Tuesday 12th December 2017 - LIF, Funding applications, future

Posted 4:15pm

It's a bitterly cold late afternoon, and I am sitting in the heart of London updating this entry.

I almost feel like we have met the biggest barrier so far. After over three years of concentrated work on foundations, paperwork, development and creativity, it all now boils down to someone having some faith in us, believing in what we can achieve, and giving us the funds to prove ourselves.  Will it happen??

Well, we have now invoiced the Local Initiatives Fund for the £883.90 awarded to us for the local Izzwalkz - which is great. We should get the money around xmas. This is great timing. We aim to be getting flyers, posters, some marketing materials, etc. from Vistaprint - and there should be a good sale on then, with discount. I am going to run the flyers and posters past the medical centre for approval first. I really hope we can pick up some new walkers.  The last three weeks we have gained two. I believe it can grow.

We also want to expand the walks throughout Islington, as people who read this blog know. For that we would need bigger funding - from Sponsorship or grant. It does not need a huge amount. I believe we could easily be managing daily walks - five a week - for around £1000 a month - you would need to pay a part time salary to someone to organise it - as well as provide insurance, equipment, volunteer costs, marketing etc.  But for the short and long term physical and mental health benefits I think that is money very well spent.  In fact I have just come up with an idea for that.

We have printed off various applications for funding opportunities we will be completing, but none of these would be immediate - which is where we really hope the CCG is going to help us.

The future has so much potential - but we now reliant on others to see it with us. Fingers crossed.

Friday 8th December 2017 - Izzwalkz CP funding:

Posted 11:35am

It's a bright sunny November morning - and I have been excitedly preparing for our £883 we will be receiving from the Local Initiatives Fund for our Izzwalkz Clissold Park walk.  The fund only provides money for projects in the ward where you live - I am in Highbury East - as are Highbury Grange Medical Centre where we partner with the walk.

I have been on the Vistaprint website designing a flyer and a poster - we will be ordering 2500 flyers to post around the area, and 50 posters to go up all over the place.  I think they look ok but I must run them past the Medical Centre to make sure we are all happy.  Also, the prices have gone down since we put the application into the funders. We cannot just spend the difference on other things without their permission, but I would like to see if we can get a large roller banner for events. That would be cool.  It has been fun doing the designs though.

I have also done designs for some caps and t-shirts for walk leaders, as well as some mugs I am going to give out to lour fantastic ladies for christmas presents.

I will be chatting to PT Dean about some more fitness stuff for our exercises.  I also need to look back online for a suitable first aid kit - which we should take along with us.  But, we have had aother piece of good luck. The Red Cross have said we would qualify for free training. So the money we claimed for that can also be used elsewhere - and it would definitely cover our insurance, which is up for renewal in the Spring. I will chat to the LIF about other spending possibilities.

Tuesday 5th December 2017 - funding, emails

Posted 3:40pm

It's been an incredible year. It was this time last year that we were presenting our program to various prospective companies - including the DWP, Public Health, etc.  It went down really well, and we have made huge progress this year. It was the dream to work with clients, and that has been fantastic. Results were terrific.

Now the dream is to get paid while we work. And that has to be this year.

We are waiting to hear from the CCG. Meanwhile, we continue to apply for funding elsewhere.  I have downloaded forms for Big Lottery Awards for All, and for Trust for London today. We tick every box for what they want to fund, but who knows? Our only real sticking point is that we are new and start up - but everyone has to start sometime? Right?

I have also contacted another funding stream today online and wait for them to come back.  All three of the ones I have mentioned can fund five figures. Which is what we need.

I am also trying to work out how to push our gofundme page. That could be a big one.

It feels like I just talk about money all the time now. I hate that. We want to be planning three programs to start in January - and I have started on that. It would just be nice to be able to do that from a secure footing.

Monday 4th December 2017 - Mayor attends Izzwalkz first birthday

The Izzwalkz CP walkers with the Islington Mayor

Outside Highbury Grange Medical Practice

23rd November 2017

Posted 2:25pm

We were delighted to welcome Islington Mayor, Una O'Halloran, on our first birthday walk on Thursday 23rd November. It is amazing to thing we have done 52 of them - we walk every week in all weathers!!!

Izzwalkz CP walkers with Islington Mayor

Inside HGMP for lunch after the walk

Afterwards, we were welcomed into Highbury Grange Medical Practice, where Practice Manager Fateha and ourselves laid on a small lunch to chat and talk about the walk.  It really was a special day.

Izzwalkz CP walkers

Enjoying coffee/tea in Clissold House Cafe

30th November 2017

The following week - on the 30th - one of our wonderful ladies, Gabby, treated us to tea and coffee in the Clissold Park House Cafe - it was a very cold day - I am so proud to be running this fantastic venture.

Monday 4th December 2017 - a lot to catch up on

Posted 2:15pm

It's been a couple of weeks since the last entry.  This is down to a mix of illness, and needing to deal with both project and life issues.

