Is it possible to care too much?

A couple of things to mention while you ponder that question …

Thank you for being part of the Hello You family! Just by listening to Hello You the Shropshire podcast, you’re part of a very special friendship group. It’s more like a family, really. If you want to pull up a chair to the Hello You virtual kitchen table and make yourself properly at home, then please subscribe?

After much thought, I’ve decided: I am going to do an episode of Hello You about The Flags Thing. That’ll be with you at the weekend, and it’ll include an interview with someone which could be described as … forceful. Also, it’ll point you towards something positive that you can do to help bring a little light into the lives of some people who need it right now. To make sure you don’t miss it, click on the Subscribe button above.

Also: I’m working towards Hello You the Shropshire podcast episode 150! The milestone will be marked with what marketing people call a ‘brand refresh’, so there’ll be a fresh, different look to Hello You … but it’ll still sound the same: no theme tunes, idents, falsely cheery chats with producers (because there aren’t any, it’s only me) or that kinda stuff. And I’ll use the one hundred and fiftieth episode to start spreading the word about Hello You a bit more widely around the county. More details to follow!

‘The people in charge don’t understand how it’s affecting the people in the community’

Heads up: If you’re connected with social care provision in Shropshire for people with ongoing mental health conditions, or if you have to do with how those people are dealt with in primary care and at their GPs’ surgeries, I think you need to listen to this. Any one of us could face mental health crisis at any time, so you might find the contents of this episode quite unsettling.

Leanne Southey runs Proud to Be Me. The best-known public aspect of PTBM is Momma’s Emporium, on Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill, but its principal activity is supporting people who mental health problems, and helping them get their lives back on track.

Leanne contacted me because of some difficulties that she, her team and their clients have been having, particularly of late. She’d tried other ways to draw attention to the problems, but without success. In this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, she explains the issues, and the impact they’re having on the people she works with.

‘This is why I’m talking to you, because I don’t know what else to do’

If, like Leanne, there’s something that you’re struggling with and you’re making no progress, maybe talking about it on Hello You would help find a solution. If there’s something facing your community, your friends group, you're part of Shropshire and you can’t get anyone to listen, get in touch. I’ll listen. It might just make all the difference. Send me a message either by clicking the green button below, or contact me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where my username is jimallthetime.69

Thank you for listening to Hello You

Please spread the word about Hello You the Shropshire podcast? Talk about it with your friends, mention it to your colleagues, chat about it in the pub or on the bus?

Hit ‘Like’ anywhere you can, and best of all, share Hello You with people? I’m sure you know someone who’d be interested in it. Why not send the main page to your WhatsApp or Facebook groups?

Take care of yourself

Take care of the people around you, and I hope the people around you are taking care of you, too.

Don’t forget: an episode about The Flags Thing will be with you at the weekend! Subscribe now so you don’t miss it!

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe