Bowel Cancer, Fundraising, Journal, Lives & Times Charity Book, The Record Charity Book   Comments Off on 08/06/2022   8 June 2022
The Bowel Cancer Community 2019

It was exactly three years ago that I did my last public fundraising event when I went to the Bowel Cancer UK Patients Day in Manchester. The Record was a couple of weeks away from its official publication date, so I took copies along to sell along with some Stop Bowel Cancer Teddies. It was during this time when I felt most connected to Bowel Cancer UK.

I’d begun writing the book shortly after Mum died of bowel cancer in 2016. I met around 60 people for the book including some amazing people from the bowel cancer community. Sadly some of those in the photo are no longer with us, and we sadly know that Dame Deborah James is on end of life care.

Three years of putting the book together was a very cathartic way of coping with the devastating loss of Mum. However it also ended up taking a huge toll on my mental health. I kind of lost sight to some degree of why I had done the book, and I was desperate for it succeed that I found it hard to process when it fell short of the sales I was perhaps hoping for after the amazing success of Lives & Times. It was only when I finally managed to let it all go that I was able to appreciate the magnitude of what I had put together, and without doubt it is one of my proudest achievements.

Some of the famous faces in the book

As well as those from the cancer community I also met many famous people, who all kindly gave up their time to meet me and support the book. It was quite an adventure taking in England, Wales and Scotland, and I even did one photo in New York! Everyone in the book told me about the first record that they bought and it was amazing talking to everyone.

The pandemic pretty much brought a halt to my promotion. 2020 was hopefully going to be the year when I tried selling the book at a few events. With hindsight perhaps this abrupt end was for the best, as I was too immersed in the book and perhaps I wouldn’t have been able to let it go otherwise. However, I hope that the events, especially the ones involving the bowel cancer community, come back soon. Aside from the fundraising they were a wonderful way of meeting people and getting to know them face-to-face. On a personal level meeting the people I met for both Lives & Times and The Record really were life-changing and I’d finally found a fulfilling purpose in life and was able to come out of my shell. There’s no doubt in my mind that over the last 2-3 years I have retreated inside myself somewhat (it’s easy to hide behind these computer keyboards). I want to get back to somewhere close to where I was, so all help with this is much appreciated x