rivers2cross

Over the last seven years or so I have met many amazing people, and one of my favourite meetings was with Siân Lloyd. It had taken some time for us to be able to arrange a convenient date to meet, and if I am honest there were times when I’d thought that it might be one of those opportunities that slipped through the net. Thankfully we both wanted to make it happen, and it was a real highlight for me. We met at the stunning Dartmouth House in Mayfair, and I arrived expecting to have perhaps 20 minuets to chat and take some photos, but we ended up speaking for a couple of hours, and Siân was absolutely lovely, has a wonderful sense of humour, and she made feel at ease making the whole experience really enjoyable.

I had the idea of contacting Siân when I saw a photograph of her with the Beating Bowel Cancer logo on her jeans, which she told me was taken when she won Rear Of The Year in 2007. At our meeting she told me that she had lost her uncle to the bowel cancer. Siân also does a lot of charity work for research into Alzheimer’s. She spoke about her mum’s stage 5 Alzheimer’s, and since our meeting her mum has sadly passed away.

For the latest book I tended to record the chats, and after 45 minutes of general chat with Siân I thought I’d better start the recorder! This was a measure of how generous she was with her time, and how much fun it was just chatting to her about life.We talked about my mum and bowel cancer, her first record, her career, and so much more. Siân’s first record is a classic David Bowie single and she listens to music all the time and has a very eclectic taste. Siân also very kindly put me in touch with legendary Welsh rugby player Rupert Moon, who I went to meet at The Principality Stadium in Cardiff. I am incredibly grateful to Siân for all her help and support.

Siân has continued to be very supportive since our meeting 18 months ago, and if you follow her on social media you will know what a wonderfully positive person she is with such passion and enthusiasm for life. We haven’t managed to meet up again since Dartmouth House, but that will hopefully happen as we have talked about doing some photos of her with The Record. There is also the possibility of her helping me fundraising again in the future if I can perhaps put on some kind of event. Watch this space!

April is bowel cancer awareness month. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, and each year 16,000 people die of it. However if detected early at stage 1 it can be successfully treated in over 93% of cases. This dramatically falls to 7% when diagnosed at stage 4. At the moment only 15% of patients are detected at stage 1. So raising awareness is vital to help improve early detection rates. Bowel Cancer UK is doing some amazing work driving this process forward, and I am proud to be raising funds for them, and making my own small contribution to raising awareness.

The Record has raised over £900 for Bowel Cancer UK since it was published last year. All profits raised from every sale are donated to the charity. The book is available in paperback, hardback and as an eBook. Click here here to see all the ways that you can buy the book.

Coronavirus has led to the charity sector being very hard hit. Bowel Cancer UK could lose around half of its annual income, and has had to furlough over half its staff. Buying The Record from my website https://rivers2cross.com/product/the-record-charity-book/ maximizes the amount that is donated to charity from each copy. I remain very grateful for the continued support x