Tuesday 30th April 2019 - First batch of Corporate letters finally gone

Posted 11:15am

Finally, after much huffing and puffing - and huge apologies to Mellow Parenting for the delay - we are finally getting out Corporate letters, requesting sponsorship and an opportunity to work with employees.

Mellow Parenting is an amazing charity, based in Glasgow, overseen by our wonderful friend Rosemary, and we have been discussing this for ages. Sadly, as I am the only admin person here, and we have no money left in the bank, we have not been able to print letters or pay postage. And other important work has also got in the way - but as funding is now fundamental to everything it is essential we focus on this. We believe that HMHB and MP both can offer incredible intervention for employees,, than can only then benefit the employer.

Thankfully, another friend of ours, Single Homeless Project has agreed to help. By tomorrow we will have printed off 250 letters, and the first 50 envelopes (stuffed with letter, page of social media/media links, flyers for fitness, walk, HMHB, and the fantastic Healthy Babies project for employers managed by Mellow Parenting) have already been posted.

We have no money for postage, so am trying to find other local organisations this week to send the other 200.  We then aim to try and get 150 out next week. All ready for Mental Health Awareness Week in May.

Tuesday 30th April 2019 - Hackney meeting plus opportunities

Posted 11:10am

Lazza and Dean had a very good meeting yesterday afternoon with Matt, the Head of Service for Hackney Public Health.

We first met Matt in January, and it was he who recommended us to Anchor Hanover. It is terrific that he sees our potential, and we thank him very much for the faith in us and allowing us the chance to show our outcomes.

We talked about Hackney supporting our lottery bid, with a view to coming to work in Hackney for at least one day a week, with various service users, including the Job Centre, and more work with over 55s. In principle he is happy to do so, but there are more meetings to arrange and people to meet.

We also mentioned about doing some more work in Hackney while we are doing the bid. He suggested a fund we could apply for, and I will be working on that over the next two weeks as the deadline is May 14th - ironically the same deadline as the Local Initiatives Fund (yesterday's blog entry).  This one is around Hackney Community Grants, but would enable us to do some program work. No guarantees of course. We can apply up to a maximum of £5000. It could help us very much at the moment.

Monday 29th April 2019 - Local Initiatives Fund

Posted 1:45pm

Timing can be everything. Being i the right place at the right time can make the difference between success and failure. Some may say it it down to luck. But you only get lucky if you are proactive and put yourself out there.

To say we are financially bereft at the moment would be an understatement. I have had to prop up the company myself, that has left me personally struggling - not moaning, it is worth it.

Thankfully, one of my Councillors, all of whom are very supportive of HMHB and our venture, messaged me today to say that the Local Initiatives Fund was open. This is a fund available to local Councillors for their Wards. It closes on the 14th May.

It is great timing, as it can pay for the launch of our new fitness session and walk in Highbury, starting next month (although we will not actually get the money till later - which is fine).

Obviously there are no guarantees, but I will put in the application and go to see every Councillor at their surgery in May too. The timing is amazing. We are applying for around £850. Fingers crossed.

Wednesday 24th April 2019 - Peabody, Volunteers

Posted 12:50pm

One of the many things we are trying to do is expand the opportunities for people to be more active, with a chance to work with a personal trainer (our fitness sessions), and interact with others (lour walks initiative).

These are naturally organised. It is overseen by us, which is really important. People know the event is running and is official. But also we need to make sure we are represented. Up to now, Lazza has been too most events - but it is inevitable that there will be meetings or work that stops that from happening. Fortunately, there are people to call on - Luke's brother Oliver, for example, is in charge of the Clissold Park walk tomorrow as Lazza has to print off Corporate letters for funding.

We met today with a lovely lady called Suma. On the 14th May we are launching a new weekly Izzwalkz Health Walk (highbury fields) - and need a volunteer to be there each week, and we met Suma through the Volunteer Islington scheme, managed by Voluntary Action Islington. Although LOazza will attend as many as possible it was important to find someone local, and we are delighted to  have Suma along. A new HMHB member.

We have recontacted Peabody, to try and work with them on Estates in Islington, using lottery bid money, if successful. More news to follow.

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 - No money, letters, partners

Posted 3:20pm

Well, we are officially out of money - we have £3 left in our business account, as we recently had a quarterly direct debit for email hosting go through. I have to admit that although I am doing all I can to get some emergency funding from somewhere - there are no guarantees - I am quite worried. I cannot even put in myself - for information, the business already owes me around £900 - and I am on Universal Credit with little left myself till May.

Should I be opening all this information to the blog? I am hoping someone who reads this may feel there is something they can do to help. We are not giving up yet!!!

The corporate letters are ready to print - checked over and adjusted by Board member - but we do not have the money to print off, or post - and are hoping Single Homeless Project allow us to do this tomorrow.

And on a day of tough news, we found out that a prospective partner, who said they wanted to work with us, has turned around and said they are too busy to help us at the moment - leaving us a little in the lurch. It is a kick in the teeth - talk about being tested!!!!

Monday 22nd April 2019 - Corporate, Blog and Lottery

Posted 8:50pm

Well, I do hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend, wherever you are. London had some wonderful sunshine. Sadly, our own Lazza damaged his knee before the fitness session on Saturday, took part anyway, and subsequently has been limping and in pain. Hopefully nothing too bad.

Meantime, we have continued to work over the weekend on several fronts.

We have been talking for a while regarding Corporate, and in February we sent out quite a few emails, but had nothing back. We think it is better to send a letter with flyers included, plus our social media details.  What with the course, taster, and our serious lack of funds, as well as other work, it was put on a back burner, which frustrated everyone. We have finally got ourselves sorted, and will be heading to SHP this week to see if they will post out a batch of 100 for us. We will keep you posted on this development. It seemed a great time to do this as it is Mental Health Awareness Week in May.

We continue on our initial Lottery proposal, and are hoping to have the first draft complete by the end of this week. It is getting the right balance of information, but making them feel that they have to give us some money!!

Our Health Blog had 19 new entries this week - with subjects as diverse as Statins, Online Gaming, Smoking, Oral Health and Sleep - among many others.  Do check it out. We would love to know if it gives the information that interests people - and it is there for anyone.

www.healthymindshealthybods.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone. Yay!!!