rivers2cross

I have been fundraising and raising awareness about bowel cancer since 2012, the year Mum was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and had her bowel operation to remove the tumour. It all began with the Beating Bowel Cancer book. I had come across the Beating Bowel Cancer charity and rather naively thought that after a successful operation, Mum had indeed beaten the cancer. So I thought what a perfect title for a book. One thing that has never changed since that book was published has been the numerous friendships that I have made and continue to make. I began fundraising as a bit of a loner and the bowel cancer community and the support and friendship, if I am being totally honest, rather took me by surprise.

The cancer community is like no other. The astonishing level of love, support, kindness, generosity that is given every day by so many wonderful people, so many of who are going through, to put it bluntly, the shittiest of times. Going back to 2012, people started reaching out to me on the back of that first book and I soon realised that my life was beginning to change and I would never be the same person again. It was perhaps this enlightening period that gave me the idea to write a book about people. Lives & Times came out in 2015 and was such a highlight. Meeting people from so many different walks of life, including so many famous people, all of who were happy to meet with this unknown stranger and help support my fundraising.

Sadly, Mum passed away in 2016 from bowel cancer, four and a half years after being diagnosed. She got to see so much of my early fundraising, and the special reception that the Live & Times book received. When she began reading her copy of the book, it was, I think, the only time I’d ever reduced her to tears. I continue to push the fundraising as far and as hard as I can with Mum always very much at the forefront of my mind x

So let’s fast forward to 2023. This year got off the worst possible start with the sudden loss of Nicole Cooper, and 2022 had ended with Monique Buckingham passing too. The idea to put together The Final Post EP formed at the end of January when I was in North Wales. Ideas for the two songs, Nicole and Monique, but it was perhaps The Final Post track itself that was going to be the focal point of the release. It is a quite magical narration of Nicole’s final, beautiful, moving and altogether inspiring post by 12 ladies from the bowel cancer community. To have them involved is one of the most beautiful things that has happened since I began the Fields of Dawn musical project three years ago. For these ladies to put themselves out there, reading Nicole’s words, can’t have been easy. It is a wonderful testament to the whole of the wonderful bowel cancer community. Nicole did not want to be defined by her bowel cancer, and these ladies have been and still are going through things that, unless you have been through them yourself, we can’t possibly fully understand. And yet in spite of everything, like Nicole, they can never be defined by their bowel cancer. They are so so much more than that, quite simply 12 incredibly beautiful souls. I can never thank them enough for their support with this release. For this reason alone I would ask you to support the release and help us raise some money for the three bowel cancer charities.

Nicole Cooper, who lived in Melbourne, Australia, and she was one of the kindest and most wonderful souls, who did so much to advocate for bowel cancer patients and raise awareness about bowel cancer. She was a young mother to Joshua and married to Tim, and surrounded by a beautiful family. Kindest was part of her DNA. I reached out to her about 5 years ago to be in my fundraising book, The Record, and from that moment on we struck up a firm friendship, even though she lived 11,000 miles away. However, we did get to meet in 2019 at Trafalgar Square when Nicole and her family were in Europe on holiday, which was such an amazing thing to happen. Nicole was initially written off when she was given her stage 4 diagnosis in 2017. However, she pushed for and sought out a second opinion which gave her a small window of opportunity for treatment, which she grabbed and gave her 5 more years of life. It’s impossible to fully appreciate everything she went through just to stay alive, including the numerous surgeries. She leaves a massive legacy, which will play a big part in more bowel cancer patients getting better treatment options and outcomes.

The second track on the release is called Monique, who was known to many as @thelifeofmique on social media. Monique died last November, and I had been wanting to do something meaningful dedicated to her, so this seemed like the right time to write a song about this amazing young lady. At the beginning of 2022, I was fortunate enough to meet Monique at Colchester Hospital. I had started selling the Life of Mique teddy bears to raise funds for the fund set up to pay for private treatments for Monique not available on the NHS. I spent a wonderful couple of hours chatting to Monique and her family, who made me feel incredibly welcome. Monique was just as you would imagine from how she came across on social media, just so lovely. I felt like I had known them all for ages. As time has gone on since that visit, I have had time to reflect upon just what a profound effect it had on me. Meeting Monique really helped me rediscover my reason and purpose, especially as far as the fundraising goes. It was a very humbling experience meeting someone with such a kind, positive and infectious personality doing everything possible simply to stay alive. If I could possess a fraction of those qualities Monique had, then I would have little to worry about…

Essentially the two songs, Nicole and Monique are love songs that I hope represent the depth of feeling held for these two ladies by the many thousands of people who followed them on social media. I am incredibly proud of these recordings. Perhaps the best music I have produced to date under the Fields of Dawn banner. Raising awareness is so important and already the reel on social media which has the 12 ladies narrating Nicole’s final post has vindicated the idea with the amount of views it has had. I would love for this project to sell well, but that lays in the hands on everyone out there. I would like to think that both Nicole and Monique would have loved this idea x As always I would be incredibly grateful for any support. The release comes on CD, Download and a 7″ single. You can order a copy now from the links on this post.

All profits raised from every sale are donated to Bowel Cancer UK, Bowel Cancer Australia and The Bowel Movement.