief that nobody should feel completely alone during the hardest moments of life.

We're Lynne and Grant Thackray — parents, writers, and the founders of Gentle Hope. After losing our daughters, Tia and Sara, we learned first-hand how overwhelming grief, trauma, and emotional exhaustion can become. We also learned how much compassion, understanding, and support truly matter in those moments — and how hard they can be to find when you need them most.

For a long time, survival was all we could focus on. Surviving hospital corridors. Surviving unbearable conversations. Surviving the quiet moments nobody prepares you for after loss changes your life forever.

We are not experts. We are simply parents who survived things we never believed we could survive. And somehow, after everything, we are still here.

Why we write

Our first book, Still Here, was never written simply to tell our story. It was written to reach people who may be struggling silently beneath the weight of grief, loss, fear, or emotional pain — and to remind them that even after unimaginable heartbreak, hope can still exist.

Over the years we've learned that grief does not disappear. Love does not disappear either. Instead, both simply become things you learn to carry differently.

Through Gentle Hope, our aim is to keep creating supportive books, journals, and resources designed to offer comfort, encouragement, and emotional understanding — for adults and children alike. Clear, gentle, and free of jargon, for anyone who is struggling and doesn't know where to begin.

The Sara Thackray Charitable Trust

Our work is connected to charitable giving inspired by our daughters. Gentle Hope donates 10% of its profits to the Sara Thackray Charitable Trust (Scottish Charity SC037644), supporting families who continue to face unimaginable challenges every day.

When you buy a book from us, you become part of that — a small, real way that something good continues in Tia and Sara's name.

A gentle promise

If our story helps even one person feel less alone, then sharing it will always have been worth it.

Healing does not mean forgetting. Sometimes it simply means learning how to carry love and grief together.

With hope, Lynne & Grant