Friday 29th March 2019 - One of our nicest Izzwalkz so far

Wonderful walk Thurs 28th March

Posted 12:50pm
We have been walking since November 2016 - every Thursday - Izzwalkz has not missed one week. Normally overseen by our Lazza, it has on several occasions been managed by Luke, Dean, or even a member of Highbury Medical Centre, our partners.

Yesterday, in my opinion (Lazza typing this entry) was one of the best yet. Everything just clicked. The people, the chat, the laughter, the friendship, the interaction - it all just worked superbly.

We had four ladies who had reduced mobility, for various reasons. Two used sticks, and two were not sure they would last the hour. In fact we were out for over an hour and a half - which included a lovely cup of tea/coffee at Clissold House as well.

The weather was gorgeous - it has been a wonderful March. We even commented that this winter there was not a single walk with snow on the ground. Very different from the last two years.

It was an absolute pleasure to be on this walk. The fact that several people struggled along just to partake, saying it was because they enjoyed the companionship so much, just makes the whole project worthwhile.

We desperately need funding to continue this venture, alongside our fitness sessions. I sincerely hope we find that sponsorship!!

Wednesday 27th March 2019 - reports; major month ahead

What Lazza will be in April

Posted 1:00pm

Where has this month gone? Seriously!! Time if flying.

I have been busy today working on reports for the last three Ajani programs, and we will have all three up on the website before the end of the week for people to see.  It is interesting to review just how much we have developed in the last year, how much further forward we are, and also just how much we are enjoying what we are doing. It is more professional, the quality is there, but also the passion just continues to grow. I pray we will get the funding to continue this forward.

With that in mind, April is going to be a hectic, busy month. There is so much to be done, papers to prepare, meetings to arrange. And with all that, we have to also realise we have private lives too. Lazza needs to organise a cataract operation, as the eyesight in his right eye is deteriorating. He also has issues with a hernia that is being looked into in April. Both Luke and Dean have other work problem they are dealing with, and Lazza has to find sponsorship for HMHB otherwise all of this is fruitless anyway.

We need to work hard on starting to get a lottery proposal completed, both written and video. That is crucial, but even if that is good we then have to make a proper application, so if successful that will still take around 6 months. We will continue to try and meet corporate, but that needs funding for postage and printing, which we do not have.

We need to prepare for the launch of a second fitness session and a second walk in May, and that takes up time.  All in all, it is a crucial month, with a lot of work. There is a little "is there a point?" mindset (which I hate), as if money does not come in all the effort is fruitless.

We live in hope. :-)

Tuesday 26th March 2019 - Updated GoFundMe - pls share for us

Posted 1:15pm

The bitter truth is that if we do not find overhead funding in the next six weeks itn does not matter what our dreams and aspirations are, we will fail to continue.

We have recently updated our GoFundMe page - and we ask anyone who reads this to share it with people.. Our accounts are audited by an outside local Qualified Accountants, and our bank statements are available for prospective funders to view.

Our gofundme page is:

www.gofundme.com/hmhb2016

Thank you to all our friends and supporters. Hugs!!

Tuesday 26th March 2019 - News of Haringey and Hackney

Posted 12:15pm

Currently, our two most important objectives are working with service users to prove our abilities, our project, and how our delivery can produce fantastic outcomes, and is pioneering in its uniqueness.
The other is obtaining sufficient funds to cover all our overheads, and then to secure enough to pay us full time salaries - which we deserve after all the sacrifices we have made.

Last year, we had a fleeting go in Haringey, but for various reasons it did not amount to anything. However, just before Christmas I met the amazing Pritty Rana at Haringey Well-being Network, and after a little bit of to and fro we have finally arranged to provide a taster Ajani session in the middle of April. Reaally looking forward to that, as they have said if tthey like how we work we will definitely get to provide a programme, and then see how we can develop that relationship further.

It is terrific people can see the potential for our values and ideas. Which also goes with Hackney, in a way. We thoroughly enjoyed our two programmes with Anchor Hanover Residential Housing, and we met with their wellbeing officer yesterday to discuss how, if possible, we can move forward, mentioning a lottery bid. There are a few obstacles that we would need to overcome, but isn't that life. Anyway, HMHB is all about overcoming issues that are keeping us away from our targets.

