A surprise in the morning mail

When I was made redundant from what Mrs Warrior still insists on calling 'a proper job' in December 2010 and set up my own freelance journalism business, I decided that I would start to get involved in things locally.

I was no longer working every evening and I needed to raise my profile, I needed to get to know people who might want press releases written, website copy written, books written - anything which would enable me to make money out of my writing skills.

So I started getting involved in committees, joining groups, getting out there and meeting people. It was good for my business for me to know as many people as possible and it was good for me to meet people and get a feel for what was happening in my town.

In hindsight, of course, I may have done too much. Going out 2-3 nights a week to committee meetings on top of the stress of my freelance job may well have contributed to my health problems and I have now reined in some of my activities (too late, obviously!). I am no longer involved on a regular basis with the local CAMRA branch although I'm still a member. I resigned from the board of Destination Tamworth Findabiz at the end of last year. I stood down as group leader of the Tamworth branch of 4Networking (www.4networking.biz) at the same time although I'm still on the leadership team.

But all that high-profile activity has meant that lots of people in Tamworth know me (although some think I still work for the Tamworth Herald, which I left in 1990). It's meant that lots of people have been watching out for myself and Mrs W since my stroke and keep saying encouraging words.

Yet I still had a surprise when the post came last Friday morning and I opened a letter which turned out to be from the Mayor of Tamworth, inviting me to a civic reception at the Town Hall tomorrow night (May 21). The invitation is part of the Mayor's Be Tamworth scheme, rewarding citizens who go that extra mile for the town. The letter said the invitation was 'in recognition of the support you have given Tamworth and its people over many years."

It's a cliche in these situations for the person involved to say that they don't do it for the public recognition and I genuinely don't. I do it/did it to keep myself busy and because I enjoy being involved in things.

It does mean that I have to go into town this afternoon and look for a new pair of posh shoes, though.....