Guidance and Signposting for Life's Challenges
The anniversary is looming, a week today, and this has been playing on my mind more than I expected. It has been seven years since I was first sexually assaulted. The same year our Mark died. Sometimes people separate those events in their minds. I can’t. They live in the same year. The same body. […]
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Not all discrimination is loud. Sometimes it isn’t shouting, slurs or outright refusal.Sometimes it’s quiet. Polite. Subtle. And that’s what makes it so damaging. Silent discrimination is the kind that hides behind “process”, “policy”, “culture” and “business decisions” – while still pushing certain people further to the margins. And it happens every day. What Does […]
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We’re told the same story over and over. If you work hard, you’ll get ahead.If you try harder, you’ll succeed.If you fail, it’s because you didn’t want it enough. It sounds motivating. But it isn’t true. Because social mobility isn’t equal — and pretending it is only hides the real problem. Not Everyone Starts From […]
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Somewhere along the way, we created an impossible standard. The “perfect employee”. Always available.Always productive.Never sick.Never overwhelmed.Never late.Never struggling. And most people are quietly failing to live up to it – because it doesn’t exist. What Does the “Perfect Employee” Look Like? According to people we have been supporting, their workplace culture defines the perfect […]
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Somehow, being tired has become a badge of honour. Working late.Skipping breaks.Running on caffeine.Pushing through illness.Being constantly “on”. We’ve normalised exhaustion. And that’s not healthy.It’s harmful. What Is Burnout Culture? Burnout culture is the belief that productivity equals worth. That resting is lazy.That slowing down is weakness.That struggling means you’re not trying hard enough. It […]
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There’s something deeply wrong with a system where people have to prove their pain before they’re allowed support. Not explain it.Not share it.Prove it. With paperwork.With evidence.With repeated retelling of the worst moments of their lives. For many people, asking for help doesn’t bring relief.It brings another exhausting fight. The Paperwork of Survival If you’ve […]
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Next week, from 1–7 September, the Mark Hewitson Foundation is running our first ever *Hidden Disabilities Awareness Week.* It’s for everyone who’s ever been told:– “But you don’t look sick.”– “You seemed fine yesterday.”– “You’re just being dramatic.” Because disability isn’t always visible. Pain, trauma, fatigue, and neurodivergence don’t always come with a walking stick […]
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Stress doesn’t always look like panic. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s exhaustion. Sometimes it’s staring at a pile of washing and feeling like you might cry. We talk a lot about trauma, grief, and hardship here at the Mark Hewitson Foundation — but underlying all of it, more often than not, is stress. Big, heavy, […]
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We don’t always know when trauma begins — sometimes it’s one moment, one event that changes everything. Other times, it’s drip-fed over years. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just a slow erasing of safety. At the Mark Hewitson Foundation, we work with people who’ve lived through all kinds of trauma — grief, assault, abandonment, illness, violence, […]
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It’s been a long time since my last personal blog – I just stopped sharing my private thoughts. I lost my voice and I had nothing left to say. To an extent that’s still the case, but I’ve been working on some stuff and wanted to share it. I’ve been really honest over the last […]
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