Hello! Here’s a quick Brighton5 Crowdfunder update and some really useful links to organisations that have helped us along the way this week.

We have raised £4,250 of our target in our first week, which is hugely encouraging! We’ve been busy ticking off things on our ever-growing lists – I have post-it-notes everywhere! So far this week, we’ve edited a new blog that will be up on makegoodtrouble.co.uk from Friday this week. It’s from a parent of a self-harming teen and follows her journey from the realisation that her teen is cutting herself to getting through the maze of bureaucracy to try and get help. It’s a heart-breaking read but our anonymous contributor wants to get the message out there to anyone in the same position that they’re not alone.

We are also about to update our Crowdfunder with a new 2-minute video talking about what it’s like to be a worried parent and why Brighton5 is going to make a difference. If you haven’t yet, please visit our page and donate! Every penny makes a difference, and we want to encourage everyone to give as little as £1. Go on, tick it off your to-do list and pledge today!

In what feels slightly awkward (and so un-British!), we have been tapping into every contact we can think of for advice and to ask folk to help promote Brighton5. And hurray! Our efforts have been rewarded…

The Do Lectures featured us in their wonderful weekly newsletter– if you don’t know them, they’ve built a brand around inspiring people to “Do amazing things”. They hold workshops and talks as well as produce gorgeous books on everything from storytelling and business advice to growing veg and making jam! After featuring in their newsletter, we’ve had people contact us from all over the country offering to help, as well as tweets from people in their network.

We were overwhelmed to get an email from Shirley Conran, OBE (yes, *the* Shirley Conran!) who sent us a fabulously long email full of really useful advice on how to grow Brighton5 and who can help us along the way. She is a real inspiration to us and she’s still working hard to help people who suffer from maths anxiety – which particularly affects girls and women. Her Maths Anxiety Trust website contains a wealth of useful information for students, parents and teachers.

We also had an email from Justine Roddick – her mum, Anita Roddick, started The Body Shop many moons ago in Brighton’s North Street and Brighton5 founder Daisy met Justine when she worked at their head office as a graphic designer – Daisy’s first job after college! Justine is now living in the USA and is working with charities support help teens with empowerment and sexual health. She has linked us up with people in the UK who might be able to help us.

And next week? That’s for our Monday meeting where we’ll have a quick group hug and then it’s out with the post-it-notes…