Submissions for the book have been coming in thick and fast and are all extremely uplifting. Now I just have to write the rest of it!!

Naa Otua and I are also about to book our tickets for our first trip to Ghana to start putting plans in place for the launch of our literacy programme later in the year.

I have also decided to start using this blog to write articles on the therapeutic powers of the written word. I will be publishing at least one a month and each one will contain a writing exercise designed to help uplift and inspire. So add this page to your favourites and make sure to call back regularly. It would be lovely to receive your comments and suggestions too. So if you have a particular issue and you would like a writing exercise designed to help (ie; confidence boosting, positive thinking, overcoming fear) then please post a comment or email me via this site.

Till next time – be happy!

Siobhan x

We had a meeting last week with some of the carers from our previous course – to get their advice and feedback to ensure that the next course is even better. Themes that came up again and again were loss of identity and self esteem. If you are caring for somebody 24/7 it is easy to lose sight of who you are and this is something we are going to focus on very intently in our new course, with exercises designed to help boost confidence and reaffirm identity. As Bea herself has experience of being a carer this is a project very close to her heart and her input has been invaluable.

The submissions for the book are growing by the day and already make a very inspirational collection. It feels extremely exciting to be putting it all together and I am very curious to see which big names will be contributing…

Final plans are being put in place for a fund-raising theatre night, but more on that another time. I’m off to contact Barack Obama re his contribution to the book – well I’m sure he won’t have anything better to do as he waits for the keys to the White House!!

Siobhan x

En route to our new HQ

Following the success of the launch we now have to get stuck into the nitty gritty of raising funds and awareness. Whilst we brain-stormed away, our good friend Prince took some photographs for the website – much to the interest of our fellow cafe inhabitants, who must have wondered who the hell we were. Perfume barons perhaps – owing to the cloud of Dior, Stella and Cartier that mingled over our heads.

Anyway, I came away with a rather daunting ’to do list’ including: send out a press release to national press and media, set up a Facebook page, contact companies with interest in Ghana with a view to some corporate sponsorship and think of other fund-raising ideas.

After our brainstorm we stopped by the perfume counter for yet another squirt and then popped in to the Harrow Observer to thank the lovely Ian Proctor for the piece he wrote about Happy Ever After. I’m amazed he didn’t pass out from the reek as we posed for the photo below!

Happy Ever After pose with Ian - and a cloud of Dior!

Waterstones Launch - with 'The Professor'!

Here we are with my dad, who Naa Otua has named ‘The Professor’ – due to the white beard and glasses ensemble – despite his protestations I think he rather liked it! All afternoon we talked to people about the charity and it was so encouraging to get such a positive response. There are moments in life where you know without a shadow of a doubt you are on the right path – Saturday afternoon in Waterstones, Harrrow – just a few yards and a few weeks from where it all began – I had one of those moments.

Now we have to plan Stage Two – a publicity and fund-raising drive prior to our trip to Ghana. We have decided to move our meeting place from Costas to the coffee shop in Debenhams for two reasons. Firstly to avoid the embarassment of being barred for over-enthusiasm (see previous post) and secondly for the chance of a free squirt from the perfume counter en route!

Waterstones Launch

And talking of enthusiasm – on Tuesday I went round to Naa Otua’s for a bit of photo shoot for the Harrow Observer (see Articles page for more). When we had been interviewd the reporter had told us he wanted a shot of us at a desk surrounded by books and a map of Ghana. So Naa Otua’s daughter had spent hours lovingly painting us a beautiful map, only for the photographer to arrive, take one look at the blank white wall on the other side of the room from the book laden desk and say, ‘A white wall, great! Let’s have you standing in front of that.’ I don’t know – these David Bailey types!

Anyway, after he had gone, our good friend Renee came round for a pre-launch, celebratory lunch. One or two bottles of champagne later and the carefully arranged desk was trashed, and we had been transformed from dynamic women determined to change the world to giggling school girls determined to laugh our heads off. I tell you what though, I don’t think I’ve ever felt as fulfilled work wise as I have done this past couple of weeks.    Siobhan.

I met with Naa Otua for more coffee and chat today – perhaps Costas could provide us with some sponsorship? Buckets of free cappuccino at least! As always I came away feeling completely inspired – Naa Otua has an infectious personality – it is impossible to meet with her without feeling uplifted.

Anyway, after marvelling at how far we had come since our previous meeting – a website, a blog, an article in the local paper and a launch party at Waterstones no less – we set to figuring out the next stage of our operation, fund-raising.

Coca Cola and Guiness are among the companies with interests in Ghana so we figured, what the hell, why not approach them for some kind of sponsorship. Watch this space for details of how we get on…

Naa Otua and I also talked about how determined we are to make this project a success. I will be going to Ghana with her in the new year, to see for myself just how badly this literacy programme is needed. But already, just talking to her and doing some independent research, I am shocked at the disparity between our two countries. Here in the UK the ability to read and write are taken for granted, but in some parts of the world literacy is a luxury. As a certified book worm I find it hard to imagine a world without the written word.

More news next week as the countdown to the launch begins…

Isn’t it funny how life goes. You can be happily plodding along – going to work, paying the bills, keeping the kids amused over the long summer holidays – when all of a sudden you find yourself setting up a charity. It is now almost two weeks since Naa Otua and I met up for coffee in Costas, Harrow-on-the-Hill and decided to set up Happy Ever After. It was writing that brought us together in the first place; Naa Otua had come to one of the writing groups I run and then she had asked me to edit her excellent novel, ‘The Dancing Tortiose,’ prior to its publication in Britain. We hit it off immediately and it wasn’t long before we started talking about life, the universe and the joys of writing. Then Naa Otua told me of her desire to help other women in her home country of Ghana. This was something esle we discovered we had in common – the determination to use our writing to help others. Although Naa Otua and I have had very different upbringings, we both passionately believe in the power of writing to free people and transform their lives. Illiteracy keeps people trapped and Naa Otua’s desire to help other women back home is infectious. For a long time I have been helping people through my own writing coaching practise but Happy Ever After will take that to a whole other level. I left Costas that day buzzing with ideas and plans, so excited I had to walk the four miles home! Now the website is up and running and we are getting to work on a launch party. If I am honest I feel a little bit scared right now – this project has the potential to be huge and it is so important that I get it right. I have never set up a charitable organisation before and I am a little in the dark regarding the proceedural side of things. So if anyone out there has any experience please drop me a line!But mostly I feel very excited – I love the idea of linking our two countries through the universal language of writing. And the thought of bringing help to people who really, really need it is awesome.