A WOMAN has beaten four decades of depression - with a trip to the Caribbean with a Christian group.

Mother-of-four Margaret Sutcliffe, 61, went on a six-week Christian mission to the Dominican Republic.

And it led to her banishing the depression that she had suffered from since her early 20s.

She previously tried medication, but says nothing was able to improve things.

But during the mission, Mrs Sutcliffe, of Edgerton, had therapy with a practitioner specialising in The Journey, a form of mind-body healing who was a fellow missionary.

And she said the five, two-hour sessions have given her a new lease of life.

She sleeps better and has stopped her compulsive eating.

"Two-thirds of my life have been spent in depression," she added. "No medication or supplements worked. I have gone six weeks without being depressed, which I never managed before."

The Journey therapy was devised by Brandon Bays, a woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour but who said she overcame it through letting go of her `emotional baggage'.

Mrs Sutcliffe's difficulties were made worse by the death of her husband, David last year and the loss of a son, Daniel, a year earlier.

She is a member of the Christadelphian Church on Victoria Road, Lockwood, and went on the mission in the Dominican Republic with three other women from various parts of the country.

They stayed in flats and worked with drug addicts in a local hostel.

The trip was evidently successful as Mrs Sutcliffe intends to return to the Dominican Republic in the next few weeks, to help baptise two converts.

Anyone who is interested in The Journey should ring 01656 890 400 or go to www.thejourney.co.uk