Wednesday 31st July 2019 - reflections on a positive month for HMHB

Posted 1:00pm

It has been a full and busy month, but also a productive one.  We have made some serious moves forward, and I have to say I am feeling excited.

Of course, the main news was our lottery proposal for seed funding for a year. Three full time and one part time salary, plus all the direct costs and overheads too. I have to say it was a cracking document, completed by Lawrence but amended and overseen by several others. It was the eighth or ninth draft that eventually was delivered online. I know they are looking at it, and it will be some months before any award, if we get one.

This was helped by significant meetings with prospective partners in Islington, Haringey, Hackney and Camden during July. All were positive and left us feeling upbeat . Naturally there are no guarantees, and over the last few years we have come to expect things not to run smoothly. But we are so prepared at the moment. This really is the culmination of years and years of work, sacrifice and effort.

Delighted with the contacts we have established in Haringey - with the Well Being Network, the DWP, and with Bridge Project - all growing in July. We have a cracking meeting already arranged for Tuesday morning in Haringey. And the beauty of that is we have our fitness session in Highbury at the same time, and Dean will be in charge. It may seem like a small success, but HMHB can have two events running at the same time. This is massive for us, considering lack of current funding and there are three of us (two of which have 40 hour a week paid jobs).

We had a cracking chat with Peabody today, one of the largest housing providers in Islington, and we are meeting up with them next Wednesday for the day, where Lazza is being introduced to prospective partners. Exciting times ahead there.

We also had a good meeting yesterday with people who can fund some work in Camden, and this is something I will be looking at over the next few days.

Of course we also managed to establish some excellent partnership possibilities in Hackney too. It really is all coming together at a great time. It does mean a lot of work, and there never seems enough hours in the day to do all of it. But that is part of building our product. Yay!!!!

August is going to be one of establishing and preparing. In the mental health field it will be fairly quiet. People are away on holidays and lots of places slow up at this time. It is therefore a great time to try and tie up all loose ends, look at getting in some funding applications, and looking forward to what we can do in the autumn months while we wait on the lottery (and keeping everything crossed for that).

Personally, for me (Lazza) it has been a good month. I am working my way nicely towards my weight targets again - and realise that I need to work just as hard in August and September. Mentally I feel in a good place - this, as you can imagine, is a very stressful project.  Thanks to everyone who may read this. Your support and friendship mean so much.  If you want, please like and follow this blog. Also please like and follow our health blog -   www.healthymindshealthybods.blogspot.com  - we try and make entries most days, and we love it.

Monday 29th July 2019 - Development and Design moving forwards

Posted 12:50pm

Like any business we need to be constantly looking forwards and adapting to change.  We have reached a sort of threshold while we wait to see how the lottery proposal develops. I need to complete the last years accounts - which I am doing in the evenings at home, reconciling the bank statements with invoices and receipts, inputting all the information onto our Sage software, and filing everything away in case people need to see it.  I will then get it to our accountant for end of year processing.

But we are also looking forward as to the work we will be doing with the various partners. There are multiple outcomes we will be looking to achieve, and therefore pour programs need to adjust accordingly. We are also always looking at new ways we can introduce interactive intervention on our five main subjects:  Mindset, Health, Fitness, Nutrition and Routine.

I also want to explore how we can up our "extras". We have our walks and fitness sessions, and I would like to try and get at least one social a month, and a couple of day trips too. There are so many free places to explore in London. We would not be able to cover fares or food, but we can walk a lot of places, and pack lunches can be made. They are challenges to overcome.

I am so excited at the possibilities for us - and the partners we can work alongside.

I will also be starting to go through that list of funders I have developed from various lists. I think there are about 25-30 different funds we can apply for. If I can do at least one a week at least, that is a start. I will also try and devote an afternoon to visiting two or three different corporate companies in London, as I still feel there is an opportunity for us there - as well as Universities and Colleges.

So a lot to get on with. Lol.

Sunday 28th July 2019 - Lottery proposal and partners

Posted 4:00pm

As people are aware, we completed and sent in our lottery proposal. And we have now heard that the North London Team are reviewing it.

With that in mind, as we have indicated we will be working with a plethora of partners, in multiple boroughs, we have today emailed everyone concerned, as I am sure there is a possibility the lottery people with contact many of them.  This is understandable. They will need to check that the information we have provided is accurate - which of course it is.

I am emailed our contacts at:
Single Homeless Project
Islington Job Centres - DWP plus disability
Islngton Clincal Commissioners
Peabody Housing in Islington
Haringey Well Being Network
Haringey Job Centres - DWP
Hackney Public Health
Hackney Job Centres - DWP plus disability (also covers Tower Hamlets and City of London)
Anchor Hanover - in Hackney
Islington Highbury Councillors
Highbury Grange Medical Practice
Better Gym - Aquattera

As you can see, our application is ambitious and exciting. So many possibilities, and it may look daunting, but we are very anxious to get started and explore the opportunity.  I also expect the Lottery to get in contact with us - and will try and get the whole team to that - including Scott if possible.  It is a lot of money - but we believe great value for what we are proposing.  Let's hope the lottery see our potential too.