Our program focuses a huge amount on mindset, and people have to realise that this can affect everyone - including us. Staying positive in the face of injustice and adversity can be difficult, but the only way to deal with it is to struggle on and fight!!

This is exactly what we have been doing.

We managed to meet up with two of our service users to get some excellent feedback - written and video. We hope this will nudge funders to give us an opportunity - money is the big big thing now. Without it we just cannot continue. And we know we have something good and different.

I have been looking into various grant funding streams - and several applications will be going out before the end of December - well, around 8-10 to be exact.  But it's the immediate need that is vital. Still hoping we can get from the CCG or find a company to sponsor for 4-5 months - one full time salary, two part time, plus some running costs.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

We did get a small grant of £860 (well we will get the money in a couple of weeks) for our Izzwalkz Clissold Park healthy walk. This is very detailed though - and will be spent on first aid training, first aid kit, various marketing, some exercise equipment, etc.  It is a positive though. It came from the local councillor and we have to provide receipts for everything - which is no problem.

So apologies for the lack of entries.

Thursday 16th November 2017 - knocked back by a cold

Posted 4:25pm

It seems like November is my "cold" month - I always seem to come down with something. And this year has been no exception. In fact, the last few days have been very difficult. And this is not a good time to be suffering - as there is just too much work to be done.

I really wanted to be working on applications this week - instead I have been losing control of an awful cough!!

It meant I had to cancel our feedback session on Tuesday, which was a serious knock back.  I will be arranging to meet everyone next week - and hopefully I'll get everything done. We have our forms to complete, as well as getting some video.

I want to be starting to plan 3 starting in January, all in the same week. But this very much depends on getting hold of some kind of funding.  We cannot continue without it!!

Saturday 11th November 2017 - reflecting on a pivotal week

Geoffrey, Dean and Luke at the back

Lawrence, Marie and Lee at the front

Tour of Emirates Stadium - 10th November 2017

Posted 1:00pm

It seems poignant to be looking back on events today - the 11th November - poppy day. All our "issues" and "problems" look insignificant when you consider the selfless sacrifice made by our ancestors over many conflicts.  We remember them!

It has been a terrific week for HMHB.

On Monday, Scott, Luke and myself attended a meeting with the Islington CCG - with Clare, Kay and Imogen (a GP). We knew it was going to be a tough meeting - money is tight all over the place and cuts to mental health funding is abundant. But we feel we have something new, exciting and a project that enhances any current provision.  I had prepared a PowerPoint with some excellent slides - in particular some tremendous quotes from our current service users.

The result was positive. We were not laughed out of the building. We were not told that it was impossible.  We had said out main objective was to see how it was possible we could continue.  There are serious time constraints. I will be forced off of benefit soon - and Luke is working part-time - and with Christmas approaching, and money tight, we need some salary money.  They are aware of where we are.  I hope that something can happen.

Grant from the Red Cross teaches

Rosie, Lee, Marie and Geoffrey

Tuesday saw our last full session on our current Ajani program. It has gone better than we could possibly have imagined or hoped. We had our "Big Fat Ajani Quiz" - which went over various parts of the course, including nutrition, mindset and fitness. It was great fun. We always start with a couple of funny videos to get us smiling - which this time backfired slightly as you cannot please everyone's sense of humour. We dealt with it very well though, and overall everyone had a great time.

We are running a feedback session this coming Tuesday - with forms and some video. But we already know that this program has gone down very well with everyone.

After the session we provided lunch - and then Grant from the Red Cross came along to do a first aid course. That is so special of them - and the time seemed to fly by. We are so lucky that organisations such as Red Cross can see what we are achieving and want to be part of that.

Friday - we had our trip to the Emirates - shown around by the fantastic Jack - a pic at the top shows us sitting in the media room.  It was the third successful trip of the course - we only had two on the pilot.

This coming week I need to concentrate on getting all paperwork up to date, as well as funding. It's the biggest thing for us now.

Sunday 5th November 2017 - CCG, and GoFundme

Posted 2:20pm

Well, we almost have arrived at the biggest meeting of HMHB's existence. Everything I have done over the last 9 years (on and off), with over a thousand meetings and many many hours, has come down to this.

We have prepared a powerpoint presentation, and have people with us - I fear that the CCG will come into the meeting with their minds already made up about no funding - but I feel we have a terrific argument. It is impossible for us to continue without funding. Especially as we are now being chased to get off benefit - which I hate being on anyway. I want to work and earn my money.

We updated our GoFundMe page with more videos and more info re the programs. Surely someone somewhere will like us?

Friday 3rd November 2017 - 5th week, CCG, DWP, Will Norman

Posted 4:15pm

Our fifth session last Tuesday was very good - some great interactive discussion and even a Tabata HIT session for fitness. 

Our group at Halloween

We then headed up the canal, had s sandwich lunch, before heading off to Islington Museum where a very knowledgeable man, who could remember dates extremely well, gave us a fantastic guided tour, for which we were very thankful.

