The Shelf

Hey, hey Shelfies, thanks for staying curious

We're back with Part 2 of our finance campfires, and we are re-joined by our Finance PT Bianca Williams, Certified Financial Planner (CFP).  You'll recall Bianca joined us in Season 2, Campfire 3 where we talked about relationships with money and Bianca asked if we commit time to review and look at our finances as we may do with other things in our lives.

Bianca again gives us some great insightful information about things we can do if we are trying to align our finances in particular in this climate of increased inflation, high utility costs, and general cost of living.  We also talked about seeking support from family and friends and the value we place on the things we buy.  M&S sandwich v homemade?  We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. 

Not sure about you, but it's actually causing us some real headspace in terms of thinking about what and how we spend our money these days......

The key take-aways for this Campfire are the Financial Planning Tabata - Stop (what can you stop doing to recoup some finances), Start (what should you start doing to add value to the things you are spending money on and what should you start doing to build on your finances), Continue (what's going well), and Reduce (OK, we don't need to stop this completely, but let's reduce it slightly).

What great advice.  Simple and easy to implement.

As always, share your comments and thoughts on this campfire on our social media pages.

Thanks for staying curious

Patsy & Lydia

Edits by Che Cardoso

Hey, hey, Shelfies, thanks for staying curious.

Today joining Patsy, Lydia, Hellen and Margaret are three young, professional black women all working to help our community and the service users of the criminal justice system.

Sureya and Hazel are Paralegals working for the Crown Prosecution Service and Chelsea works for the National Probation Service.  

If like me you are a fan of Suits, you'll know just how much solicitors rely on the paralegal, who are not yet officially qualified but know a vast amount of information as many, like Hazel are training to get to the next level. 

All have very exciting and emotional stories to share - why they got into that specific line of work, how they cope with the cases they deal with on a daily basis and how they cope as black women in a profession and historical system which is dominated by white males - inside and outside of the courtroom.

It's not all grim, listen to Chelsea share a good news story and how worthwhile the job is when justice is finally served.  And take a listen here  to Hezron Brown talk about the impact his Probation Officer had on his life when he was growing up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JlMGfHId7M

Listen up, who says they feel like they are Angela Valdez (Power)?  Who in the group will be 'bossing it' soon? Take a listen and then let us know on our Insta page the answers to the above questions.  Don't be shy we really want to hear from you. 

If you have or are a service user we'd love to hear from you after listening to this campfire.

As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording.

Stay curious

Patsy & Lydia

Edits by Che Cardoso

We're back for another campfire

“We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors.” Jerry Maguire, 1996. 

Today Patsy & I host a ‘larger than life character’ from across the pond, John Sorzano. 

John, gives us a snapshot into his glamourous world as a top ‘sports agent’. We discover, Jerry Maguire ‘show me the money’ is one of his favourite films and we use that to take a humorous look into that mysterious world where perceptions include ‘living your best life, mixing with celebrities, and having it all. 

We get to understand the realities of what a sports agent says, does, and means behind the scenes.

‘It’s not just a 9-5, if a player or a club rings you at midnight you’re going to answer your phone’ John shows us what the creme de la creme of customer service looks like - ‘clients are more than just customers....they are family’. 

With a few laughs along the way, we get to the heart of an occupation that’s shrouded in secrecy and offers as much ‘highlife’ as a compromise. 

So get ready to enjoy John, a sports agent aficionado whose purpose isn’t to be ‘just another shark in a suit’, but someone who’s out there for his clients - up at dawn, hustling big with his head and his heart and after it’s all said and done, settling back down to ‘normal life’ antics - navigating the soft play etiquette! 

As always, thanks for staying Curious

Editing - Che Cardoso

Spending time in nature has major health benefits. 

A study in 2019 found that spending 2 hours a week in nature is associated with an overall increase in wellbeing. COVID has taught us to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the gift of the land. 

We make room on the Shelf to welcome someone who lives quietly with curiousity and has shaken things up within her local community. Our talk is seriously O2 fuelled and outdoorsy. 

We get to ask our guest to share their view on the loneliness and isolation debate as We unpack her thoughts-“When you’re in it you’re feeling it and when you’re out of it and meeting people it’s gone”. 

This is an interesting conversational delve into someone who continues to shine a spotlight on ‘doing for themselves’ and their community whilst following her love for life and people. 

So whether you’re a ‘hugger’ or not grab your tipple of choice and get listening to the purposeful journey of one amazing Sandra Allen. 

Thanks for staying Curious. 

Edits: Che Cardoso