First up, huge thanks to everyone who commented or got in touch by other means to talk about what’s going on with the Hopeless project. I’ve got some long term offers on the table that are going to make a huge difference, and some short term ones that will help me get to that point. I’ll talk more about that as we go along, but expect to see more of Mark Hayes and Steven C Davis here. If you’re inclined to throw a story or image into the mix, that’s always a great help.

I’m going to cut back where I need to, so I might be a bit quieter with the Hopeless accounts on social media, (Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Mastodon) and we may be down to a blog post a week at some times, but there will be something every week, I’m confident about that.

We won’t be doing an online festival this year. The previous two have depended on the technical resources and skills of Keith Errington. He’s not well, and isn’t going to be able to do it this year. If you know him personally there are details on his Facebook page, and he’ll see anything that gets posted here. There’s every reason to think he will eventually be ok, but he’s not going to be in a position to run a large project in the immediate future.

Thank you for your support, your kindness and your understanding. It’s meant a great deal, especially in this last week or so.