rivers2cross

It’s been another tough year for everyone and I am sure that I am no different to many in wishing 2021 gone and for 2022 to be a much better year. However, when I look back on 2021 there have still been some great personal highlights especially when it comes to the fundraising.

I spent much of the year concentrating on making and releasing music. When The Alarm recorded and released an album in 50 days at the beginning of the year, it inspired me to write and record two new songs in a spontaneous manner. On The Way Back / Far Far Away was recorded remotely with Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard from The Alarm, who played drums and produced the single. It went on to raise over £300 for Love Hope Strength and showed me just what I could achieve. This release was also available on 7″ vinyl, which was a dream come true for me. On reflection the follow up release, You, which followed soon after for bowel cancer awareness month in April was rather rushed, and although I love the track, it might be a song I look to recording again in the future. More recently the Friends single is a song I am really proud of, and I think was a well crafted catchy song. I was also very grateful to Steve Webster and Billy Liberator for their help with this track. I am still aiming on recording an album, and there is the possibility of doing this with Smiley. I am still not entirely sure I have either a big enough fan base to make an album or if indeed the appetite is out there.

In the lead up to Christmas the cuddly reindeer took centre stage and raised around £250 for Bowel Cancer UK and Love Hope Strength, which was quite amazing considering this was the third year they have been available. I guess that the total fundraising for 2021 was around £1000. I can’t thank everyone enough especially when times are so tough. I know at times I push the fundraising pretty hard, so thank you for putting up with me again…

If there has been one word to sum up work in 2021 it is survival. Just being able to pay the overheads and carry on trading has been the aim, and thankfully I have been able to do that. Being sensible with what I take out out as a salary enabled the company to make a small profit. Massive price rises throughout the year have meant that trading conditions have remained very difficult. It doesn’t appear much is set to change as we head into 2022, so I will continue with that survival mode mentality and see what happens.

On a personal level, 2021 has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Socially, with lockdowns and restrictions, I have been pretty quiet. I will have gone the whole of 2021 without having had an alcoholic drink. I haven’t given up drinking, but am quite happy continuing to abstain at the moment. The last gig I went to was on Feb 1st 2020, see The Alarm in Llandudno, so it is going to be at least two years by the time my next gig comes around. I am still buying plenty of music on CD, Download and Vinyl as well. There have been some great releases this year from the likes of The Alarm, Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard, James Stevenson, Carol Hodge, The Leytons, Billy Liberator and Ferocious Dog to name but a few. It is now also two years since I last ventured into London, which is another big miss as it’s a place I love going to. In 2022 I am looking to find that peace within that has been missing for a long time in my life. I won’t go into the details here, but I am already in a much better place as we head to the end of 2021 than I have been in quite some time. Thank you to my family and friends who have supported me x

I don’t tend to set new year’s resolutions, but heading in to 2022 I do aspire to be kind, be happy and find inner peace within, but I am not going to put myself under any pressure and que sera sera etc. I have the new fundraising Gift-A-Bear project to kick off 2022, which allows anyone to buy a teddy bear in a blue hoodie and gift it to a person or organisation, and also to donate the profits raised from the sale to a charity of your choice. For the first time my fundraising can therefore branch out from the cancer charities, although I am still more than happy to choose a cancer charity.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support during 2021, especially those of you who have been there for me most recently. The fundraising continues to bring many new wonderful people into my life, and I am grateful to all these new friendships that I continue to make, as well as the long-standing friendships that I am very grateful for and try not to take for granted. I wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2022 x