I met with Ian, the DWP guy, and we discussed how we could get some programs going with people from the Job Centre attending - and we came to a great understanding. I really feel we can start a terrific opportunity.

We have had contact from Will Norman's office at City Hall - he is the walking Czar employed by the London Mayor.  I had rang them around our Izzwalkz initiative and want to see if he can help us expand what we are doing.  It will brilliant if we can hook up.

Finally, and probably most importantly, we have our most vital meeting ever on Monday - with Islington CCG. If we are to continue we must get some funding. I have prepared a presentation and have to say the stress around this is incredible.

Monday 30th October 2017 - improve social media entries

Posted 11:25am

Another week without entries - I must up my game with social media. We are working very hard on all fronts with the project, and am stunned I have not made an entry since last monday. So I resolve to get back to daily entries, making sure all our media is up to date.

Our fourth week last Tuesday went well, but we had people missing - some of which we knew about and others have since apologised.  It's something we are going to have to realise will happen. But thankfully everyone should be coming tomorrow to our fifth week.

We had a good time though - talking again about mindset - and Luke gave a good presentation on Sugars and Fats for nutrition. We did a small circuit training session for fitness. Overall we enjoyed ourselves very much.

We are very busy preparing for the CCG meeting - we have finally come to a conclusion re our strategy. It is the most important meeting I have ever arranged. I wont put strategy here as yet - I will wait till after the meeting itself.

On Saturday, Dean and I went to Hanley Crouch Community Centre, and we talked about mental health, the program, and fitness - and we have been asked to run a program from there.  I am hoping that the Gunners Fund will pay for that - and I am starting negotiations.

We have put off the cripplegate application for three months - and will resubmit in January. We are going to get them to fund a program with the job centre.

Lots going on - tonnes of work. But I promise I will improve my media entries

Monday 23rd October 2017 - funding

Posted 3:10pm

Funding is the big issue now. We have the concept and program going brilliantly, but if we cannot get funding to pay salaries then it will just end.  It is that bad.

We apply for funding and get turned down because we are new, or because we are small, or because we have not run enough programs to supply enough outcomes.

None of us can work full time as we are doing this. For me, this has to be a full time job setting this up. But very soon I will be sanctioned and then it goes to pot.#

We meet with Islington CCG on the 6 November, and before they have seen what we have they are already saying they wont be able to help financially but will try and support us - not exactly sure how they can do that without money.

I am starting to wonder just where funds will come from.

Monday 23rd October 2017 - amazing program feedback

Posted 3:00pm

First of a couple of blog entries - I am astonished I have not entered for 9 days.  The time is flying past and I must keep this blog more up to date.

But in this entry we have to concentrate on the feedback that we have received so far from our second Ajani program - last Tuesday was our third session.

It was one of the most fun sessions we have ever done. We were lucky to have Scott, our business mentor, come along to see how things are going - and he joined in with all the activities. We were also visited by a representative from Cripplegate funders - Patrick, who wanted to see us in action.

We started off with a mindset game - creating an advertisement for a product within ten minutes - which was great fun, and both teams had a laugh as they presented their finished advert to the group. Of course, what we were trying to demonstrate that we are all capable of being thrown in the deep end, being pushed into something new and outside our comfort zone, but also then creating something extraordinary, even if we felt we could not do it.  A lesson in life.

We  moved on to Nutrition, and Luke presented a quality discussion around carbohydrates, and how our body uses them, as well as why we need them, but also the dangers of too many. Again, we did not try and tell people what to eat, but it is important to understand, like proteins last week, just what we are putting into our bodies and why.

For fitness, we turned to boxing. This was a great laugh. We demonstrated a jab/punch, a hook, and an upper cut. Using our gloves and pads everyone seemed to enjoy the session - even Scott who we had paired up with martial arts expert Laura - wow can she punch!!!  It's showing people lots of different ways they can raise a sweat and improve their health and fitness.

Jean, from the Oral Health Team at Whittington Hospital was running slightly late for his demonstration so, off the cuff, I invited the group to say some comments to Patrick about how they find the course - be that positive or negative. I had nothing to worry about. Even though this was still only our third week, we were praised to the hilt. It was quite humbling, but also fantastic, to hear such great feedback. People said they preferred our delivery and how we were so positive. One person said they felt "empowered" and "they could achieve more". Luke and Dean were applauded for the way they handle the group and the information and knowledge they impart. That really cheered me - as this is my baby, but they are fundamental to its success now.

Luke, Scott, ,myself and Patrick all went off to chat about our funding application, and I am adjusting it slightly as per his comments. They would really like to see a program being delivered rather than just fund core costs. So that is what we intend to do.

But wow. We have definitely found something good.

Saturday 14th October 2017 - our future

Posted 11:20pm

This is a blog entry I wanted separate from our fantastic news update entry earlier.

HMHB can only have a future if we can get salaries for those involved.