More work to prepare!!!

Monday 25th March 2019 - Highbury East event

Lazza promoting at the event - 24/3/19

Posted 1:50pm

Lazza attended a local event, organised by Highbury East Ward Councillors - Sue Lukes, Osh Gantly and Caroline Russell - all about "Care" in the ward. It gave us the opportunity to interact with local residents, as well as organisations in the area - and in fact we made a couple of terrific new contacts and friends.

It was an interesting event as there are many issues around "care", and it can focus either on the elderly or childcare - and the people in the age range between can be forgotten a little.

Lazza voiced a few opinions, and we were joined by Help on Your Doorstep, North London Cares, Islington Pensioners Forum, and a couple of terrific local church groups, that we intend on building relationships with - finance depending.

It was good to be recognised, and many people praised our work so far and our values.

Maybe, most importantly, we may gain an Honourary Trustee. Professor Lynne Segal, Anniversary Professor for Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College, came and spoke about Care and Islington, and we approached her to see if she would be interested. She agreed to look at our social media and we intend to follow that up.

Monday 25th March 2019 - Bag Of Taste cooking

French Onion soup and 

Singapore Noodles

Friday 22nd March 2019

Posted 1:40pm

On Friday morning, Lazza met up with our users Rosie and Marie, and we headed off to the Jean Stokes Community Centre on the Bemerton Estate (off Caledonion Road, Islington), to meet up with the fabulous guys from Bags Of Taste - who demonstrate cooking on a budget.

They cook two meals in front of the whole group, and then we split up into smaller groups to cook the recipes ourselves. Friday we prepared French Onion soup - which was so cheap to produce, but totally delicious - and a Singapore Noodles dish.  The pic above was proof of our efforts.

Everyone then settles down together and eats lunch. It is terrific for mental health, as well as helping those who may not be as strong as others, or as confident, when it comes to cooking.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A lot of laughs and interaction, and we were joined at our table by the Bags Of Taste volunteer Justine.  Lazza even managed to accidentally use all the chilli powder ("i thought it was the cumin and turmeric mixture" he claimed) - which gave the final dish a lively kick, to say the least.

We have a further two weeks to go, and we are all looking forward to seeing what we will be preparing.

What was even more fabulous, was that Justine joined us the next day for out Free fitness session at the Sobell.

Wednesday 20th March 2019 - Volunteer Connect in Islington

Posted 10:50am

Lazza attended an event at Voluntary Action Islington yesterday, centred around the online software linking volunteers to opportunities in Islington. It is something we are looking into as we look to expand our Izzwalkz initiative, as well as other facets of the enterprise.

It was fascinating. Thankfully we were taken through the whole process in a clear and precise way, which was vital for Lazza who admits to not being that computer savvy.

We signed up our organisation to the connect software, and even put on our first opportunity, which will go live on the 1 April. This is for our new walk in Highbury Fields starting on Tuesday 7 May. Although Lazza will be the original leader of this walk, with other HMHB commitments it is essential we have volunteers we can call on to oversee the management of the walk and walkers.

As time goes on, and we have managed to establish ourselves, other opportunities will come up.

It looked to be a useful tool, and we also are building great connections within the community.

Wednesday 20th March 2019 - New walk and fitness session at Highbury

Posted 10:30am

As long as we manage to find some running cost funding in the next few weeks, we are delighted to announce we are launching not only a new Izzwalkz walk in Highbury Fields in May, but also a new fitness session at Highbury Leisure Centre.

We have to thank Better Gyms for their fantastic offer of using the studio.  It is a wonderful chance to get low income people a chance to experience a gym studio session, managed by a fully qualified personal trainer, hopefully inspiring them on to improve their own fitness and energy levels.

Our fist gym session will be on Tuesday 7th May - 9:30am to 10:30am.  I am very much looking forward to promoting it, and have already had some flyers printed through Vistaprint.

The walk will also start the same day - and we will be doing that from 10:45am to 11:45am - and will follow directly on from the gym session. I hope some will stay for both.

Even more exciting is that we have approached Islington Central Medical Centre as partners for the walk, and they have expressed interest, and will come back to me. It would mean us getting a Roller Banner for the Centre to put up in their lobby, and allow their staff to promote our walk to patients.

