Recap of the month - July 2023

Well, I had a feeling July was going to be mega-busy. And I was right.

New job... not as a train driver, though

The most mega-thing of the mega-busy month was finally changing jobs. This has been in train for a while, as I was working through a three month notice period. After 13 years I have left the NHS and joined the charity Diabetes UK. It's a communications management role working on a programme that supports young people with Type 1 Diabetes.

My final week in the NHS was a big one, with a booked-out event held at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales near Carmarthen.

Blodau Gymreig

The event logistics were unusual, in that we were spread over two locations with a short walk in-between. The short walk was through a garden and the paths featured tiny wandering frogs. It was the first time I've ever experienced people being late for sessions because they were rescuing amphibians. 

I took a day off in that last week to travel to London to meet my new colleagues as a rare face-to-face meeting had been scheduled on the Thursday before I was due to start. I travelled up with two members of staff from the Cardiff office, which was helpful to start getting a handle on the programme. I also timed it well as there was an organisation-wide social event - with a beach theme - in the afternoon, which included beer! Not bad for a first day.

My beach-ready new team (and me)

And so to my last day...

Last day selfie. Goodbye NHS Wales!

After clearing my locker and handing my laptop back, it was time to say goodbye. Some of my colleagues joined me later in the evening at The Vegetarian Food Studio for a goodbye meal. We all ate a lot of very good food! Despite living around the corner from the restaurant for over two decades, it was the first time I had ever eaten there. I'm hoping I get the chance to go back soon. 

That was the Friday night. I had a weekend of unemployment and then on the Monday I started the new job. As I've said to a few people, this job change feels like I am rolling back through my career - back to diabetes, back to comms, back to the third sector! In a weird way it feels a lot like coming home after a long time away, and so far the people I got to know in those former roles have welcomed my prodigal soul back. 

Ah, it's easy to get sentimental about these things. I've landed in the middle of a big rebranding exercise, with an important showcase piece of work due to drop in a few short weeks, so I've had to shake off some rust and dust and get up to speed quickly. But so far, so good. 

Outside of work it's been busy too. The football season has restarted and I went a record number of games for July - in fact, I'm going to do a run down of the games I went to separately. 

Cathy and I also went to our first gig of the year together - to see Bastille at Cardiff Castle (which I've already blogged about). We also had a rare outing to the cinema and saw the new Pixar movie, Elementals.

I even made it to this month's Keep Grangetown Tidy litter pick - finds this time included a microwave oven and a trashed standard lamp.

So, all in all, a busy 31 days.