There is a multitude of research and studies around health and fitness with the mind and body, all managed and presented by the NHS and various Universities and establishments. In fact, every week there seems to be another study published extolling the need for people to be more active, healthier and fitter - and all these are showing a general agreement that we are becoming fatter, slower, less energised, and more unhealthy as a species.

Our Ajani program - and Izzwalkz initiative - are a proactive approach to be both corrective and preventive on these issues. HMHB was formed because the way we deliver the concept is not available, but I am confident that in the near future there will be more schemes just like ours. But these will be managed by large companies with their eye on the balance sheet, not on the help that they are offering.

We need a chance. We need people to see what we are doing and trust us and believe in us. We understand that we are new, untried, and maybe seen as a risk. But we have done all the groundwork, and our programs are working - even though we are only on our second. It is plainly obvious to everyone involved that we are affecting lives positively.

But we need money - we need salaries and costs.  To get contracts we have to do many more programs, but they have a price!!!  We will be applying for various funding - but none of them will pay three salaries.  We have a meeting with the Islington CCG on the 6 November. I am truly hopeful they will see what we are doing, and recognise the "significant benefits" (a quote from my MP Jeremy Corbyn).  Let''s see

Saturday 14th October 2017 - program, british library, councillor

Posted 11:00am

I was sure I had made an entry this week, but it appears not.

It has been a solid week for the program - a great second week for our second group.

Learning from our pilot, we are mixing up these sessions better, and it was a really good Tuesday morning in Camden.

We started off as usual on our "mindset" promotion - challenging people to think a bit more and realise a growth mindset is the way forward - instead of being stuck in a fixed mindset.  We did a small game giving two groups different situations and making them look at things in a negative way (which would be the natural way to see them - we did a failed job interview, as well as the break up of a relationship). Both of these showed similar emotions and thoughts of blame, self-pity, anger. But actually both can be seen as a challenge with positive outlooks. It's all down to mindset.  I think it got our message across well.

Luke did a great presentation on "Protein" for our nutrition section. I learnt stuff, and I continue to do so. We gave a very good handout to accompany it too.  We do not believe in tell people what to eat - they are adults and they can choose what they consume for food and drink.  But if we can raise awareness of why we need certain things in our diet (such as vitamins and minerals from our first week, and proteins in our second week) and how our body can stay health because of them, we are seeing if we can get people thinking about their own short term and long term nutrition needs.

We did three more exercises following last week's squat, crunch and press up.  This week we introduced the lunge, plank, and the always popular burpee.  Sadly I am unable to make the personal training session today, due to commitments, but I know that Dean and Luke will be doing some circuits with the group - and involving these exercises.  The group are pushing themselves into all of this, which us terrific.

Our health section had Fisayo, from Solutions4Health, come in to talk about stopping smoking. They run an excellent service that can help people move forward with this. He gave a very good presentation and it involved a carbon monoxide test for all the group - which proved informative.

Yesterday, Friday 13th, we had an amazing trip to the British Library. We met outside beforehand, and six of us enjoyed a chat and some lunch before going in at 2pm. Dan was our guide, taking us around the building, including some places that are staff only.  We learned a lot, and it is an incredible place. I was most impressed with the library that had been gathered by King George 1, and he managed to collect a large number of books from all over the world, and it was thought provoking seeing so many on shelves proudly displayed.  We were also shown how to become free members of the library so we could use research, and I know one of our group who expressed interest around her own college course.  I also am anxious to do some more research.

We have to offer our heartfelt thanks to the British Library, who gave us a lot of time, and have said they would be delighted to offer more of our groups a tour in the future - something we will definitely be taking up.

On Thursday evening I met up with Osh Gantly, one of my councillors.  She is heavily into mental health issues - as is Jeremy Corbyn (with whom I am meeting at his surgery next week). I updated Osh on our progress and she said she wanted to be kept up to date.

Sunday 8th October 2017 - biggest ever month ahead

Posted 4:10pm

Well, we have one of the most important months coming up for HMHB since the original idea conception nine years ago.  Of course, I have not been working on this solely since then. There has been periods of work, plus of course the depression in there too. The last three years have been the most concentrated.

This second Ajani program we are running has to provide good outcomes as we need to impress upon people the need for funding to move forward. Without the prospect of funding I am not saying it is the definite end of everything, but if we are to move forward in a professional way it is vital.  Therefore we need to show fantastic results - and I believe this course will be a good one.

We had a really good Personal Training session yesterday in Highbury Fields.  The usual myself, Dean and Rosie were joined by Geoffrey for his debut - one of current Ajani service users.  He has a damaged ankle - which is going to need another operation in the near future - but he really flung himself into the work. We all had a great time.

I have just been on Youtube (our channel hmhb2016) and adjusted all the titles for our videos - and I am looking forward to adding more over the next few weeks.

Friday 6th October 2017 - new program starts

Posted 2:00pm
I have been most neglectful on the blog front - so this has the potential of being full of news.