Sunday 28th July 2019 - Margate was terrific

Lazza, Rosie and Marie in Margate

Posted 3:45pm

With incredible thanks to Eagle Project, HMHB headed to Margate on Friday, and had a truly wonderful time away from the hustle and bustle of London. Lazza took Rosie and Marie, with the trip financed by Eagle.

We met at Kings Cross around 10am and caught the 10:27 down South, enjoying some home made breakfast rolls of ham and cheese - they really are a great group. Lots of laughter - god only knows what the other passengers made of us. It was lovely to bond with Eagle - who do some fantastic work with people following recovery, especially from issues around alcohol.

Although the day was not as sunny as the previous day (which was probably one of the hottest days I can remember) we still had a lot of sunshine (with just the occasional sprinkle of rain). The tide was out, so the beach was enormous, and lots of sand too. There was paddling, chat, and sun bathing for some. We found fish and chips - which was delicious - and Lazza even found room for a triple ice cream tub of run and raisin, coconut and banana - I think Rosie had caramel and vanilla.

We got the 17:30 back to St Pancras, which decided to take the scenic route via Dover and Folkestone, and got back to London tired, but very happy.

It was just nice to get away for the day. It was great for the mental health, and I find this intervention inspiring for what we are doing with HMHB. It also helps building great connections with Eagle and the local community.

Wednesday 24th July 2019 - Finance timing is wonderful + Margate

Posted 4:45pm

It is a steaming hot day in London, and I am sitting indoors, in a fairly air conditioned premises, reviewing the last couple of days - so it is time for a blog entry.

Every meeting seems to be vital now - but they are going well, when they happen!!!  Sadly our Hackney meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled by them - due to the heat!! Hey ho.

But I did have a cracking meeting with Camden earlier - and that was with The Living Centre, which is a terrific community based project. They are very interested in working with us - and I am hopeful of some one off sessions in September and October to show our capabilities - funded we are hoping by Camden Giving, with whom we are chatting next week.

Our biggest issue lately has been money though. It has been tough going, with Lazza having to use his money to prop up the direct debits, which has left him severely short himself. Thankfully, the wonderful Highbury East Councillors approved out Local Initiative Funding application for £895.60, and we are getting that next week. Not only that, the truly awesome Open Destinations, who did a sponsored run raising money for three local Islington organisations, of which we were one, have asked me to come and collect a check for just over £900 next Thursday.

Both monies will be spent wisely on our Izzwalkz project, Ajani, and equipment and running costs. I have to admit the timing is great. We were starting to sweat a little - and not just because of this burning hot weather.

Finally, the terrific Eagle Project have allowed myself and two of our users, Rosie and Marie, to tag along on their trip to Margate this coming Friday. This includes our travel, a breakfast roll, and fish and chips at the end of the day. It will be lovely to get out of London, but also strengthen our relationship with this project. They do some great work, and are the friendliest of groups.

Monday 22nd July 2019 - a lot going on in the background

Posted 4:30pm

Apologies for the lack of entries over the last ten days. However, it does not mean we have dropped off the grid, or that we are not working hard.

We have a couple of meetings arranged with Camden - another borough we would like to establish ourselves in. One with an organisation that deals with mental health, and the other with an organisation that we can apply for some funding. Both will happen before the end of this month.

We are busy preparing for our 40 minute taster session with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and City of London DWP disability teams this coming Thursday at Hoxton Job Centre. It is not a lot of time to really sell ourselves. Luke, Dean and I met up this lunchtime to iron out what we are doing and how we will make the best of the time we have got. It is an exciting opportunity, and I am certain we can make an impression.

Lazza has had a great general overhaul of all our equipment and papers. It was crucial we got them all in one place, and where we can lay our hands on things when we needed them. It also enables us a chance to follow up on some old clients, as well as assess anything we may need buy.

Exciting times ahead we feel.

Wednesday 17th July 2019 - List of possible funders

Posted 12:50pm

As always, money is tight. We are hopeful of getting the Local Initiatives Money we applied for- and that should come through this month. Plus the amazing money raised by Open Destinations for us - which has come along a just the right time - we should be picking that up by the end of this week or start of next. We can finally pay our PT the money we owe him for the last three months - and thank him for his patience. And we have some marketing stuff to get too - plus normal overheads.

But we continue to look at other streams. Now we have the lottery proposal in - and we just need to wait and see how that progresses - we can start looking at other funds closer to home.

