Endings and beginnings are hard when you have an anxious personality like mine.

Endings generally are associated with negativity for me, for example, the end of a relationship, the end of an era, the end of a really good book.

Beginnings associated with anxiety of over-thinking and worry about if I will cope, if things will go right and the fear of the unknown.

My self-awareness now makes me set smaller goals. These can have positive endings and positive beginnings. They can involve others or myself.

So currently, a new beginning for me is my middle son starting High-school in September. The anxious me worries about his additional needs, worries about his unique, quirky style, bullies, fitting in and making friends. The logical me realises that this is a step he will have to take regardless of the worries I have, and if he struggles I will be there to support him and help him navigate.

The same can be said for other life experiences. For every ending there is a new beginning, for every worry there is a logical solution. It just takes a calm mind to work through these.

Good luck in your new role at Salford University.

It’s been a tough few months here, financially, I’ve been so lucky, I am blessed with a great friend who supported me to be able to move house.

I have a tiny budget to do a lot of work and am trying to find support with some things, which isn’t easy. People think if you have a mortgage, it’s your own home and so why should you get support.

So you struggle, and it isn’t easy at all.

I do feel more empowered when I’m able to sort out my finance, but, with living on social security payments largely, I worry constantly and I check my journal when it’s close to the time of payment, just in case they’re taking something out or putting something in. It feels a bit sad really!

I feel like some people think they have the right to judge what I buy and how I spend the support money. I feel wasteful and think; ‘you don’t need that’, or ‘that’s a waste of money’. Could be anything from moisturiser to nice bread.

In particular at the moment, my internal dialogue when I’m shopping is really unkind and miserly. It’s so expensive!! So even the things I might previously have been able to justify are no longer an option.

It’s isn’t the worst off I have been, but I’m so afraid of the financial carnage of no support with energy costs and the cost just to live. When that is gone, what then? So I have to be extra careful… and I was already quite careful with what we had…

Not many new clothes, shoes needed but need to afford them, no trips out to anywhere paying, no holidays… there’s only so much imagination you have when you’re exhausted from just surviving…

Sometimes, people say that you can have adventures even with no money… I used to agree, but when that no money time extends so far into the future, there is just not enough imagination to make poverty into a Wes Anderson film anymore…

It feels empowering and means that somebody is doing positive on our behalf - yes, changing realities! Thank you for your advocacy, a very important work you do to make our voices heard.

I like being part of changing realities as it’s great to be able to have a say on a platform you know listens and makes those with power listen to make changes.

I like how you can be involved as much or as little as you like and would think it would be great if there was an app that participants can interact with making voicing opinion easier.

Hi. Yeah, well, I like being part of the changing realities. I started off with changing COVID one and I just feel it's absolutely great to be able to take part. Diary entries and video entries just to help shape the future for any research that can be done. I mean, we're living in changing times pre COVID and in another sort of borderline recession which we've not had for a few years, quite a good few years. I think it's great to be part of a research group that can hope, you know, change or, or help change shape the future. You know, we always say we learn from our past mistakes. That doesn't always happen in, in politics and that, but hopefully, hopefully we can, we can all make a difference by just sharing our lives and how it's affecting us.

It's great having a voice that influences things - and to have recognition and renumeration in kind for the time spent. As a disabled working class woman, I often feel invisible and overlooked. The CR project makes me feel valued - thank you!

Looking forward to tonight's "Big Conversation" with The Poverty Truth Network.

The Government are determined to crush society to a pulp & I simply cannot stand by & watch or let that happen.

Something drastic needs to change for the better of the common people.