THE ULTIMATE GUIDANCE TO WORKING WITH AN INFLUENCER

“No one else knows exactly what the future holds for you, no one else knows what obstacles you've overcome to be where you are, so don't expect others to feel as passionate about your dreams as you do.”

Germany Kent

A little while ago, I wrote a blog post titled: The Most Transparent Blog Post I’ve Ever Written (which you can read here) and in it, I talked about being given – numerous times now – the label of ‘influencer’ by others. I decided to do some research at the beginning of the post, in the hope that it would provide me with evidence to fight me meeting the definition of the label, but instead, I found (in this article) that due to the following of I’m NOT Disordered (2.3 million readers) I’d be deemed a ‘Mega-Influencer!’ And on talking to my Waythrough Recovery Worker, I agreed that my blog is at a standing in terms of both popularity and reputation, that I can no longer demean or deny it. So, here I am(!) agreeing to be an Influencer! Now, this blog post was actually inspired by a recent meeting with a few of Waythrough’s Communications and Marketing team, where the idea of the organisation working with Influencers was discussed. The Manager said that I was the ‘perfect person’ to have involved because of my ability to bring actual, lived insight into this world, and so, here’s the blog post which provides guidance to working with an Influencer…

PART TWO: BEHIND-THE-SCENES OF CREATING A COLLABORATION BRIEF | WITH ST OSWALD’S HOSPICE

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

Stephen King

*This is the second part in the two-part series, you can read part one here *

Earlier this year, I spotted the new St Oswald’s Hospice (SOH) store around ten/fifteen minutes from my home, and having volunteered for the Hospice as a Digital Volunteer for around four years (including a couple of temporary contracts; with one being Kickstart Project Coordinator and the other being Communications and Marketing Assistant), I got in touch with the lovely Head of Communications and Marketing, and pitched the idea of collaborating. When she said she liked the sound of it, she introduced me to the Retail Communications and Marketing Officer, and after a few more emails, I was asked to write a brief for the collaboration…

PART ONE: BEHIND-THE-SCENES OF CREATING A COLLABORATION BRIEF | WITH ST OSWALD’S HOSPICE

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

Stephen King

*This is part one of a two-part series. Keep your eyes peeled for the second post!*

Earlier this year, I spotted the new St Oswald’s Hospice (SOH) store around ten/fifteen minutes from my home, and having volunteered for the Hospice as a Digital Volunteer for around four years (including a couple of temporary contracts; with one being Kickstart Project Coordinator and the other being Communications and Marketing Assistant), I got in touch with the lovely Head of Communications and Marketing, and pitched the idea of collaborating. When she said she liked the sound of it, she introduced me to the Retail Communications and Marketing Officer, and after a few more emails, I was asked to write a brief for the collaboration…

WHO I’M TURNING TO FOR SUPPORT DURING THE LOCKDOWN | IN JOINT PARTNERSHIP WITH BRIARDALE HOUSE & CUMBRIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, TYNE & WEAR NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | AD

For the first time in forever

I finally understand

For the first time in forever

We can fix this hand in hand

-          Frozen

I’m very proud to say that this blog post is in partnership with TWO amazing organizations who are doing some incredible work in supporting vulnerable people through the Coronavirus Lockdown; the mental health NHS Trust; Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) and Briardale House.

After having received a letter to say that I’m listed as ‘extremely vulnerable’ and at a greater risk of being hospitalized should I contract the Coronavirus because I have Asthma, I was advised to isolate completely for twelve weeks from the day of receiving the letter. Up until that point, I’d been following the Government’s Lockdown instructions in only venturing from my house to do my weekly food shop and collect my medication. The thing I’d really struggled to do myself was with the food shopping side of things because I usually do my shop with my support worker from Richmond Fellowship, but unfortunately those appointments had all been turned to phone call sessions after the Lockdown was announced. I find it useful having someone with me when I have to do my food shop because otherwise, I always feel really pressured to get everything I need and pack my bags and pay as quickly as possible. When there’s someone else there, though, I am reassured that there’s less expectation and having someone to talk to when I start to stress is really comforting.

WHY MENTAL HEALTH IS TAKING A BEATING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CUMBRIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, TYNE & WEAR NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

This post is in partnership with the wonderful mental health NHS Trust for my area; CNTW (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust) so at the end I’ll be including all of their links and one of their most important articles produced during this Pandemic.

I’d like to think I’m a pretty fair and balanced kind of person in that I can usually see a disagreement from both sides, so when I write blog posts and posts on social media I try to imagine the other side to it… You know, in my last post: ‘WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC,’ I talked a little about how people are feeling that they can’t talk about how the pandemic is affecting them because they’re sure that there’s someone ‘worse off.’ And I absolutely get it; I mean, there’s tweets about Grandmas dying alone because visiting in hospitals is suspended and people having their lives genuinely turned upside down to coincide with the UK lockdown regulations (which you can read here).

I think that the one common impact that the Coronavirus Pandemic is having on at least the majority of people, is on our mental health. People often make the mistake of thinking that to be struggling with your mental health, you must have some sort of diagnosis, but this isn’t true. Everyone has mental health in the same way that everyone has physical health, and you can struggle with your thoughts and feelings without it being you must have an official ‘label’ or disorder. Someone can feel sad without having a formal diagnosis of Depression. You can feel anxious without it needing to result in a panic attack for it to be worth talking about. And you can struggle with your mental health without needing to feel suicidal for it to be deserving of asking for help and support.