When I first met Mike Adams OBE, it was at his offices in Chelmsford, initially as a customer of mine, and over time to becoming friends. As I got to know Mike and the work he and his team did for the disabled community, there has always been a resonance with me, and later in my life, with a disabled wife myself, a real affinity with what the team at ecdp (as it was known then) later to become, Purple, and what they did surrounding disability confidence. Not just in their county, but also nationally and with some significant organisations getting involved, mainly because of Mike and his ability to charm the CEO’s and board room tables into his way of thinking, and understanding the true value of the Purple Pound.
Mike and I worked closely together and made sure that learnings about the disabled community, and in particular disability confidence, was at the forefront in both my organisation, and my customer base. Mike would speak at our user groups, and help to get the important message across in an effective and invariably comical way.
Work continued and our paths didn’t cross as often, however I would always mention Mike to people, as someone who I was in admiration of when discussing disability especially in the workplace. However, I was always aware of how my disability confidence had grown.
Recently I took some time out from work due to medical issues, and I said to myself, as an advocate of mental health and wellbeing, that when I returned to work, it would be for the ‘right’ organisation (not necessarily knowing what that was at this point), it would feel right when I found it, or as was the case, it found me!
The Circle Line was a Start Up that a friend of mine had joined, The Circle Line help people to find the right therapist for them using a safe, discreet online service and they want to revolutionise an established method of mental health treatment, bringing it into the 21st century, and putting the individual first. A really valuable solution to a very big issue when you look at the statistics surrounding Mental Health. This was the company and opportunity I had been waiting for, and now part of a team of like-minded individuals, we are creating a movement around mental health and wellbeing.
A few months ago, my phone rang, and a familiar voice started to talk “Neil, how are you its Mike Adams, you’ve got twins if I recall, haven’t you?” Erm “yes” I said, thinking this was an odd way to start a conversation, however it soon became clear when I realised that apart from the call to catch up, it was also a chance to share notes on being the father of twin girls, as Mike had recently joined ‘the Club’. Conversation moved to health and work, and I explained where I was working now. Mike told me about Purple, and in particular about Purple Tuesday.
As a company whose primary objective is to help people to find the right therapists, to help their mental health issues/wellbeing, and modernise an established method of treatment, we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve the user experience of our platform and service, therefore help those people who have the hidden disability of Mental Illness (which is fast becoming one of the biggest disability groups). Here was Purple Tuesday championing the cause and putting some clout behind our day to day mission. The synergy between what Purple Tuesday is about, and what The Circle Line do as an organisation was clear to me, and the team.
Our commitment is to make access to therapy and more importantly the right therapist simple and straight forward, by simplifying the process through a secure, safe and discreet online service provided by The Circle Line at an affordable cost for everyone. We do this by creating a secure platform which is simple to navigate and use our private online therapy rooms, but we also maintain a low fee for therapy (£49 per session).
The Purple Tuesday team have informed me that The Circle Line was the first new organisation to officially register for Purple Tuesday 2020. We are excited to join all other organisations on this disability journey. If you would like your organisation to get involved too or would like more information, visit PurpleTuesday.org.uk.
If you would like to understand more about what we do, or even have a requirement for a therapist to support you, then do get in touch.
Neil Lagden: The Circle Line Corporate Partnerships
Email: neil@thecircleline.co.uk