It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. The last one I published was back in March.
At the time, I had every intention of continuing to write regularly. Like many things in life, however, plans changed. Life became busy, priorities shifted and before I knew it, six months had passed.
I’m hoping to get back into writing again, but we’ll see how that goes.
For now, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share a bit of a personal update on everything that’s been happening in my life before I return to sharing some of the lessons, experiences and insights I’ve picked up along the way.
Community & Volunteering
The biggest update, and one many of you may have already seen on LinkedIn, is that I’ve become Chairman of Pomphrey Hill.
It’s not a role I expected to take on quite so soon after becoming Vice Chair in January, but it’s a responsibility I’m incredibly proud to hold.
Over the last few months we’ve already made significant progress in evolving our messaging, strengthening our community focus and helping people understand that Pomphrey Hill is much more than a sports venue. Our vision is to create a true community hub, somewhere people, organisations and communities can come together, connect and grow.
It’s exciting to be part of that journey and even more exciting to help lead it, whilst becoming Chairman marked the start of a new chapter, it also brought another chapter to a close.
Earlier this year, I made the difficult decision to step down as a Trustee of YMM when my term came to an end. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly.
Over those last three years I’ve had the privilege of watching the charity grow and develop, supporting more young people and families across Warwickshire. Looking back at where the organisation was when I first joined compared to where it is today is genuinely incredible.
One of the challenges of living in Bristol whilst serving as a Trustee was not always being able to see first-hand the impact YMM has on the young people it supports every single day. As my commitments elsewhere increased, it felt like the right time to step away from the Trustee role.
That said, I haven’t gone far, i’m continuing to support YMM in an advisory capacity, which gives me the opportunity to remain involved, contribute my experience and support the organisation from a different perspective whilst allowing others to continue driving it forward.
It’s been refreshing to see the charity through a different lens whilst still being able to make a positive impact.
Personal Fundraising
Away from volunteering, I decided it was about time I challenged myself in a completely different way.
As I approach my 30th birthday, and given how much of my life is centred around supporting charities and community organisations, I’ve wanted to take on a fundraising challenge for a while.
The problem?
Most fundraising challenges seem to involve running marathons.
And if you know me, you’ll know that running has never really been my thing.
So instead, I’ve signed up for the Jurassic Coast Ultra Challenge in May 2027, where I’ll be taking on an incredible 100km walk along the beautiful Jurassic Coast.
It’s a challenge that feels equal parts exciting and terrifying.
The challenge is particularly important to me because I’m using it to raise money for Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity.
In 2023, I was diagnosed with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder that I’d actually been living with since childhood without realising it.
Receiving a diagnosis didn’t magically fix everything, but it answered a lot of questions and helped me understand why certain everyday situations had always felt more challenging for me than they seemed to be for others.
I’ve written about ARFID before on this blog, and since then I’ve tried to remain open about my experiences because eating disorders don’t always look the way people expect them to.
They can affect anyone.
Too many people still struggle without understanding what they’re experiencing or knowing where to turn for support.
That’s why I’ve chosen to support Beat.
The work they do to raise awareness, provide support and improve access to help is genuinely life-changing for so many people.
If you’d like to support my challenge, I’d be hugely grateful, you can donate here.
Professional Update
Professionally, the last six months have been just as busy.
For those who’ve followed my journey for a while, you’ll know that I became Group Director of Technology at The Shine Group last year, so I won’t repeat that announcement again. Instead, what has been interesting is seeing how the role has continued to evolve.
A significant amount of my time has been focused on helping shape technology strategy across the Group, balancing day-to-day operational needs with longer-term thinking around digital transformation, cyber security, governance and data protection.
What continues to surprise me is how often the biggest challenges aren’t technical at all.
They’re about people.
Helping teams adapt to change, finding the right balance between innovation and practicality, ensuring technology enables rather than frustrates, and creating systems and processes that genuinely improve people’s working lives.
Alongside my responsibilities within the wider Shine Group, I’ve continued to focus on growing TeamTech4.
Helping to run a technology business whilst also leading technology internally gives me a unique perspective. On one side, I see the challenges organisations face every day. On the other, I work with businesses that are trying to solve very similar problems.
AI continues to dominate nearly every conversation, cyber security remains a growing concern and organisations are constantly being asked to achieve more with fewer resources.
Despite all the noise surrounding technology at the moment, I still find myself returning to the same principle I’ve spoken about before:
Technology should work for people, not the other way around.
That’s something I’m incredibly passionate about and it’s a philosophy that continues to influence both my work within Shine and the support we provide through TeamTech4.
One thing I’m particularly proud of is seeing how TeamTech4 continues to develop. Whilst we’re still a relatively small organisation, we’ve built strong relationships, helped organisations embrace new ways of working and remained focused on delivering practical solutions rather than simply chasing the latest technology trend.
For me, success has never been about implementing the most cutting-edge technology.
It’s about helping organisations use technology in a way that genuinely makes a difference.
Looking Ahead
When I redesigned this website, I chose three themes that matter deeply to me:
Technology. Mental Health. Community.
The more I reflect on the last six months, the more I realise how closely connected those three things are.
Technology enables us.
Mental health shapes us.
Community connects us.
Everything I’ve been doing professionally, personally and through volunteering seems to sit somewhere within those three areas.
Over the coming months, I’d like to return to writing more regularly, sharing reflections, lessons learned and personal experiences across all three themes.
There are already thousands of technology blogs online.
What I want this blog to be is something a little different.
Not just what I know.
But what I’ve learned.
If you’ve continued following this blog despite my six-month disappearance, thank you.
It’s good to be writing again. And I think I have quite a few stories to tell.