Wow, this is a message I really didn't foresee myself writing. There's no easy way to say this but my time working with Moodscope is coming to an end. I'll be leaving in a week's time.

Let's get some important matters cleared up straight away, as I know they'll rightly be your first concerns.

1. Moodscope is of course more than about just one man, so it will rightly carry on operating much as it has, but from May 10th 2013 will be under the sole management and ownership of its two other directors Caroline Ashcroft and Adrian Hosford.

2. Moodscope's messages will continue to be published every day, but as of next Friday they'll come from The Moodscope Team rather than me.

3. Caroline and Adrian know how much the service is relied on by Moodscopers, so in the immediate future I'm sure Moodscope's operations will remain unaltered.

4. Sorry about this, but you've got another week of me before I head for the road. I'll be writing for the next six days.

Sadly, my reasons for needing to leave Moodscope are largely economic ones. Although I've immensely loved starting and working on the project over the last five years, the truth is that we've struggled on in poor financial health. The Moodscope Plus subscriptions just about cover minimal overhead costs, and we've been fortunate enough to benefit from two grants and helpful one-off contributions from Moodscopers, but there's never been the money to pay any kind of salaries - nor to cover the costs of bringing in freelance help.

While Caroline and Adrian have other ways of covering their day-to-day living expenses, I haven't. Although I've sold assets and had support from my parents and brother, I'm afraid it's no longer viable for me to carry on working full-time unpaid. Harder still for me has been the frustration of having no resources to move Moodscope on. I've been (and am still) full to the brim with ideas for mental wellbeing initiatives but have had no means of evolving the service into what I know it could have become.

Since the company has no financial reserves, I'm leaving Moodscope without payment, and giving my shares to Caroline and Adrian. From May 10th I will have no interest of any kind in the project.

I'm hugely sad to be leaving, quietly proud of what we've already achieved, deeply grateful to each and every Moodscoper who's supported the project (and me) and also very keen to get moving on my next project. More on this tomorrow.

I'd love you to register your details with me at my own site (details below) so I can keep in touch from time to time. When you've done so, you'll get a free copy of my just-completed ebook 'Twisted Thinking' as a thank you:

http://www.joncousins.com

Thanks for reading, and sorry for what may be to some the unexpected news.

Oh yes, as it's likely that Moodscopers will want to comment on this, and also highly probable that our email In-Boxes will be pretty busy, I'll be eternally grateful if thoughts, reflections and questions could be directed to our Blogspot:

http://moodscope.blogspot.com/2013/05/sad-to-say-im-leaving.html