A Life in A Day

I’m going to be honest, I’m not a morning person and every morning begins with a small but predictable defeat at the hands of my alarm clock. It goes off, I hit snooze. It goes off again, I hit snooze again..to be honest, it goes off a third time too… it’s less a habit and more a long‑term negotiation. I’ve even started setting it earlier than I need to, just so I can pretend those extra minutes are somehow part of the plan. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s mine.

Today starts with an early Festival Too meeting at the beautiful Town Hall in King’s Lynn. There’s something about stepping into that building – the history and the quiet reminder that people have been gathering there for generations to make things happen.

I join the rest of the committee and we get straight into the practicalities of this year’s event. This year is our 41st but the process stays broadly the same, plans, budgets, fundraising, the £250K we need to raise each year to deliver the festival, the challenges ahead, and the long list of tasks that need to happen before we launch at the end of June – only five months away!

An hour later, we all head off to our day jobs. For me, that’s as a Head of Communications and Engagement. It’s a role where no two days ever look the same – and that’s exactly why I enjoy it.

It’s challenging in all the right ways and rewarding in equal measure and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s a morning busy with meetings and planning, and I’ve talked so much that it’s now 1pm, and I have to stop everything for a 1.5‑mile walk for Cancer Research fundraiser I’ve signed up to.

Stepping out Is non‑negotiable, I have had 62 miles to cover (approx. 139,134 steps fact fans) so I need to get the steps in daily. Of course, today is the day I realise I’ve left my walking boots at home.

1.30pm and, the walk is happening… in heels. Which feels like a metaphor for something – determination? stubborn optimism? – take your pick.

It’s not a long distance, but it’s a commitment. And as I make my way along the pavements, I’m reminded why I’m doing it, and who I’m doing it for and my forming blister and any pounds I may raise are going to an exceptional cause.

2.30pm and 1.8 miles later, it’s back to work, and this afternoon I’m out meeting some community partners . There’s something powerful about sitting down with people who share the similar goals and working out how we can make things happen together. Partnership working isn’t a nice extra; it’s essential

By the end of the working day there’s one last item: an 8:56 Foundation trustee meeting. The charity has just marked its first year, so we’re focused on the year ahead – funding, impact reports, campaign planning  and, most importantly, how we ensure mental health is firmly at the centre of conversations.

Its 8pm, when the meeting wraps up, it’s pouring with rain but I stop to take a photograph of a cobbled street with the Town Hall at the end and I feel like I’ve stepped back in time, a little further and I stop again (hey, I’m soaked now anyway) as the Custom House projections look incredible in this light.

My feet are protesting by this point, and I make a mental note ‘do NOT to wear heels tomorrow’…  the steps back to the car are now small and careful, but every single one still counts.