THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO NETWORKING | IN COLLABORATION WITH TYNESIDE CATS PROTECTION | SUMMER OPEN DAY 2025

“Social networking is playing a huge role in creating awareness and mobilizing support for all kinds of common interests. What better way to use this remarkable tool than to change the world?”

Natalie Portman

You may remember a few weeks ago, I published a blog post titled: ‘The Importance of Peer Support in Mental Health’ (you can read it here) as pre-event content in the run-up to the Summer Open Day of my local Cat Protection’s Adoption Centre (Tyneside). Well, I promised you all another collaboration piece after the event so that you could see the photos and videos from the afternoon and read more some of the cats that the charity said myself and my two best-friends (Jack and Spencer) could visit. In this piece, I realised that – according to my search in my content archives – I’ve actually never done a blog post completely about networking (it’s typically just been mentioned in other posts) and I thought it was a great angle to use that would also work in introducing you to the three cats we actually networked(!) with too… Ps. There’s a YouTube video at the end of the piece too!

AN AMAZON UK BUNNY BIRTHDAY WISH LIST | THE ELDEST IS ALMOST FOUR!!

“The kindness one does for one animal may not change the world, but it will change the world of that one animal.”

Unknown

Now, you know that I like to try to disperse light-hearted content on my blog as a means of breaking up the very heavy and emotional posts I typically publish. Of course, this often feels like a waste of time because people likely aren’t coming to, I’m NOT Disordered for this kind of content, and I actually sometimes worry that I’ll lose readers, but from Day One my blog has been about what I benefit from writing about… My eldest pet (I have three – a second bunny and a cat too!) Luna will be FOUR YEARS OLD on October 1^st and so we sat down together (as you do!) and put together a wish list of treats and toys from Amazon UK. We thought we’d share it with you all for any fellow bunnies/bunny owners who are deserving of some lovely bits and pieces too! There are a few absolute bargains in it! Enjoy…

THE IMPORTANCE OF PEER SUPPORT IN MENTAL HEALTH | PRE-EVENT BLOG POST | IN COLLABORATION WITH TYNESIDE CATS PROTECTION

Lean on me,

When you’re not strong,

And I’ll be your friend,

I’ll help you carry on

Bill Withers: Lean On Me

Not too long ago, I spotted an event on Facebook advertising Tyneside Cats Protection’s Summer Open Day at their Adoption Centre (you can check out the event here). After not only collaborating with them – and the charity on a national basis – many times over the past few years (with our most recent one being: DAY THREE MHAW | A COMMUNITY-THEMED Q&A WITH A CAT CARE VOLUNTEER | MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 2025 WITH CATS PROTECTION | I'm NOT Disordered), but having also attended previous Open Days at the Centre, I was eager to attend. With one of my best-friends and his partner also planning to attend, I contacted the Centre and asked whether we could all meet a few of the cats (as I have done previously in this post: ABANDONMENT & HOW TO COPE WITH IT | IN COLLABORATION WITH CATS PROTECTION | I'm NOT Disordered) and with the answer being “yes, of course!” we ended up deciding to make the entire thing into a collaboration. I found however, that I had two ideas for themes or angles that the collaboration could take, and so I agreed to publish this piece – which was inspired by Cats Protection’s Volunteer Assistance Programme (more info and their poster are at the end of this blog post – prior to the event and then another on the day/just after it…

WHAT ABOUT US? | TIPS FOR ALL THE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES WHO ARE FAILING US

Oh, what about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?

P!nk: What About Us

Over six years ago, I actually wrote a blog post of a similar theme and inspired by the exact same song (P!nk: What About Us – which you can listen to here) that led to this post too (you can read that post here), so I was in two minds as to publishing this. Eventually, however, I recognised that there has been a huge increase in the blog’s readership since then, and so it’s incredibly likely that there’ll be a lot of people out there who actually haven’t seen, heard of, or read that piece. I also realised that I have a lot of new ideas and experience on this topic, so it’s likely not going to be much of a repeat at all...

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MY NEW VOLUNTARY JOB AS MARKETING TRUSTEE FOR THE CHARITY: CSF LEAK ASSOCIATION

“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re too small.”

Richard Branson

So, a couple of times these past few weeks I’ve referenced an announcement coming sometime from July 8^th – this is it! On July 8^th, I officially began my new voluntary job as Marketing Trustee for the medical charity: CSF Leak Association and in all honesty, part of my excitement for starting was the fact that it meant I could eventually tell you all what has been being discussed and planned for since the beginning of June! Whilst that’s technically only one month, it actually felt like a lifetime when you’re someone who’s really used to being so honest and open online! So, here’s everything you need to know about my new role – including the application process, my induction, more information and insight into the charity and its important cause, and so much more…