Have you been to Liverpool lately? Some of the team caught the train there last week to the FACT Gallery (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology), to check out an exhibition on Group Therapy: Mental distress in a digital age. It was really good and included some great exhibits including ‘The Black Dog’ which is an animation about depression and information on some new app’s that have been developed which help people who suffer with mental health issues. I particularly liked the opportunity to have a lie down on one of the exhibits which by attaching small monitor to my earlobe, transmitted colours and shapes on the ceiling ‘in-tune’ with my heartbeat. When I relaxed the colours were cool and serene, when I tensed, they were more vivid. It was great. Afterwards, we nipped into see my good friend Andrew who is the General Manager of the Nadler Hotel, Seel Street, who took us all for a look at some of the rooms there. What an incredible building and it’s great to see Liverpool being revitalised the way it is with somewhere as chic as the Nadler, right in the heart of the city with great access to the best bars, restaurants and shops. Check out the website and you can see the rooms, they are quirky, cool and luxurious! http://www.thenadler.com/liverpool.shtml?trkid=V1ADC237731-2935703932-k-36505083636-6679172912-e

We rounded up the field trip with lunch at Epicured. A really different experience of great tasting food served in a deli style. We all particularly enjoyed the picnic blocks with was a bit like antipasti, so you could try a bit of everything. http://www.epicuredliverpool.com/

So yes, there’s more. So far this was just one day but stay with me, it gets better.

We appeared in the local press highlighting the launch I mentioned to you all last time regarding our new ‘Engage’ App, website and lottery launch. I’ve been told through the grapevine the event will be covered in some of the trade press too by some of our partners. Any coverage is good for us, telling the world of the good work we do here, how we are growing as a business and raising awareness to mental health issues.

So jumping on a train a few days later, my wonderful husband Julian and I headed off to London to attend the Charity Finance Group conference and spent several days in great company and was lucky enough to hear some fabulous speakers from charities like The National Trust, Comic Relief and Click Sergeant. It was a good trip and I’ve come back from it feeling revitalised. It was an honour to also meet Dame Shelagh Shirley who kindly signed her autobiography for me, ‘Let it go’. If you get the chance, have a look at some of her achievements. She is a true inspiration and is considered one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK, a DBE and awarded the Mountbatten Medal for recognition of Information and Technology.

Whilst in the ‘smoke’, we caught up with our beautiful and extremely clever niece, Emma who lives in Clapham Common, she has just finished her masters in law. Always great to see her and hear about her job at CBI as a senior policy advisor and generally all the things she gets up to.

As you can appreciate, after all this travelling, we got home, had nothing in the fridge. So, Julian took me to the new Thai restaurant Chiangmai Bistro in Newton Le Willows which has just opened. It’s tasty, authentic and I love to support any new local business. We’ll be going back there, that’s for sure.

So, keep out of trouble everyone. It’s our camping trip this week and the crochet hats are packed as is the bite cream, tins of beans and sun tan lotion (well you can live in hope for a British bank holiday weekend!)

P.S – Don’t forget to vote for the Christmas card competition! We still need YOUR feedback on which are the best four designs out of the six! http://www.fortunatushousing.co.uk/news-and-blog/charity-christmas-cards/

Catch you later,

Catherine.

The flags were out on Friday here at Fortunatus for the launch of the website, ‘Engage’ App and our Unity lottery. I was so proud and pleased at the turnout of people that came to support us and it was great to chat to some of our colleagues from our industry who seemed impressed with what we had to show them. We were also joined by some of our local Police Community Support Officers who commented that what we offered our tenants was great and how they can see the App really working for them. Good to know! The local press were here also reporting on the event so keep an eye out in the Warrington Guardian. The day ended on a high and I also did a speech which was well received, I am so excited at where we are going with Fortunatus! Mind you, Julian and I had a lot of tidying up to do on Saturday so perhaps not every week!

The bank holiday weekend was busy (as usual) but rewarding. Julian spent most of the weekend in the garden and I have to say, he’s done a brilliant job, it looks beautiful. We also went to a christening on Sunday and I had made the christening shawl which was proudly displayed on show in the church by our good friends. It’s nice to make something like that for someone especially something as special as a christening shawl. It’s something they can keep forever and it’s lovely to know that I have played a part in their special day.

This coming week is going to be a busy one. I’m going to attend an exhibition in Liverpool called ‘Mental Distress in a Digital Age’. The exhibition explores the complex relationship between technology, society and mental health.   Anything like this is relevant to what we do here at Fortunatus so I am looking forward to it. I’m also ‘on call’ for my amateur dramatics society to help out back stage and generally be an extra pair of hands.

Make sure you have a look at our app ‘Engage’ this week if you can. I think you’ll be impressed!! And, keep checking the website, we’ve made some changes (and making more) and you can now view one of properties!

Bye for now,

Catherine.