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.