hi bigmoose chum,
this week as a charity we have had three people come to us in very dark places, and all three are now safe and having sessions with therapists, which i hope gets them back into their lives feeling better, safer, and able to navigate this journey we’re all on.
when chloe and i started bigmoose i know neither of us dreamt we would have such a big request for help, that is only growing in number month on month, last month seeing our number of referrals peak at 139.
139 new people who reached out for help.
139 people who have had our team, alex, elin and chloe, pick up their emails, study their individual situations, reply within 24 hours, matching them to the best suited therapist for their individual needs, whether they are children, have addictions, suffer with ptsd, depression, eating disorders, etc, we have a specialist, and we get every referral a session within a week, something we know works, and starts the process of giving hope to every person that reaches out.
it’s a relatively simple process, and we’ve designed it that way.
we’ve built our own software programme, which provides the old data geek over here with lots of stats on gender, age, geographical location, number of sessions each client has, which averages 4.16 sessions per client at the moment, and the social value bank value.
the uk social value bank as used by the treasury is how the government calculates the social value return on investment of services like improvements in mental wellbeing that we provide, by calculating the saving to society in blue light services, doctor and hospital services, medication, etc.
the warwick and edinburgh universities have designed a system which we use in our software which asks fourteen positively worded questions, which every client answers at the start of their journey, which provides a score, and then when they graduate, the term we use when their therapist signs them off, they answer the same questions again, and we then measure the increase, and enter it into the warwick edinburgh mental wellbeing scale (wemwbs) formula, which generates a fiscal amount, all of which is done automatically in our software, thanks to our amazing developer, thanks evgeny.
this monetary number is great for us all to see, but mainly helps when applying for grants from foundations and trusts, who all like to see the value in their investment, understandably.
currently, per client, we are adding, based on clients graduating after 4.16 sessions, a whopping £10,610 as per the social value bank, and since we started our service over 8 million pounds of value, crazy huh?
but for me the real value lies in the lives we change for good, and lives we save from suicide, and currently we have had 52 unsolicited testimonials telling us that we have saved that persons life, and that, as a young man growing up up on the streets of a very edgy finsbury park i could never have imagined would be the direction my life would take, but completely influenced by losing moosey boy, this is where i find myself, and i categorically know he would be proud, and probably mock me, saying “is that all you’ve done?” such was our relationship.
but let’s not skip past that number, 52.
we as a team were discussing the impact of those 52 people who are still here, and one of the powerful things we realised was that there were 52 less funerals.
i cannot imagine a metric to measure the impact of that, but it is pretty incredible.
so that is now.
but where do we go?
where does the future take us?
my philosophy is always to keep things simple, and not overcomplicate things.
get referrals, link them into the best most suitable therapist, and let them do their magic.
pay the therapists promptly.
it doesn’t need too much more to work.
except the funding to pay the therapists.
and that is the challenging bit, to keep the revenue streams coming in.
but we are confident we can continue to grow, in all ways, and we have some exciting ideas for the future, one huge one, that we have a meeting with cardiff council about this monday, so wish us luck, if they green light it, it will be the biggest thing we’ve ever done.
and as well as our mammoth dreams, you personally can help us to sustain this wonderful charity, and enable us to keep reducing funerals, and keep paying our therapists to help people who are going through rough times.
how, i hear you bellow in the distance this rainy friday morning in cardiff, although the rain is just stopping, and the sky is literally showing some blue, and as i type this the sun is starting to shine through my window, washing the room with it’s warm glow, wow, what symbolism.
there are two immediate ways i would love you to help us help others.
one is, we have a great event called ’no limits’ which is an event in the brecon beacons to walk up to the top of pen y fan, which is a very easy hill to climb, and down again, and if you feel strong enough up again, literally as many times as you want within a 24 hour period, the record being 14 up and downs.
the beauty of the event is there are no limits, no magic numbers, just whatever you can manage.
it is on the weekend of september 14th/15th and as a team this week we have set ourselves goals of people we want to sign up through us, my target being 5 signups, but as i write i have a slightly pungent smelling, rather grotesque in appearance zero sales, so i need your help.
now i don’t wish to appear desperate, but i am.
to avoid more team tut tutting, and the imaginary ‘underperformer of the week’ badge i’ll have to wear you could sign up today, and help me, help a person through therapy, and help us sell out this inaugural event, that we are all scared about.
so here is a link, please click and signup, you get a shed load of bigmoose merch, and guaranteed warm fuzzy feelings on the day.
thanks if you signed up, and the other way you can become part of our team to facilitate that 53rd life saved is to sign up to a monthly giving scheme, which would be awesome, and this is an area we need to grow, as if we get regular givers like you, whether it’s the price of a coffee or as much as you can afford, this gives us regular income which is so powerful, so if you can afford it please sign up today, i was going to apologise for asking, but there are 52 people behind me urging me on.
thank you for reading to the end, i know your time is precious, and thank you for your kind emails that i receive, without getting soppy, they really make me smile, and encourage me and the team to keep on doing what we do, and i’ll leave you with a quote i read this week.
you never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only option.
until next week, blue skies,
jeff