We have wanted to expand walks for a long time, but felt we should just do it.

Wednesday 20th March 2019 - "Who cares in Highbury East?" event

Posted 10:00am

We are based in Islington, as people know, and our Councillor ward is Highbury East. We have terrific support from our three local Councillors  - Osh Gantly, Sue Lukes and Caroline Russell.

On Sunday, they are supporting an event called "Who cares in Highbury East?" being held at the Sotheby Mews Community Centre, which is literally around the corner from where we are based.

According to paperwork:

"This event is a new initiative for the Highbury East Ward Partnership, and the three ward councillors, Sue Lukes, Osh Gantly and Caroline Russell. After a consultation last year, it was clear that many are concerned about people in the ward needing support, care or companionship and so they decided to bring as many organisations as possible together, to tell local residents about what they do and what they can offer, and be involved in a discussion about how we can make Highbury East a more caring place."

It gives us a terrific opportunity to promote our weekly health walk with Highbury Grange Medical Centre, which is in the ward, as well as our fitness sessions, and get us known by others in the area.

We will have a little table, put up our banners, and bring some leaflets.

Tuesday 19th March 2019 - Lessons in Mindset for HMHB

Posted 5:15pm

HMHB had a strange day yesterday - and we are using our own mind-set programme to help us continue forward.

It is a little personal, but please bear with me.

One of the reasons that HMHB has developed in the way it has was through a devastating act against one of our colleagues - someone who was thought to be a terrific friend stole the life savings from one of us six years ago. He refused to pay the money back, so inevitably it ended in court. But the mental health issues that surrounded it were huge - the blatant pretense at friendship, the fact the individual and his girlfriend had both been helped and then combined to steal, con and defraud a five figure sum, and the then lies he spread to try and conceal to all who knew him that he had done such a wicked deed, led to a deep depression.

The money is coming back slowly as the court clearly agreed it had been taken wrongfully, and it is now coming straight from his salary as he at first refused to make the payments as directed by the court.

However HMHB discovered yesterday that he has been putting bad things about the business on Twitter, which obviously would affect several people involved in the project.

HMHB contacted both Twitter and the police, but it is probable that very little would be done.

We feel sorry for the individual who lives in Leeds, as his life must be miserable to do this kind of thing, and trolling isn't done by the intelligent, and is in fact probably the result of some dark mental health issues.

However, for HMHB it is a good lesson on mindset. Not that long ago, it could have eaten up our colleague. Instead, using tools he has gained through our programmes, he remains strong, focused, and determined.

Onwards we travel. Thanks as always for everyone who supports us. Yay!!!

Monday 18th March 2019 - Great success at Homerton Programme too

what a terrific group at Adelaide Ct, Homerton

Joined by Hackney Speaker 

Thurs 14th March

Posted 3:35pm

As per our morning success, our Thursday afternoon programme over four sessions closed with great feedback last week. Sandra, Estate Manager, said she had seen notable differences in some residents behaviour towards nutrition and mindset since we started.

This was a great group. We had a lot of laughs, alongside some pertinent questions, and it has been a huge learning curve for us, as it has shown we can adapt to all kinds of outcomes and users.

We were joined by the Hackney Speaker, who majestically called out Bingo, in what turned out to be a very competitive game.

Thanks again to Ann at Anchor Hanover for allowing us the opportunity to work with their residents, and to Public Health Hackney for seeing our potential.

Yay!!!!

Monday 18th March 2019 - Terrific end to programme - Newington Green

Four of our ladies

with Lazza, Luke and Dean - and assistant Marie

Posted 3:30pm
Last Thursday morning was our fourth and final session at Thirlemere Court in Newington Green, and we even had a visit from a reporter from the Islington Tribune.

It was a great end to the programme, and the feedback was overwhelming.  The ladies were all wonderful. The interaction, questions, conversation was terrific.

We dealt with mindset, nutrition and health, and the exercises we introduced went down well. It will be interesting to see if it does affect change in their lives. It certainly built awareness.

We even finished on a game of bingo, wonderful called by Marie. Ironically, our bar of chocolate winner was diabetic!!  lol.

