I want to begin today with gratitude. Every like, every share, every follow, every encouraging message makes a difference. You keep me moving, especially when the road gets rough. Your support matters more than you know.
A huge thank you to Citizens Advice, the Scouts in Tenbury Wells, and the Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce for their brilliant networking events. I am grateful to Amanda Garret and her coaching group, and to my friends and family who have stood behind me since Safespace Counselling was just a quiet idea taking shape in the background.
You are the people who have made this journey possible. You give me energy when my own runs low.
Here is a little update and a reminder of how I arrived here.
For around fifteen years I worked as a driving instructor. You would be amazed at what you learn about the world when you are sitting beside hundreds of people, one lesson at a time. Those years opened my eyes to how deeply life has changed. Although we are more digitally connected than ever before, people feel more alone than ever before.
Young people with thousands of followers but almost no real world interaction. Adults too anxious to step out of the house. People unsure of their purpose or direction. Confidence disappearing. Goals fading. So much of life outsourced to social media and search engines. And now artificial intelligence adds yet another layer of disconnection.
Alan Watts often spoke about how the human mind becomes restless when it loses touch with the natural rhythm of life. Anxiety Specialist Hypnotherapist Robert Herdman would say the same in more clinical terms. When internal pressure rises faster than our ability to cope, anxiety grows quietly beneath the surface.
One moment that really stayed with me came during a driving lesson with a young lad. I told him how, years ago, people would travel miles to the Lickey Hills when it snowed. Families would be out all day, sledging, laughing, getting soaked, helping each other up the hill, dogs going wild in the snow. He looked at me as if I was describing a fairy tale. Today many people live almost entirely online, watching life instead of living it.
That moment was the turning point. I realised people needed help more than ever. Real help. Human help. So I started Safespace Counselling.
Twelve months on, after countless networking events, suicide prevention meetings, local council discussions, community sessions and a full year of volunteering with Citizens Advice, I feel full of stories, insights and understanding. Like a bubble ready to burst.
Counselling is only part of it. The real work is connection. Listening. Supporting. Encouraging. Sometimes helping someone fill out a PIP or Blue Badge application is the moment that changes their week. It is not about benefits. It is about dignity and confidence. It is about being human with another human.
I am also almost a year into volunteering with the Scouts, helping the Beavers. If the world ever needed a reminder of what real community looks like, you can find it there. No phones. No judgement. Give a group of children a football and within seconds they are best friends. That is what the world is missing today. Connection. Play. Fresh air. Life.
I am excited for the next twelve months. I hope you stay on this journey with me. I might not know exactly where the destination is, but as the old wisdom says, the journey is the part that shapes us. And this journey, shared with you, already feels meaningful.
Thank you for being here.