The main item is the start of our New (second ever) program last Tuesday (3 October). We have been working very hard on this one with a lot of preparation, and it paid off handsomely.  We had five attendees (but we know that will grow to a possible ten this coming week). But all five said they had enjoyed the session - one describing herself as feeling "inspired" - Wow!!!!  This is the whole reason we are doing this.

We had adjusted the format from the first. Frustratingly we did start late yet again - we have stressed to people the need to start on time this coming week - and in fact we will start at 10:30 regardless. We are now doing mixed sessions every week - targeting mindset, nutrition, fitness and health. We definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Thankfully all our guest speakers have confirmed - and I am very excited about that.

We have an amazing trip to the British Library organised for the Friday 13 October. I went along on Monday and had a terrific hour long chat with three of their employees about us and the tour. They were really interested in the work we are doing and I am confident we are going to have a terrific trip.

We had a follow up with Voluntary Action Islington on the Capacity Building project - sadly the first session on Business Plan I am unable to attend as I am having my eight week review following my eye surgery in September. But I think we will still be able to get something going.

We got turned down for the Cloudesley funding to expand the walks, which was disappointing. I thought we had a good chance of this one. Finance very soon is going to be our major problem. It also does not help with stress. It would be nice to just be able to concentrate on delivering the very best possible program without outside concerns.

Monday 25th September 2017 - videos, Jordan; handouts, meetings

Posted 11:45am

Wow!!  Is it seriously a whole week since my last blog entry?? Where does the time go? So much to add in this entry.

Just come back from a terrific meeting in Hackney, where I met up with a fantastic lady called Lauren, who now works at Hackney Council in the Employment department, but I first came across at Business In The Community, when she was part of the team that ran the Ready For Work program. We discussed our Ajani, and how it could possibly fit in with the work they do in Hackney. I asked about the possibilities of doing a pilot in one part of the Borough, and we are going to discuss this more very soon. I have to send some paperwork through. But it ended very positively. It was great catching up too.

I was going to chase Jordan this week - the amazing US guy who posts fantastic videos about fitness and life on Youtube, and who we followed on our pilot program. I chatted with him a week ago and he promised to send us a video. Well, it came this morning. And I am so grateful to him, and it is terrific. It will definitely enhance our next program, and it is three and a half minutes dedicated to HMHB and its users. I find it difficult to actually put into words just how special this feels.  Truly amazing!!!!  YAY!!!

Stunning work from Kacper, our website guru and social media magician - we have intros and outros on our bespoke fitness videos - and they are all on our Youtube channel now (hmhb2016). Again, it is difficult to describe how it feels as it is something I have thought about for quite a few years - and talked about a great deal.  To actually see it happen is truly emotional. However, it is me being trained by Dean and shows me just how out of shape I have become and how hard I must work to regain my old shape and fitness. It's a terrific incentive (I describe myself as fat and camp I think - must do better!!!).  But thanks to Dean for training, Luke for filming, and Kacper for the computer magic!!

Last Tuesday I met up with Nasir, the borough relationship manager for DWP in Camden, and had a terrific discussion about our work and how we can perhaps do more in Camden. He has agreed to come on our course on one day to talk to the people about opportunities around employment when they have finished recovery, which is amazing. We also spoke about the DPS system and getting ourselves on there.

On Wednesday I had the opening day of our year long Capacity Building Project with Voluntary Action Islington. I think it will greatly enhance our work knowledge and proecdures moving forward, especially around monitoring and evaluation , as well as business planning.

Monday 18th September 2017 - progress; board; professional help

Posted 4:30pm

Definitely back to the daily grind today following a nice day off for domestics. And we are gradually making progress.

We have got a definitive date and time for our Islington CCG meeting - the 6 November - it's a massive meeting for us. I have asked Scott, Luke and Dean to attend - as well as Fateha from HGMP and Joe from SHP (we would have just about finished our second program by then). Fantastically, Rosemary on our board will actually be in Islington on that day for meetings to do with her company, of which she is CEO, and we are hoping there will be time for her to also attend.

We have had to postpone our meeting with Hackney Council to next Monday morning, due to they being busy, but that is fine. It is just an opportunity to discuss our program with them, and see if we can start negotiating some kind of dialogue in getting us involved in their own employment support.

Funnily, I know the contact we will be meeting,  They were part of the management team of the Ready For Work program run by Business In The Community when I went through it three years ago. Ironically, I have just organised a meeting with BITC for next Monday afternoon. I would like to see if they could promote our program with their business contacts to see if anyone would contribute to our GoFundMe, or even sponsor us for a small time.  In return, I was hoping they might give us a chance to help them with the RFW program.  No harm in talking.

I met earlier with Luke from the Big Alliance, and after yattering on for ages (the poor man) we discussed ways that they could help us. The BA create terrific links between organisations and working professionals.  We said we would like to see if we could get an Islington business leader on our Board - someone who has not been associated with either myself or the creation of HMHB - that way someone who can maybe see things from a different business point of view.