With great thanks to Voluntary Action Islington, we have managed to discover over twenty different providers who are looking for projects like ours. This can range from £500 to over £40,000 in some cases. Yes, it means gradually working my way through, looking at deadline dates and eligibility, plus more and more applications forms, but ultimately it can help us.

There does not seem to be enough hours in the days. It is already the middle of July!!!

Sunday 14th July 2019 - Caught up with emails - personal goals

Posted 3:00pm

If there is one part of administration that can really frustrate it is getting on top of emails - reading them all, replying to the ones necessary, and then deleting the ones you do not need any more.  And anyone who works in an office knows you get a lot of them.

Some of course are easy to deal with - but others are waiting for certain pieces of work to be completed as you need to send various attachments - and that can be stressful.

I am delighted to have spent over four hours today catching up on emails - completing blog entries - and general tidying up. I had to follow up on quite a lot of contacts from last week and I believe I have managed to do all of that. Naturally that just means I will be getting quite a few back in the next two days - more meetings to organise and general overview.

Personally, I feel in a good place again. With two of our service users, we are on a 26 week weight loss target - aiming for the start of 2020. So from start of July to the end of the year it is one pound a week - that's the target. The first week I lost 1.3kgs - so well above. Very happy. I realise it is about maintaining over the period, and there will be ups and downs. But as they doing it too I feel as if I can manage it. Finally.  In fact I am meeting up with Rosie and heading to the Pancras gym in an hour.

Sunday 14th July 2019 - University possibility, plus Haringey Well-Being

Posted 1:15pm

On Wednesday, Lazza was invited to attend the Islington Voluntary Conference at the London Metropolitan University on Holloway Road. It was well attended by many local organisations, had some cracking speakers talking about what was happening in Islington, and how we can get involved with the bigger work being done by the Council and other local amenities like the Police etc.  There was a great emphasis on the younger generation, as crime was mentioned a lot.

We met a couple of good contacts. HMHB is aimed at the adult community, boosting energy and confidence and looking at mental health, especially on those at risk of falling into the clutches of stress, depression and destructive behaviour.  A lot of the people there were kid services, but that we leave to the many organisations that concentrate on that.

However, we did manage to speak with the Head of Partnership, Chris Lane, and we have contacted him by email today to see if we can maybe some and do some mental health prevention intervention with their users. It would be a great chance to get that feedback with users we have not worked alongside as yet.

On Friday, Lazza went along to the Haringey Well-Being Network's first birthday - part of Mind in Haringey's work in the borough. We made another great contact with someone from Bridge Renewal who work closely with the HWBN. I think we will be able to do some partnership stuff there - and just like with the Job Centres, we can use the lottery money - if successful - to build a great relationship over a year.

Things are coming together.

Sunday 14th July 2019 - Job Centre meetings

Posted 12:15pm

I am staggered to discover I have not made a blog entry this week. I can only put that down to a very busy schedule and getting on with other jobs.

So I will be making at least two entries today - possibly three.

This one focuses on a couple of cracking meetings I had this week with DWP representatives.

Following our taster with Peabody on the 26 June - we managed to obtain meetings with the DWP Borough Relationship Managers for two areas - first one being Haringey, the second being Hackney, Tower Hamlets and City of London.

Tuesday we met with Haringey - which involved Phyllis (the DWP BRM) and someone from their Disability service - which covers both physical and mental health. We already knew that finance is an issue, but we were anxious to meet face to face and discuss how these challenges can be overcome. It was great we had already done a taster with the Haringey Well-Being Service, and knew the manager Pritty Rana - who is fabulous, and also likes us.  I am dropping them some more information this afternoon - following this entry. I also mentioned the lottery bid, and that it would be win win for us all if we got the funding as then we can work with their service users for at least a year.

Thursday we met with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and City of London - this was Stephen (the DWP BRM) and Samantha from their disability service. They were very forthcoming and we discussed the Dynamic Purchasing System for Job Centres (which we are keen to get on) and other funding streams.

We do have an incredible opportunity though. On the 25th of this month they have a meeting of the disability staff for the areas, and we have been invited to do a 30-40 minute presentation of our program. This really is a chance to show what we can do - and would mean we stick in their minds when it comes to that delivery.  Not only that, if that goes well, we have been told that there is a big London meeting in September, and we could get an invite to that. Wow!!!!

Doors are opening for us. We need to grab this with both hands. I have called a meeting with Luke and Dean, to be arranged, and we will bang out a terrific action plan. The guys are vital for this success - I hope they will put 100% effort into it.

Sunday 7th July 2019 - Lots going on this week ahead

Posted 3:00pm

Well, the last few weeks have been dominated by our Lottery proposal. Quite a few drafts, changes, amendments, and so forth. We have changed tack, looked at outcomes, need, and value for money. It is amazing just how crucial this is, and we have probably done all we can possibly do. It is now in the hands of others, and we can only hope they like what they read, and see the potential.