We would like to thank Osiga, the estate manager, and all our participants, for allowing us the opportunity to work with them. And also to Anchor Housing who manage the homes.

Wednesday 13th March 2019 - Lazza's weight management course - so far

Posted 12:30pm

Using himself as an example - hopefully a positive one - Lazza, as documented already, has launched himself (yet again!!) onto a crusade to get back to a healthy weight target. Aiming for 12 stone - which us around 76kgs ish.

Starting back at the beginning of February - horrifically Lazza found himself the heaviest he had every been in his life - 98.1kgs. "It was a wake up call. I just could not imagine being over 100". So he signed up for the free 12 week Rebalance Weight Management Course, organised by Camden and Islington NHS Trust, and managed by GLL, using the Better Gyms in Islington and Camden.

February was a success. At the end of that month the scales showed 95.0kgs - a loss of 3.1kgs. Yay!!!

More importantly, Lazza has felt it had helped knowing he has to turn up to various sessions, and is accountable to the staff.

March, so far, is going very well. Yesterday, Lazza had his first ever Water Aerobics class, at Pancras Leisure Centre, Kings Cross. "Great fun" was the quote. Lighter mornings help, as well as having people encouraging.

The reason this is a blog entry comes back down to HMHB's emphasis on Growth Mindset. The psychological factor is huge, as well as developing a routine. It has been several weeks now, and the exercise part is becoming more enjoyable and less of a chore. However, there is a determination to succeed that is driving this forward. Lazza is embracing the opportunity, is sacrificing some aspects of his normal routine to accommodate sessions and fitness. That is what anyone needs to do if they have a goal to achieve.

Patience, determination, focus, and keeping an eye on the prize!!!

Tuesday 12th March 2019 - Tribune; Programme Evidence; Taster content

Posted 12:40pm

Great news for HMHB. We have both the Islington Gazette - who have been terrific in their support for us so far, especially when they featured us as Business Of The Week - and the Islington Tribune attending our final Ajani session at the Newington Green based Resedential Home on Thursday. This will mean we can reach a bigger audience, and both are happy to have the other along.

This could be pivotal for us, especially as we are desperately needing some seed funding at the moment. And we can have good links for our media information we send to organisations and prospective funders.

Also, as it is the last week, we need to gather in our evidence of outcomes. Luke and Lazza will be drawing up some new forms, as this has been a different dynamic working with over 55s. However, it has also been extremely rewarding. It is important to get written evidence, and we will be looking to do some video too.

Finally, we are drawing up our plans for the delivery of our "taster" session (2 houors). It needs to encompass our programme values and unique delivery style, alongside our pioneering work. It is important to not only get views on the programme as a whole, but also their awareness around our different subjects.

Monday 11th March 2019 - VAI; Bags of Taste; Recovery College; Walking Event

Posted 5:15pm

Lazza attended a half day course event managed by the Recovery College this morning - titled "Exercise to Feel Good". Well run and attended, it turned out to be a fun event, and built some awareness around the subject, We felt there were too many personal stories, which can be inspiring, but also can turn into negatives. It also appeared that some were still procrastinating and finding excuses for not exercising. We would also like to have seen a little more information on what is happening in your body when you exercise, as that would surely be another motivation to improve your fitness and flexibility.

Overall though, we would recommend this to others, and will be looking at the prospective for future events.

We had an email from Bags Of Taste, who are running an event off Caledonian Road, Islington over four weeks starting on the 19th. We cannot attend that day as it is the last of the Ajani programmes in Hackney, but we are looking into going along to the other three and taking some people with us.It is a good service and one we want to promote.

Voluntary Action Islington are hosting two upcoming sessions to which we will be attending, both free of charge.  One is a Networking event for CEOs, and could prove to be lucrative, depending on who is there, The other is on how to sign up to the Islington Volunteering Network, which is going to be useful for the proposed expansion of walks.

Finally, Islington, Haringey and Hackney combine for a cycling/walking event in Finsbury Park each year - aptly named Saddle and Sole. We have been in touch as it would be a terrific way to promote ourselves, especially as they can get over 2000 attending, We have provisionally agreed to organise a healthy walk on the day, and will have a stall where we can hand out flyers and talk to people. We can use the event as an excuse to obtain sponsorship.