This blog will follow all my bowel cancer fundraising efforts for Bowel Cancer UK (Beating Bowel Cancer Together), which are being done in memory of my mum who died in August 2016 four and half years after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. The total amount raised so far stands at over £4050.
Today I travelled to the Teddington office of Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK to meet the charity's CEO, Deborah Alsina. I was really happy when she agreed to be in the fundraising book, and after the recent snow scuppered a recent meeting, it was good to finally meet Deborah today.
Even before the two charities recent merger, Deborah had always asked after my mother, and was very kind to me when she passed away 18 months ago. We had a lovely chat, and it was fascinating to hear someone talk about bowel cancer, and the aims of the charity, with such feeling and passion. It was my first visit to the Teddington office, and after almost 6 years of fundraising it was probably about time... I was made very welcome and even enjoyed a coffee in a Lives & Times mug!
The new book, The Record, is well on the way now. I am hoping that it might be close to completion by the end of the year. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, claiming 16,000 years each year. However, if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. Raising awareness about bowel cancer is vital, and improve early detection rates.
Everything being sold on my bowel cancer fundraising website raises funds for the charity, so please check out my online shop and support it if you can.
Through the wonders of social media I have known Gina Shergold ever since I started my bowel cancer fundraising. Gina's partner Steve was fighting bowel cancer, and she was writing the most informative, and very personal blog about their journey. They later got married, and went on to have their daughter Esmée However, very sadly Steve passed away in November 2015 aged just 33. Bowel cancer is still very much perceived as an older person's illness, but more and more young people are being diagnosed. A lot more work needs to be done. Gina is currently managing the Teamvericco cancer charity, and she also helps bowel cancer charities in raising awareness about this awful disease.
I met Gina and Esmée for the forthcoming bowel cancer charity book, The Record, just over a year ago in Bournemouth. Gina has become an inspiration to so many people associated with bowel cancer, and it was a very humbling experience listening to her story first hand. It is a chapter that will hopefully touch people, but it's a warm and inspiring piece too. We also had to get Esmeè to pose for the camera, which was hilarious and only resolved through bribery 😄
I lost my mum to bowel cancer on August 29th, 2016. She was diagnosed in 2012, and although the initial bowel operation was successful, the cancer spread to her lungs resulting in four further operations. She bounced back each time, but the cancer finally spread to her brain, and her health deteriorated, and she passed away one week after her 80th birthday. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, claiming 16,000 lives each year. However, if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases, so increasing awareness and improving early detection rates is vital.
All proceeds raised from sales of the new book will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, who have recently merged to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. I am hoping the book might be close to completion by the end of this year, although there is no set deadline as I am self publishing. Please take a look at my www.bowelcancerfundraisingwebsite.co.uk website to see the items I am already selling to raise funds for the charity. Over £3750 has been raised to date.
I met James Stevenson, the guitarist in The Alarm, at the band's final gig of 2017 in Oxford last October. I was allowed into the venue to photograph, and chat with James before the soundcheck. I then got a photo pass to photograph The Alarm for the three songs of their set. This would have been more than enough in its own right. However it was a pretty special evening. The band was supporting the #wearitpink day for breast cancer awareness, so the venue became a sea of pink. James was very classy with his pink scarf tied to his waist, whereas myself and many others went completely over the top with it 😊 Jules Peters, keyboard player, and wife of Mike Peters, has been undergoing gruelling treatment for this awful disease, after being diagnosed during 2016. The gig was outstanding, and I had the added bonus of getting to chat with Jules, and drummer Smiley after my meeting with James - both of whom will also feature in the new book. So plenty to write about for this chapter...
In the photo pit waiting for The Alarm
The forthcoming charity book, The Record, will raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, who have recently merged to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK with 16,000 lives lost to it each year. Sadly my Mum passed away from this awful disease on August 29th 2016, so all my fundraising is now being done in her memory. Another aim of the book will be to raise awareness about bowel cancer. If detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. This figure falls dramatically the later it is detected, so improving early diagnosis rates is vital.
Last weekend I got to meet comedian Lucy Porter shortly before her gig at Norden Farm in Maidenhead, which is located in the road where my parents lived for almost 50 years, and where I grew up. This came together very quickly, as I'd only made contact with Lucy just a week or so earlier. She couldn't have been nicer, and as well as spending some time chatting with me, and doing some photos, Lucy also organised me a ticket for the show. It was very entertaining evening, and I'd highly recommend seeing Lucy live. In the forthcoming book I will reveal Lucy's first record she bought, which is an absolute belter!
The Record is being written in memory of my Mum who had bowel cancer, and passed away in August 2016. All proceeds raised will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK claiming 16,000 lives each year. However, if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. Much more needs to be done to raise bowel cancer awareness, and improve early detection rates to give patients a better chance of survival.
Birthday greetings to Gail Porter today. She is one of a very select group of people who, having featured in the Lives & Timesbowel cancer charity book, will also feature in the new fundraising book, The Record.
We are still trying to arrange the meeting for the new book, but going back to December 2014 we met at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which is like a home from home for Gail. This first meeting between us began disastrously as, unbelievably, we somehow missed each other. Thankfully we were able to try again the following week, and we eventually managed to meet up on what was a very cold and festive evening. I can't believe that this was over three and a half years ago now.
