The last thing I wrote on the blog was that I had a feeling June was going to be a good month and, all in all, I think I was right. June has been a month of celebration, reflection, progress and planning. Slow, steady and quiet but all the while quite mighty.

Last month I opened my blog talking about the challenges of coping with heartbreak but this month is ending in total opposition – this month has ended with so much love. Here is a round up of what has been happening.

This month I started a new piece of work, supporting the children and young people’s team at Time to Change with their youth involvement work over the summer months. I’m designing a new training programme for young campaigners to access over the next year, as well as supporting anti-stigma training for professionals and regional campaign meetings. The team’s base is in my old office at Rethink Mental Illness, so it’s nice to be back with so many familiar faces doing some great work.

I’ve also been kept busy by school sessions with Future First across London and the South East and mentoring my students at Skinners Academy for Inspire Education Business Partnership.

The biggest life milestone this month was of course my 30th birthday! I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating with my friends – the recipe for my day was essentially booze, brunch and best mates. I would thoroughly recommend it.

I had a week off after my birthday so took myself away for a few days to the seaside, to write, rest and reflect. I stayed in the world’s cutest air b’n’b in Broadstairs down in Kent and did some necessary recharging of my batteries, set some goals for my thirties, as well as getting 4000 new words on the page.

That leads me on to another key feature of my month – I really found some momentum with my novel and somehow wrote 10,000 words. I’ve now surpassed the 60,000 word mark and am into writing the final section of the novel. All of a sudden finishing the first draft feels like a real, tangible thing and I’m incredibly excited about it. One of my (very generous) 30th birthday gifts was an Arvon retreat, which I’ll be doing in September and I would love to have a full draft ready to work on by then.

I also took myself back to Sketchy Bitches for the second time and got some brilliant new mini portraits of me. It’s such a wonderful, friendly space to relax and draw with likeminded women and I think I’ll be becoming a regular.

July is another busy one for work, between Time to Change and a record number of Future First workshops to run ahead of the summer holidays. I’m also looking forward to heading down to Bath next week for a board away day with Action for M.E.

I’m hoping to continue the writing pace I set this month – now my novel’s ending feels like it’s within reach I feel more motivated than ever to keep going. I’m also heading down to Margate at the end of the month for  weekend of writing beside the sea.

Other than that, I’m hoping to just enjoy July with friends and loved ones – with any luck the glorious weather that’s seen out June will continue into next month. I’ll see you on the other side.