But there is no point in worrying and stressing. We no longer have control on that. So we now need to concentrate on progressing.

This week in particular has some vital meetings and events.
On Tuesday, following our usual fitness session at Highbury Leisure, Lawrence is meeting with the Haringey Borough Relationship Manager for DWP, Phyllis. We want to talk about working with job centres, and suggesting a couple of pilot courses with the group (financed of course) to show what we can do. That way they can decide if we are worthy of further work. I am sure we can make a difference. Phyllis knows Pritty, with whom we worked at Haringey Well Being.

On Wednesday, Lawrence is attending the morning part of the Islington Voluntary Sector Conference at the London Metropolitan University. Again, this is an opportunity of suggesting we can come in at the start of next term and work with students on their mental health - a great time to show that we can be preventive on mental health - and we have not been able to get at that genre. I know a terrific contact will be there.
In the afternoon Lazza has his own personal job centre meeting, and he will look to see if we can run a program with them too in Islington. He then intends on visiting with the Eagle Project at King Henry's Walk - they do terrific work on activities with those who have gone through recovery on substance issues.

On Thursday, following our usual Izzwalkz in Clissold Park, Lawrence is meeting with the Hackney, Tower Hamlets and City of London Borough Relationship Manager for DWP, Stephen. Similar to the Haringey meeting on Tuesday, we are going to push for a couple of Ajani progammes to show our passion, ability and outcomes.

On Friday, Lawrence is first attending Moorfields for a check up following cataract surgery. Then he will hopefully dash to the Friday walk on Highbury Fields. And from that, he then heads to the Haringey Mental Health Well-Being event in N15. HMHB will have a small stall, and be able to push Ajani, and we are hoping they will give us a small 20 minute slot to talk mindset and exercise.

In addition, Lawrence will be completing last year's accounts and sending them to our Accountant to do the necessary end of year paperwork before sending to Companies House.  He also needs to complete the reports on the two tasters we have done (Haringey and Peabody) to go on the website.

Never a dull moment.

Friday 5th July 2019 - Lottery - SHP Feedback

Posted 1:20pm



Met up with the fantastic Joe from Single Homeless Project earlier, and we did a small video about our time with them. They were the people who gave us our first opportunity to work with service users, and without their help and support we would not be here at this moment.



This is for our Lottery proposal,  which is going off today. Fingers crossed!!!

Friday 5th July 2019 - signed up for two events

Posted 12:15pm

Getting noticed and networking has been vital for us, and will continue to be so. With that in mind, I am always looking out for events that can have a benefit for our advancement.

Next Wednesday, London Metropolitan University is hosting the Islington Voluntary Sector Conference for 2019, overseen by our friends at Voluntary Action Islington. Although I will only be able to attend the morning sessions, sadly, it would give us the opportunity to drop in some paperwork and get a contact for the University itself. Our courses are focused on both preventive and corrective mental and physical health issues, and I would love us to be able to take this into the University environment, especially as we have a lot of fun and interaction. It suits it brilliantly.

It is especially looking at how the wider Voluntary and Community Sector can get involved in keeping Islington safe - with particular emphasis in the area of preventative action, working alongside existing initiatives and agencies.

I have also signed up for the Funders Fair in Kensington Town Hall. This is in three months time in October, but I think it will be an interesting place to visit and see what is happening and available.  This is the annual funding fair for voluntary and community organisations looking to work in three boroughs - Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham.

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 - Finished Weight Management - targets

Posted 4:15pm

I rather liked the accompanying graphic I found online for this blog entry. Trying to work out just which of these is the nest representative of myself!!

Our Lazza (moi!!) completed the twelve week Weight Management Course organised by the Camden and Islington NHS via Aquaterra, using the Better gyms in both boroughs. Was a terrific help in focusing on my weight issues - only hampered by the torn meniscus in my right knee (seeing the surgeon in a couple of weeks time).

But I also organised for two of our service users to join the course - Rosie and Marie - and both have agreed it has been good for them.

It certainly helped me get back into daily exercise, which I needed - I just need to control these bloody eating urges I get. Part of me still responds to stress by heading to the kitchen and seeking just how many foods I can stuff into my mouth!!! Lol.

The ladies and I have formed a bit of a partnership and have set some weekly and monthly goals - as well as thinking it is 26 weeks now till the start of 2020. By losing just 1lb a week (or half a kilo) in that time, that then means 2 stone. That is so so so achievable, but I have been there many times in the past. I think they will keep me focused.

I know this has been a bit more of a personal entry, rather than HMHB. But actually, through this course, this is how we have started to build a great partnership/friendship with Aquaterra, which can lead to significant possibilities in the future for HMHB.