We also asked about getting some help towards advice on HMRC issues and social media marketing. They do have people who give their time pro bono to help local projects. Luke said he would put our request about and see what comes up. (I have to complete some forms, but they are a charity and thankfully there is no fee).

Finally, we will be getting out finished Youtube video intro and outro later today - which is very exciting. It's things like that which will hopefully allow us to stand out from the crowd.

Saturday 16th September 2017 - Jordan; videos; program; handouts; CCG

Posted 3:55pm

Another strong week for us - of progress and work. For people trying to start a business, there can be sites online that seem to say it is quite easy. It definitely is not. The amount of preparation, and the amount of paperwork can be daunting.

I am so excited to see how our video intro and outro come out - I know Jack has been working on them today - now all we have to suss out is how to put them together - another challenge for us. It will be interesting to get opinions on how they look. We are trying to do things in a different way. But it is important to look as professional as possible - so a header showing who we are, as well as directing people to our social media, is vital.

The program is coming together very nicely. The seven sessions are set - and we are still just finishing off the handouts. As a group we will be working heavily in the next two weeks to ensure we deliver the weeks in a fun way. I am thrilled to see how it comes out. I am also happy with the handouts we are preparing - around fitness, nutrition, mindset and health.

We had a terrific telephone chat with Jordan Syatt last night - I honestly could not believe he had give us this time. As I have said before, his online videos pass on a similar message to the Ajani and HMHB concept. We talked about the Ajani program, the people we are working with, and the aims of the organisation - and he is going to do a video just for us - which is absolutely brilliant. Not only that, I asked if he had contacts in London he felt might be able to assist us, and he came back in a positive fashion.  This is a super contact - and I hope in the future we may be able to do more.

Finally, it looks like we will be meeting with the Islington CCG in the first week of November. And we are also hooking up with Hackney Council on Monday. We are really pushing hard to progress.

Tomorrow? A day off for domestics me thinks!!  :-)

Friday 15th September 2017 - videos; meetings; program timetable

Posted 12:10pm

These weeks go so quickly. Sitting in Upper Street at the moment as we are meeting someone from Islington Council in a couple of hours. So time to update the blog again with news (and quite a bit of it today).

We have found someone to do our video intro/outro for our bespoke fitness videos for Youtube - a guy called Jack, who is out of London. Looking forward to seeing what he produces. It is the first time we have outsourced any work - mainly because we have had no funding and people do need paying!!!  But although we have managed to do most things ourselves, this was a bit beyond us. On occasions it is better getting in the professionals.  He does understand our budgets, but also likes what we are doing. Maybe the start of a budding work relationship as I am sure we will need other things going forward.

Meetings galore at the moment - but the biggest is the Islington CCG (commissioning group). We are just finalising a date, but it looks like it will be the first week in November. It will be a massive one for us - and thankfully we will be bringing a small delegation with us (more news to follow).  In the meantime, we have lots of other meetings coming up - including both Hackney and Camden council, Business In The Community, Islington Big Alliance, and our exciting telephone meeting with US based fitness consultant Jordan.

Now we have the date for our next SHP program starting on the 3 October, I am very busy building my timetable of extras. We have several talks, several outings, personal training sessions, a first aid course, and a couple of other things all to be organised - and in very little time.  Stress!!!  We completed all the pre-course evaluation stuff for users and sent that off to SHP. We also sent our invoice, and a contract we would need signed - it is important to us that we are as professional as possible, and we provide a quality services - but need to be protected by a legally binding contract.

So plenty of progress.

Wednesday 13th September 2017 - arsenal, october program, cripplegate

Posted 5:05pm

It's a glorious hot afternoon here in Marble Arch, and I am just about to head round to my elderly friend's flat as he is off to watch Tottenham v Dortmund in the Champion's League tonight at Wembley. I am sitting for his brother.

Whilst there I will be working on the funding spreadsheet to accompany another funding application that I completed this afternoon (I have sent it off to my board and HMHB people to review - there must be things that need changing and I always happy to listen to views).  This funding is a maximum of £5000. I imagine few get that though. Generally, if you are successful on applications it tends to be around half of what you ask for. Although, it would be nice to get anything at the moment. It does not cover salaries of course. But it does cover "core" costs - which are vital for us at the moment to provide a quality and professional service.

We met with Arsenal on Monday at their fantastic "Hub" building next to the stadium.  Fantastic layout and great for the local community. We have a terrific chat with Samir and Alan from their Gunners Fund who said they really liked what we are doing, but they didnt fund core costs - which is what we applied for.  Although naturally a bit disappointed, we totally understand all that. But they might actually fund a program. We are going to approach Change Grow Live.

Finally, a terrific meeting last night with Single Homeless Project re our first ever paid program which will now start on the 3 October - 7 sessions (six on consecutive Tuesdays, the seventh on the following Saturday).  We talked about structure and all the chat was positive. We both looking for various outcomes and are also anxious to get good numbers.  I feel we are offering a huge amount.

