Something different for you this morning... I'd like to thank everyone who has offered to contribute to the Moodscope blog and I'm very pleased to be able to publish the first one today. I hope you enjoy it. Best wishes. Caroline.

We don't know each other but I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Mark.

I've been a Moodscoper (a description that surely deserves a cape and an ability to fly) since my friend and fellow Moodscoper, Sarah, told me about it a couple of years ago.

I've always loved Moodscope's simplicity. And I've always loved Jon's daily emails. Like a friendly neighbour's knock on the door, his thoughts were a welcome interruption to my morning.

Often, his missives offered a much-needed crumb of comfort on an otherwise grey day. Sometimes, Jon's words inspired me to throw a stick for that damned black dog to make it go away. But mostly, his messages of empathy were a gentle reassurance that I'm not alone in how I feel.

Whether you religiously read every email or opened just the odd one or two, no doubt the news that he was moving on came as quite a surprise. It did to me. Actually, more than that, it left me feeling really pretty sad.

So much so that I shunted the so-called important tasks of the day down my 'to-do' list to write and let Jon know how important he'd become to me – even though we'd never met.

I know wasn't the only one who'd felt compelled to write to Jon that instant. Sarah has done the same. And given that we both write for a living, we felt we could do more. So we offered to help with these Moodscope emails. This is my first – Sarah's will be another day soon.

The truth is, I'm honoured to carry on Jon's work and check in with you now and then. Because it's good know someone cares, isn't it?

Even if it's someone you've never met.