Hello!
Team Foggy is back! Foggy and I don’t usually fully step away from work over the festive period but 2024 was a particularly tough year and we felt the need for a complete reset. Foggy slept and ate…slept and ate…… slept and ate….. I didn’t, I overindulged in Xmas movies and furbaby snuggles instead. Happy New Year to all Foggy Followers, wishing you a healthy(er) and calm 2025.
The time away worked wonders, I was able to see the wood for the trees and I had the time to daydream about what I want to achieve with ME Foggy Dog this year (*Foggy* World domination!!!).
World Domination
Foggy and I have had our heads together today to work out how we can best work for positive change for our community. Foggy calls it ‘world domination’, I call it our job (but world domination has a nice ring to it!).
I was spread too thin in 2024 and I wasn’t able to put as much effort into the projects and campaigns I created as I would have liked. That wasn’t helped by personal stuff (building work and non-stop viral infections for 4 months). I am going to step back from reacting to nonsense published about our illness and community. Not because I don’t care or don’t get angry but because putting the same energy into progressive projects and campaigns will have a far greater impact over the longer term. I often respond to nonsense officially as a third sector organisation (ME Foggy Dog is a social enterprise) quickly and then discover 100+ people from our community have done the exact same thing. When I feel I can add value as an organisation, I will support and represent our community and illness accordingly.
In 2025, as with my Stripy Lightbulb CIC work, I will be concentrating on existing projects, campaigns, and building relationships. I have ideas (some awesome…some not so much) every 5 minutes and it’s too easy for me to start something new and exciting when ongoing projects need my time and energy. I will be reining in my tendency to have an idea and run with it for the next 12 months. As exciting and forward-thinking as that is, it isn’t possible for someone with M.E. to juggle so many balls (mostly singlehandedly).
I won’t lie, all of my projects and campaigns are HUGE and very difficult. I have a bruise on my forehead from the amount of times I have hit my head against THAT brick wall. I need head space to be able to effectively manage this work. I also have to do things in a different way because central Government will not talk to me despite ME Foggy Dog being a third sector organisation. To be clear – as a VCSE they should be talking to ME Foggy Dog direct. Personally, I feel this demonstrates a complete lack of respect. People earn respect – as a campaigner of over a decade I know I have earned that respect through hard work. I should not have to be working with national charities to get my voice heard. So, I do things differently. Everything I do is at grass level. I talk to the people who will actually be dealing patients in clinical settings rather than Government ministers who have no say what happens in hospital departments. Ministers cannot implement policies, they can only ask hospitals to consider implementing XYZ.
2025 Ongoing Projects
- Shake It UP – This is still rumbling on. It’s not surprising that this is a particularly tricky campaign. ‘Exercise cures everything’ is a hard mentality to shift! Especially when exercise is seen as a cheap ‘treatment’ for many illnesses. We still need this reporting system to report harm from non-pharmaceutical ‘treatments’. Please sign the petition if you haven’t done so already. More info
- BED for Severe M.E. – 2024 marked the launch of this AWESOME campaign to highlight those living with very severe/severe M.E. There are many different aspects to this annual campaign and Foggy and I are hoping the community engages to make this bigger, brighter and more powerful this year and the years to come. Please get involved in this campaign. More info
- NHS Protocol Campaign – Did you know? This ME Foggy Dog campaign was launched in February 2024. I was the first to actively campaign for a protocol for Severe M.E. I only start campaigns when I am sure I am not doubling up on other people’s work. (no point wasting my energy!) Bits of my campaign have now been included in the rhetoric of politicians and other organisations without acknowledgement. But change is still eluding us as a community. This campaign is needed more than ever with our community growing by the day. Please get involved if you haven’t already. There are four ‘demands’ – read this for more info and to get involved (everything you need is on the link).
EDIT – How on earth could I forget the M.E. Friendly Charter! This is an AWESOME patient-centred collaborative project with Stripy Lightbulb CIC and members of the M.E. community (all severities, carers, and allies including NHS staff). It got off to a flying start in 2024 and it received wonderful feedback but we need to keep momentum going! It has so far been shared with NHS Confederations in 2 UK nations (who have shared with their ‘stakeholders’), the DHSC M.E. task force in Westminster (through my own connections and by Andrew Gwynne’s staff), Governments of all UK nations, and I am now having direct ongoing conversations with 6 regional healthcare organisations. But much much more needs to be done in 2025. I have asked individuals in the M.E. community to introduce me to YOUR regional healthcare provider (ICB/Health Board/Health Trust depending on where you live in the UK). However, to the best of my knowledge no more than 20 people have engaged and done this. I would encourage you to help to get this project’s ‘foot in the door’ by making YOUR regional healthcare organisation aware that someone (hopefully MANY people) in their region has M.E and wants this Charter to be implemented. In addition to this, I will be contacted every single regional organisation myself. All hands on deck! Please get involved if you haven’t already. I have provided everything you could possibly need – contact info and a template letter/email. More info here
As you can see, I’m going to be busy – remember, this is only half of my workload. Phew!
Money
For the past decade, I have covered ME Foggy Dog’s running costs myself (when merchandise sales don’t cover them – which is most months!). That includes things like software licences (video content), social media scheduling costs, postage costs, printer ink and office supplies. I can’t do this anymore as it’s become quite a big chunk of my income so am considering raising funds from donations this year. I might crowdfund or just create a fundraising pot….more info coming soon. I also want to be able to hold awareness events, these costs quite a bit of money (again, I have paid for these myself previously) and costs will be included in any fundraising target for ME Foggy Dog. I ALWAYS make it clear when money is going to other organisations such as Smile for ME and Cure ME and this will be the case with future fundraising efforts. Did you know you can donate to ME Foggy Dog already via Paypal? (Link is on our homepage) *Foggy* Just saying *nudge*.
It’s going to be an AWESOME year!! Onwards and upwards!
Thank you as always for your ongoing support.
Sally
and Foggy (OBVIOUSLY) xxx