Friday 31st January 2020 - Slow and steady; it's not all rush rush

Posted 2:45pm

I have spent this morning at Kentish Town Job Centre, looking to sign people up to the course starting tomorrow. You definitely need patience and charm for this task. Either people say that they "don't do exercise", which is irrelevant really. Or because it is a Saturday it is a day that they take off as rest - and although I admit I do not know exact circumstances, they are all out of work!  It's about choice.

Luke has been at Finsbury Park Job Centre this morning doing the same. I think we will end up with a suitable number of referrals there. We are both back there on Monday morning to push our advantage.

I am waiting at Kentish Town (hence the time to type up this blog entry) as we are going to be able to chat to their "Stepping Stones" service users - people who are maybe not job ready at the moment, but are signing on. This are exactly the kind of people we want to attract to this course. I expect the biggest difficulty is that it starts tomorrow. But hopefully we can get at least three or four people along.

It does feel as if we are wading through sticky mud. We have our destination but getting there is a real toil. We always knew the hardest thing would be getting people to come to a first day. We are confident we can then win them over and keep them to the end of the course.

The fact we now have three fitness sessions during the week (four if you count the friday walk/exercise outdoors on highbury fields) is a massive plus.  We are less than 24 hours away from or first course for a long while - but the first of five in the next two months - plus four one-off day interventions. It is exciting, as well as scary.

Thursday 30th January 2020 - Follow ups plus job centre work

Posted 3:30pm

I have been busy following up on all the contacts we have made in the last few days, from the events and job centre visits. It is very important to ensure we do that. I had a selfie with one lady I met at the volunteering fair yesterday, all about Shingles awareness and a vaccine for older people. I promised to send it to her, which I did. She sent a lovely reply, thanking me for the photo and saying, which is true, how many promise to contact but then you never hear.

We have had two people so far say they would like to help volunteer with us, which is terrific. One for fitness sessions, and one for the course.  So all good.

Tomorrow, Luke is going to head to Finsbury Park Job Centre to try and get people to sign up to the course starting next Wednesday at the offices of Better Lives. I'm really hoping we can get good numbers, especially as BL are being so great by allowing us to use their space.  He will speak to clients, hand out leaflets, and get as many email addresses as possible.

I am heading back to Kentish Town, as we need to shake them up a little. Pick up is slow, but when we spoke to people there was a lot of interest. It is such a tight deadline. I am really nervous that we will only get one or two people. We certainly could not have done more - but when reliant on other organisations, and they do not have an active interest themselves, it can be difficult.

Keeping everything crossed.

Wednesday 29th January 2020 - Promoting at events

Posted 5:10pm

HMHB has been very busy the last couple of days. On two fronts.

First - we need to try and get as many people as possible to attend our course starting Saturday at the Living Centre. With that in mind, Luke and Lazza spent the morning yesterday at Kentish Town Job Centre. Nisar, the overall manager, very kindly invited us in, gave us a desk, and allowed us to chat to people as they came in to sign. It wasn't too bad. We took eight emails and contacted them all last night. No replies as yet, although several said they would come.
We had hoped the job centre itself would have been promoting it, as we came in last week and chatted to the group. Sadly, this did not appear to have happened. Not sure why.
We may have to go in again on Friday morning and push again. They have a programme called "stepping stones" which has similar outcome targets to us - building confidence, getting people job ready, improving esteem etc. We are hoping they will guide people towards us who are on this project. It can only enhance their own work. There just does not ever appear to be any urgency, or proactivity. We are in their hands, and can only do so much.

HMHB at Volunteer Fair - Jan 2020

Secondly, Luke and Lazza attended the Camden and Islington Volunteering Fair this lunchtime, for two hours at the Islington Assembly Hall, next to the Islington Town Hall. It was packed with organisations that offer opportunities for volunteers to help out.
We had a lot of visitors to our stall and both Lazza and Luke chatted to people, handed out leaflets, showed them photographs, and talked about our work and volunteer opportunities with us. The feedback we got was tremendous. Even if we get no actual volunteers, more people know about us and what we are doing.
It was also a great opportunity to network with other organisations that were there. They included London Zoo (I really wanted to do some of my own volunteering there), Manor Gardens, Museums, Sports Clubs, and other hobby activities. Everyone had a smile on their face and it was lovely chatting with everyone. We will be in contact with quite a few - and we may have got a few new faces for our fitness programmes.

