I have some exciting news to share.
Drum roll, please!!!….
I’m going to be working with Next Chapter Scotland in a formal capacity as Web Content Developer.
It’s a 12-month contract and I am delighted to be working with this wonderful organisation.
Next Chapter Scotland supports people with criminal records (and their family members) to navigate any discrimination they may face. The organisation also aim to connect the voices of people with criminal records to decision makers and politicians.
I am dedicated to highlighting experiences of family members and those with a criminal record, and as someone with lived experience as a family member, I understand on many levels the issues that are faced. I strongly support the availability of accurate, up to date information, and the fact that people should have the correct resources to hand.
We will begin collaborating in August, and I am excited to be working with such a forward-thinking organisation.
2023 has been a hectic year, but one that has felt more positive than any other year since we had the Knock.
After recovering from a breakdown at the end of last year, I have emerged bubbling with ideas, and many new projects to restore hope – for myself and for our community. Thank you for all of the support you have shown to me during this new phase of rebuilding, for the support and encouragement from people who follow my Twitter account and my blog. It genuinely means a lot that people do care.
Whilst my writing commitments continue, I’m taking a Twitter break from my Annie Hope Writer account for the summer, after this Friday, 21st July. I will return in September.
Our monthly community writing group, Writing Strong launched in April, and has gone from strength to strength. It’s a group of amazing women, each inspiring one another on our journey. The group is for anyone affected by a loved one’s sexual offending, with a loved one who is post-sentencing.
We welcome new members (any gender) for September and you can find a little more information about the group here. Please do read the blog post so you get an idea of what the group is about.
This summer finally feels like a new beginning. A year ago I was routinely blogging about my mental health struggles and how social care involvement, trauma and struggling to provide for my five children, as well as meeting the concrete ceiling in the search to find paid work, was pushing me to the edge.
Fast forward a year and we no longer have social care involvement, I have been able to address some of the trauma (with some great support) and I am finally in a position to start planning for the future.
My career was hugely impacted in the fallout of the Knock, and with doors closing in my face during the fallout, lack of support entering paid employment, multiple issues with childcare, loss of confidence, rejection and issues accessing work at suitable hours, I took a huge step, thought outside the box, and retrained. This past year I have worked intensively using a combination of remote and in-person learning, assessments, as well as sitting several exams to qualify in my new career. It hasn’t been easy, whilst navigating trauma, financial problems and day-to-day life.
Retraining was only possible after enduring the long, drawn out, traumatic journey with social care whereby I fought hard on behalf of my children, step by step, to have their father’s ability to look after them all reinstated. I have also, in the time since we fled our home, completed an MA with the Open University, and a Content Marketing qualification, as well as Mental Health First Aid, a CV Writing course, and spent 14 months volunteering for a charity, supporting our community.
This gave me the idea to set up a monthly writing group, secure in the knowledge that I have the skills to support and signpost family members by Zoom. This is in addition to the 3.5 years experience I have of supporting family members 1:1.
I now volunteer for a First Aid charity who support me and my children to achieve qualifications useful not just for day-to-day life, and for their future, but also for my new career.
I have been called to do jury service over the summer, and after that, I will be launching two businesses.
One business is, of course, writing. The other business is related to the health and fitness industry.
The official launch of websites for both ventures will be in September (reliant on when jury service ends) and I would like it to coincide with the date, 3 years ago, that my children & I had to flee our home.
We didn’t flee to escape their father, but to escape community and vigilante backlash, and media and psychological damage to my children. We effectively left our whole lives behind, and changed our identity. I did this to protect my children, at a time when statutory safeguarding was nothing short of a joke and actively harmed my children, whilst taking no account of their support needs and the psychological impact of media coverage and parental imprisonment. I will never forget the day we had to leave. It was a huge trauma.
This is why I would like to make something positive on this date, something to symbolise our new life.
I have been working hard on both ventures. I will share the Annie Hope website with you, my Twitter followers in mid September so watch this space…
Jury service has thrown a curveball, but I’m used to those by now, and would rather get it done than defer it because I have a busy year ahead.
I am also a huge believer in ‘everything happens for a reason’, and for whatever reason, I am meant to sit on that particular jury at that time (assuming I don’t get thrown any more curveballs that prevent me from attending!).
So, have a lovely summer and watch this space for my new collaboration with Next Chapter Scotland, the launch of my new writing business and to find how I can help your business, charity or personal writing projects to thrive in the future.
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