I'm finally launching my Frazzled Cafes today. I've been pregnant for nine months with the idea and now the birth is imminent. If you want to be at there watching my final push please come to Olympia for the London Book Fair between 14 - 16 March. I'll be there (obviously) with my team and there will be spaces to visit a Frazzled Cafe for a taster of what's coming. We're in partnership with Marks & Spencer who are offering their cafes for the meetings. They will shut their cafes to the general public at specific times in order to host our Frazzled Cafes. This means you remain anonymous.
Just visit frazzledcafe.org to sign up to the Information List and we'll get in touch when a Frazzled Cafe opens near you. We start by inviting around 15 people to come together, who then meet regularly every two weeks. We might also arrange more groups in the same location but at different times. At the Frazzled Cafes you form a small intimate community where you can talk honestly without being judged.
The idea is that "it's OK to not be OK," These meetings are not for people suffering mental illness at the time of the meeting - it's important that you know that we don't offer therapy. You may have suffered in the past or know someone who is suffering so we'll advise you where to go to get help. These meetings are for people like you and me and everyone who feels frazzled from the burden of everyday life. Often we don't want to tell our relations or friends how we're feeling because we worry that we're a burden. People at the Frazzled Cafes listen to you and care. What's said at those meetings stays in those meetings. Each meeting will have a regular facilitator to make sure everyone feels safe and everyone there has a chance to talk, if they want I've been to some of the on-going meetings which we already have up and running, and found them incredibly moving... I felt the people there cared about me as human being, not about my job description. The fact we get right to the heart of things with very little small talk is such a relief.
So please visit us at frazzledcafe.org and find out about what we do and - if you're in the hood - do come and see us at the London Book Fair at Olympia this week.
To me the cure of being frazzled, of feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders or too much to do, is to meet others in the same situation. To realise you are not alone is the way to lessen the load of living.
Find out more and sign up to be the first to know about new Frazzled Cafes in your area at frazzledcafe.org
The London Book Fair is at Olympia between 14 - 16 March 2017. You will need a ticket to enter.
Ruby is on tour in the UK and Australia throughout 2017 with her #Frazzled Show - tickets on sale now.
If you want to be the first to know when Ruby's next book will be published, as well as exclusive news, special offers and other things that might be useful to you, just tell Ruby where to get in touch.