Overall a busy couple of days. I have to say I am very nervous about numbers for our Camden course starting on Saturday. My fear is 0-4 people. We are doing everything in our power to get better numbers. It just feels as if we are being hampered by lethargy and inaction around us.

Finally - congratulations to our Lazza. Four weeks into the new year he was looking at a target of losing 2kg a month of weight. As at the morning of Wed 29th Jan - he had lost 6kg, and still three days to go. Yay!!!! Onwards into February.

Monday 27th January 2020 - time ticking - reliant on others

Posted 11:45am

With just five days to go to the start of our first course at the Living Centre Camden, Luke and I are doing all we can to get good numbers.  Very often though we are reliant on contacts from other people and organisations, and hoping people will push our service.

We were meant to be at Kentish Town Job Centre this morning but, just as we were leaving the flat, we got a text asking us to come tomorrow instead. Obviously we will comply, and if we can spend three hours talking to people you would like to think we can get three people an hour to sign up - for a total of nine. I have also asked if we can head back on thursday morning to do the same. The biggest stumbling block is that it is a Saturday afternoon. However, it is just three consecutive saturdays, we are offering access to weekly gym sessions - one of which will be at Pancras Leisure Centre - and we will have a half day outing as well.

I am very happy to say we have a meeting arranged for this afternoon with Anne, a manager at Better Lives Kings Cross. They are based opposite the station, and will definitely have some Somers Town residents, and we are hoping to be able to get two or three along to our event too.

I have followed up on our meetings last week with Peabody and Mind in Camden, and should get some excellent contacts from them for our Regents Park events, and our extra days at Living Centre.

Finally, our friends at the Eagle Project in Islington have linked us up with someone from Help On Your Doorstep, and I am having a telephone meeting with him this afternoon too.

Deadlines are good to have, but can be stressful. Luke has been busy all morning sorting out our programmes, ensuring we have a good agenda for each day, so we know what we need to bring each time, as well as prepare for the day.  It's been a full morning. Every day this week is choc-a-bloc.

Sunday 26th January 2020 - Crucial week ahead

Posted 7:30pm

I have the wonderful smell of a roast dinner in the background - my colleague Luke is staying at mine at the moment and he is a good cook - so I thought I would just type up a blog entry while he is busy in the kitchen.

We have a mega busy week ahead - definitely crucial. With a Camden three session course starting next Saturday (my only concern is attracting numbers to a weekend event), and an Islington three session starting the following Wednesday (ten days), we are going hell for leather to attract people to the courses.

Both are with the DWP Job Centres. We are spending the morning at Kentish Town tomorrow, and the morning at Finsbury Park on Friday. I will also ask if we can go to Kentish Town Thursday afternoon.  I am confident, if we can talk to people, we can persuade them to come along. It is a challenge. But it is a thrill to finally be in this position.

We will also be having meetings all over camden and islington. It looks as if it could be our busiest ever week. Which is great.  More news over the week. Please keep following our progress.

Friday 24th January 2020 - An amazing week; hard work pays off

Posted 2:20pm

I have to say Healthy Minds, Healthy Bods has had a terrific week. But that is also because we have worked incredibly hard to achieve that success.  Nothing comes from idleness, but success comes from being proactive.  And this amazing feeling has to be addictive.

We have been doing everything possible to ensure we get good numbers for our courses, which has involved meeting a lot of people. Everyone has been supportive though. Meetings have been extraordinarily successful. Of course, the proof then is to achieve everything agreed at said meetings.

Following Peabody on Wednesday, Lazza met up with Better Lives and we are coordinating with them to do two one-off events in Islington - one at Seven Sisters Road and one at King Henry's Walk. Both of them are freebies for allowing us to use their office space for our Finsbury Park Job Centre three-session course in February. We had a very good meeting. We promoted out fitness sessions and walks. We also discussed their Kings Cross office. As we are doing a Camden three session course starting in just 8 days time, we thought it would be good to see if we can get three or four people from there along. Should be having a meeting with a manager next week.

