New projects and forgotten dreams

Let's get some facts straight from the start. 2011 has been tough, a lot tougher than some people would have wanted it to be.
Many of us will have woken up on January 1st with a new sense of vision on what we wanted the next 12 months to be. We had plans, dreams, a new sense of belonging and a fresh drive to excel at what Him upstairs had given us.
Ten months on from there some of our dreams may have been realised, others however have been put on the back burner while others have been shattered.
While we can apportion blame for some of the things that may have happened over the past few months, we also have to take a long look at ourselves to see what we could have done better to stop what happened happening again.
Just a month ago I was made redundant. I hated it, next to my old man dying at the age of 52, it was an experience that will live long in the memory. Being told after just 10 months your position is no longer viable due to finance is something no-one wants to hear. You always think redundancy is something which happens to someone else, not you. But it has, and four weeks on I have had to re-invent myself as a writer/editor/blogger/twitterer etc for hire. Applying for jobs is a time-consuming (and sometimes a waste of time) occupation and the fear of the unknown is something which drives me to get out of bed every morning when the missus goes to work at 7.30.
I could lie in bed, thinking about what to watch on TV for the rest of the day, get lost in endless episodes of Homes Under The Hammer (or whatever) but that is not going to pay the mortgage and the bills which are constantly in the back on my mind.
So, I come up with new projects to work on, like blogging. It makes no odds to me if this gets read by people. I am doing what I was trained to do, which is write.
One project I have become involved in relates to a local business called Excellent UK, which, on the face of it if you know the area of the Fylde, is a highly successful car cleaning and valeting service. No, I have not ditched the notepad in favour of a chamois leather, but I am spreading the good word of their new project to the masses.
Excellent UK Enterprises has been formed by the owner of the car wash empire, Sam Smith, and a number of experts from across Blackpool who have a mission to get people off the dole and back into work. By offering advice, putting on workshops and offering training, we aim to give those who haven't had the chance to work, that chance. We also want to help the hundreds of small businesses in Blackpool a welcome shove in the right direction. For too long big business in the town has prospered over the small and E UK E want to help them achieve their dreams. Probably similar to the dreams we all had when we woke up for the first time this year.
A new website for E UK E will be up an running within the week, giving details of how the business can help individuals and small businesses.
While there are other organisations out there with similar aims, we, for the time being at least, want to keep this local.
I will be giving more details in future blogs but for the time being this was just a taster of things to come.
Thanks for reading. If you have enjoyed this, pass it on to other people and let's make a difference!