Monday 11th September 2017 - funding; video intros

Posted 1:45pm

I am sitting have a coffee off the Holloway Road at the moment, all ready for a meeting with Arsenal Football Club to talk about our funding application for their Gunners Fund - which helps local community projects around the area.

We put the application in around five/six months ago, and since then some of our funding necessities have changed, and a couple of things on the application are no longer needed.  We are hoping to still get the £2000 we applied for, but have sent a new list of items - some of them are the same - that we have prioritised.

This includes a new laptop (there are two of us delivering and preparing for the project but only one laptop between us) with updated Microsoft Office software. Also anti-virus software. All of the costings are from the internet.

Plus we want to get accounting software now we are trading, in order to comply properly with Companies House and the HMRC. I like Sage, and we have contacted them to get the costings for this.

On top of that we have put in for travel, insurance for Personal Trainer, stationery, and first aid.

Scott was invited by Arsenal to attend too - so I am very hopeful that we could get the £2000. However, they might not like the fact we have adjusted the items. We will wait and see, but I am excited to attend - we will put another blog posting to update.

We sent off an application yesterday to the Local Initiatives Fund - which is managed by local councillors for projects within their wards. We have already chatted with Osh Gantly and Caroline Russell about this - in fact both of them mentioned this fund.  We asked for around £880 to really push the Izzwalkz CP, and I am hopeful that we will get something - if not all of that.  It would be great to be able to really publicize it and build up numbers - as well as get some fitness equipment and volunteer clothing and items.

We are starting three more funding applications this week - Cripplegate, Trust For London and Awards For All. Plus investigating other opportunities.

Finally, we really need to get our fitness videos onto our Youtube channel. But we need to have "intros" and "outros" on them - and none of us have the slightest clue how to do.  So i went online and found a website where professionals advertise themselves, showing their costs too.  I have left and advert, but contacted a freelancer who does animations and videos. So hoping something comes back for that.  We have put that cost (£75) into the Gunners Fund application.

Saturday 9th September 2017 - persistence and self-belief are key

Posted 11:00am

Just reflecting on a very positive week.  We are definitely moving forward with pace, but this has been years in the making - and we have had to go through many pitfalls on the way.

I liked the graphic at the top of this blog posting. That big "confidence" surrounded by negative words sums us up perfectly. We have always believed we had a concept that would work, even if we have adapted it a lot of times along the way. Its format has been fluid and we have changed direction a few times, often because of small conversations when we have been networking.

I do think we have got a good program now - and we are having fun developing the small changes and improvements for this second project with SHP starting in October. But it has taken persistence and self-belief.  There have been numerous occasions where people have told me to drop the project and move on - "it's a great idea but nobody will give you funding as you need to prove your outcomes first" - this, in different ways, has been said to us a lot.  But i have carried on emailing, phoning, and meeting. Always trying to find influential people, top people, people who can affect money and decisions. We are finally emerging into a new era - and are so close to finally getting ourselves going properly.

This week coming I have at least eight meetings organised - all of which will be influential in the direction we are heading. I know I have a further two already booked for the following week, and intend on getting at least another three added to that.

This weekend is a vital one with paperwork. I want to complete at least another two of the funding applications - one is completed already. By next Friday I want to have got five off to their destination. Would be amazing to get two or three of them. Only one of them covers salaries though. That is the biggest issue at the moment. How long can we carry on without earning?

By the end of this week I also want to have a majority of all the handouts prepared - that we will be distributing in the October program. I have a couple of booklets I also want to prepare (an evidence one and a fitness one) but cannot start those until I have got our handouts ready.

I also need to work on the service user evaluation/welcome papers, the contract, and the information papers - all for our SHP meeting on Monday - we have some very exciting additions to this program and I am thrilled to be offering them.  

Friday 8th September 2017 - Handouts, plus accounts

Posted 2:05pm

Just about to head off to the gym to do some gentle cardio - this bubble in my eye jumps up and down if i exercise heavily and is very annoying!!

I have been very busy preparing various handouts for our next program - and we will be keeping these, and probably adjusting them, for future courses too. I still have many to ocmplete.

We will be giving out four handouts each session - one on mindset, one on fitness, one on health, and one on nutrition - all relevant to what we were discussing on the day.  It is great fun preparing them, to be honest.  We want to make them bespoke to us - but naturally I am trawling the internet for relevant pictures and wording - which we can then adapt more to the language that we want to put over. When I used to get computer software I loved the "Idiots Guide" books you could get, as they spoke plain clear English. So we are looking to provide evidence like that.

I am also reviewing accounts software. I did mention it a week or so ago, but it is important that we start when we mean to continue, and I will be buying Sage software - which you can get for a monthly fee - but that depends very much on funding.  Thankfully we are meeting Arsenal on Monday, and a years worth of accounts software will be part of that package we are requesting. We also want to buy some more fitness equipment to go along with what we have. If we have five walks and bi-weekly pt sessions, we need to ensure we can build up a good base.