Luke and Lazza are already going in to Kentish Town job centre on Monday morning to sit and chat with signees to get people to come onto the course starting next Saturday. Face to face meetings are so much better. We did drop some flyers off this lunchtime at Finsbury Park Job Centre, and are looking to go in there next Friday morning to also chat with people.

Yesterday, Lazza and Luke were able to go and chat with the advisers at Finsbury Park JC, which was a bonus. It was the centre Lazza had signed at for several years, and there were a few people in our audience that he recognised. They were welcoming and attentive. We are so looking forward to working with this group of users, and we have to really ensure we provide the quality service we know we can deliver.

We also met with Mind in Camden - a lovely lady called Elisha. She had several ideas of people we could contact in regards to our Regents Park course in March, as well as a couple of extra days we have in both areas of Camden.

Things are coming together. Next week is going to be incredibly busy. So much to do. Over the weekend I intend to get the accounts up to date, go through a tick box to-do list, and order any stationery or equipment we feel we need. The first instalment of the Camden money should be coming next week too.

Wednesday 22nd January 2020 - Peabody exceeds expectations

Posted 2:15pm

2020 has been a very busy year for Healthy Minds, Healthy Bods. Just three weeks in and we are motoring along at full speed, meetings galore, swamped in paperwork, but big smiles on our faces. It is fantastic to have deadlines, challenges, and success.

This morning was another terrific one. Luke and Lazza headed off to Kentish Town Job Centre. We had been invited to speak at their regular weekly staff meeting. We only had a few minutes, but we managed to convey information about our project and courses. Our first one in Camden starts in just ten days time. Being able to talk face to face was a real bonus, and I am now confident we will get numbers. Lazza will hopefully be allowed to spend part of Friday sitting in the offices talking to claimants, promoting our Ajani course.

The other meeting was with the Director of Community Programmes for Peabody, and was at their Head Office in Waterloo. This meeting went even better than we thought. Some excellent contacts, and we are going to speak with relevant people in regards to our Regents Park course, from the Camden Giving money. And their are opportunities for us afterwards too. A real bonus.

It does feel as if we are waiting for our first negative to see how we react. But it feels great to see us all heading in the right direction. I have to say it has been great to have Luke around for a few weeks. He is our Programme Manager, and has taken some of the workload off Lazza.

It's the 22nd January already - time is flying. Three weeks into the new year already. But it feels fantastic.

Tuesday 21st January 2020 - Better Lives, and Somers Town news

Posted 1:20pm

Better Lives:  According to their website:

"Better Lives is an integrated drug and alcohol service delivered by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with WDP  (www.wdp.org.uk)  and Blenheim  (www.blenheimcdp.org.uk)

 

We offer a free and confidential support service for individuals and their families affected by drug and alcohol problems.

 

Our specialist team include substance misuse practitioners, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and pharmacists,  as well as complementary therapists, volunteers and peer mentors"

We are very excited to be doing some work in partnership with Better Lives. They have been very kind to allow us to use their Seven Sisters office to house our Finsbury Park Job Centre intervention at the beginning of February (just over two weeks from now).  In return, we are running a half day intervention for their clients, and are looking to tun a further one at their King Henry's walk office in Hackney too.

They also have an office at Grays Inn Road in Kings Cross. So we have offered to have some of their users attend our two session intervention at the Living Centre (we are already running a three session course for the Job centre there). Alongside that, we have the Pancras gym on Thursdays, and it would be a fantastic opportunity for their users to come along to that too.

We are facilitating meetings at the moment. Time is obviously our enemy, but I am sure we can overcome that challenge.

These two sessions I mentioned, we would also like to work with Mind in Camden, and Somers Town Health Centre, to ensure we can get a suitable number to attend. We were meant to be meeting the Practice Manager for the Somers Town Health Centre this afternoon, but that meeting has been put back to the 3rd February. Still enough time.  All we need are five people from each (better lives, health centre, and mind in camden) and we have fifteen attendees.

Last thing - Luke and Lazza have a busy day tomorrow. The biggest meeting (of three) is with Peabody Housing at their Westminster Bridge Road Head Office in the morning. Could be some great benefits from that. We also have a crucial one with Kentish Town Job Centre - for all of five minutes.