rivers2cross

In 2017 I met Bill Turnbull for my bowel cancer fundraising book The Record in Leicester Square. At the time he was a DJ on Classic FM following a long career in journalism, including 16 years with BBC Breakfast News. So why was Bill holding my copy of ‘The Stand’ by The Alarm? I am sure all will become clear if you read the chapter in the book, but when he interviewed Mike Peters from the band on BBC Breakfast there was a bit of love for The Alarm going on. Bill was a great sport, not just with stuff about The Alarm, but also with the bowel cancer tie. We then sat down and chatted about his life and career, so it’s another fascinating chapter in The Record.

The reason why Bill and everyone in the book took part was to help raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK, and to help raise awareness about this awful disease. My Mum died of bowel cancer in August 2016, having been first been diagnosed with cancer back in 2012. Bowel cancer claims 16,000 lives each year, making it the second highest cancer killer in the UK. Yet if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases.

Not long after our meeting Bill revealed that he was being treated for prostrate cancer, and he featured in a very moving documentary Staying Alive on Channel 4. Bill’s death is extremely sad and my thoughts are with his family.

I will always be incredibly grateful to Bill for his support for the book. Work on The Record began shortly after mum’s death in 2016, and took almost 3 years to complete. The book is dedicated to her memory. I met and photographed a variety of famous people from the worlds of television, sport, music as well as some amazing and inspirational people from the cancer community. Each person featured in the book told me about the first record that they bought. Bill’s first record is one of the all time great albums by a legendary band which he still loved all those years later.

Over £1000 has been raised since its publication in 2019.