Thursday 7th September 2017 - walks, cooking and fitness

Posted 2:30pm
Second blog entry of the day, as more news on a few subjects.

Had a nice walk this morning for our Izzwalkz CP.  Need to pick up numbers, but we still have a lovely chat and laugh. A new member joined us today - and that was through AGE UK (so it is nice to know that we are recommended by people). It was nice to chat to him, and we were also able to direct him to some other services in the area.  Hopefully we can get the funding we have applied for to really establish five/six healthy walks in Islington.

We heartily recommend another service called Bags Of Taste - who demonstrate cooking various recipes on a budget - in a very proactive way. They are running another course in Islington (Canonbury) starting in a couple of weeks. Sadly just too early for our next Ajani customers. But I will be attending two of the days with Rosie, who came through our pilot with great success. I met her this week and she is starting a college course in a couple of weeks and is pushing herself forwards fantastically. Yay!!!

Dean continues to run our Saturday personal training session. It is now every Saturday, meeting outside Highbury Pool and Gym at 12:30pm, and then going up to Highbury Fields for an hour. Sadly I am unable to go this coming weekend, as I have benefited well from these sessions myself.  We are looking to start a midweek session nearer to Camden - probably on the day of the course - for our service users.

Thursday 7th September 2017 - lots of meetings; very busy time

Posted 2:00pm

The diary is filling up quickly as we are organising a lot of meetings over the next couple of weeks. Together with my incredibly lengthy to-do list I fear I am going to be working a few nights too!!! But I would much rather have it this way than be sitting down twiddling my thumbs. Nothing like a challenge!

We currently have meetings organised in the next two weeks with:

Hackney Council Employment Team

Islington Council

Borough Relationship Manager for Camden Job Centres

Practice Manager for Highbury Grange Medical Centre

Single Homeless Project - re our October program

Rosemary from our board - down from Scotland - hoping to catch breakfast (please!!)

Telephone meeting with American Fitness expert Jordan Syatt

Voluntary Action Islington - as we start our years Capacity Building Project with them

We are trying to organise meetings with:

Islington NHS CCG - just waiting for a date

Arsenal FC - re Gunners Fund application - just waiting for a date

The BIG Alliance - just waiting for a date (logo at top - details below)

Clarion Housing Group

Peabody Housing Group

British Library - re possible tour

The BIG Alliance (Business for Islington Giving Alliance), on their website say:

"Since 2012, almost 1,000 business volunteers have been placed into a wide range of roles including one-off and ongoing opportunities providing business support in areas such as HR, marketing, legal and business planning, mentoring roles, acting as new board members, and 1,308 have taken part in team challenges. 

This support has been delivered to 124 community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations across the borough. In addition, through the education programme, 399 pupils from eight institutions have benefited from mentoring relationships.  

As a result of its piloted employment work, the BIG Alliance has also helped 148 people into work"

We feel that we can network with them, as we also need volunteers to help with the expansion of our Izzwalkz initiative.  I am hoping we can have a good relationship.

Tuesday 5th September 2017 - news updates

British Library:

between Kings Cross St Pancras

and Euston stations

Posted 2:30pm
Second posting of the day - but some exciting updates to share as we progress.

Firstly, Arsenal in the Community have asked to meet with us over our application on their Gunners Fund.  We applied in April, and part of it covered a proposed course in June with the Job Centre, which did not happen in the end.  But we would like to see if they will allow us to use it on a different program this autumn.  We also asked for money towards marketing/admin/stationery; first aid training; insurance for our Personal Trainer; as well as travel. Hopefully we will be meeting with them next week - with Scott. I need to sit down and reevaluate the amount to cover our needs as of now.  Naturally there is no guarantee, but it is a good boost that someone has seen what we are doing and is considering granting us some money.  I am also hoping that we can persuade them that they could get even more involved in the future.

We have organised our telephone conversation with Jordan for next week too. This is the American fitness expert and I feel very excited. We also will be asking him if he thinks he knows any contacts in London that could possibly assist us - I know he has dealings all over the world.  But the fact he has agreed to chat to us, after seeing our email and our online links is another terrific boost.

I have completed our funding application on the Local Initiatives fund - this is the one that local Islington Councillors can distribute in their wards to projects directly affecting their area. We met with both Osh Gantly and Caroline Russell, Councillors for Highbury East - and will be applying for just over £800 towards the Izzwalkz CP walk.  Again, no guarantees, but it must help that both of them encouraged us to apply.

I have contacted the British Library about bringing our Ajani group on a visit. It is a very interesting building. SHP themselves have asked us to target "employability" a bit more for our next course, and I feel that this could help - it can be used for job search and research.  I am waiting to hear, but I do know they run tours - I just hope they do not charge!!!

Finally, Voluntary Action Islington gave us an excellent contact at Islington Council, and I will meeting with her next week too. So it is getting to be very full - and I am hoping to get a few more organised too.