Gail was really lovely, and very enthusiastic in getting involved in the book - she was brilliant fun, and it was certainly one of my favorite chapters I did for Lives & Times. The chapter makes reference to our ride on the 'Ski Slope' ride, where stupidly I hadn't realised quite what I was letting myself in for! Lets just say 360 degrees! 😱Of course meeting Gail was a brilliant photo opportunity, and how many people can count themselves lucky enough to have photographed the beautiful Gail Porter?
My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012. Although the operation to remove the tumour from her bowel was a success, the cancer spread to her left lung, and she had four operations to remove nodules from her lungs, bouncing back each time getting back on her horse and driving her car even as she approached her 80th birthday. Sadly in 2016 the cancer also spread to her brain and her condition became terminal, and Mum passed away on the 29th of August 2016.
All my fundraising is now being done in Mum's memory, and if anything the whole point of the fundraising and raising awareness about bowel cancer has been even more reinforced by this devastating loss. All proceeds I receive are being donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, who have merged to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, but if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. Much more needs to be done in raising awareness, and improving early detection rates.
The fundraising total is heading towards £4000 thanks to kindness of generosity of so many people. Please check out my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website where there are lots of items you can buy to support my fundraising efforts.
Three years ago I went up to London to meet Dave Fenton, lead vocalist with The Vapors, a band best remembered for their worldwide smash hit single 'Turning Japanese'. I decided to try and track him down for the Lives & Timesbowel cancer fundraising book I was writing, after I had spoken with Mike Read about Jimmie Jones, which was a minor hit for the band. At the time Dave was the in-house lawyer for the Musician's Union, so I took a chance and sent an email to their press office. Within an hour he'd replied in person, and 48 hours later we met up outside Westminster tube station. Dave was extremely helpful, and happy to let me choose the location. There could only be one place for me to take the photo for the book, and that was with Big Ben in the background. The Vapors best single in my opinion was 'News At Ten', and the picture sleeve of the single was the classic ITV image of Big Ben striking 10 o'clock for their news programme. I play The Vapors all the time, and the other stand out song for me, by the band, is 'Letter From Hiro', which is just magnificent.
Dave with the bowel cancer tie
We were able to chat about not just the band, and some of the difficulties they had at the time with record companies, but life after the band finished, and his work at the Musician's Union and the problems the bands of today face. All in all it was a fascinating experience, and a great chapter to get for the book.
David sent me a photo of himself with his copy of the book after it was published at the end of 2015. When we met David's brother was beginning treatment for lung cancer, but sadly by the time I published the book he had passed away. Another example of just how awful cancer is. My mother's bowel cancer journey also ended in great sadness. She was diagnosed in 2012, and although the operation on her bowel was successful, she had four further operations on her lungs after the cancer spread. She was coping really well, and bounced bounced very quickly each time. Towards he end of 2015 the cancer spread to her brain. In spite of CyberKnife treatment her health declined, and she went into hospital in June 2016 following a massive seizure. She passed away peacefully on August 29th 2016.
The Vapors at 229 The Venue
When I met Dave, he gave me no indication that The Vapors had any intention of reforming, but the great news is that they are now back on the road. I got to see the band in Wolverhampton in 2016. It was a fantastic gig, and finally getting to see the band live, and perform the songs of my youth, was amazing. I saw them again last November in London, and this was definitely at step-up or 3! The band were out of this world. I will always have two stand out tracks by them, 'News At Ten' and 'Letter From Hero', and they were not surprisingly the highlights for me, but every song was top notch. This weekend I will be seeing them for the third time, this time at Nell's Jazz & Blues Club in London which should be awesome.
Lives & Timeshas now raised over £3750 for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, but if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. To see how you can order the book, which is available as an eBook, paperback and hardback, click here. I am also pleased to say that Ed Bazalgette, The Vapors guitarist, has agreed to be in my next charity book, so I will hopefully be meeting him soon.
I would like to add a reviews page to my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website, and to make it work I obviously will need some customer reviews.
In the past people have very kindly put book reviews on Amazon, but as you can see there is so much more available on my website, and it would be great to have some feedback on all the items, which can then be shared with everyone.
You can review any of these items, by sending me an email or by commenting in the comments box. All help with this will be very much appreciated.
All proceeds raised from sales of items on the bowel cancer fundraising website are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK in memory of my Mum who passed away in 2016.
Reigate artist Adam Green has created the Lives & Times screen print to raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. The print sized 39cm x 49cm on 300gsm Somerset paper is limited to just 25 copies. This wonderful piece of art was done at Ochre Print Studio, who have very kindly donated all the materials Adam used ensuring that the whole of the purchase price is donated to the charity. Over £3750 has been raised to date, so any purchase of the print would push that figure towards £4000.
The print can be purchased from my bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website or you can email me directly. Get your own piece of art for just £125 and raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer. Adam's work sells for a lot more usually, so it's a great opportunity to own a piece of his work.
Adam's description, "The print I have produced has been inspired by Tim's book, Lives & Times. A book created to raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer after Tim's Mum was diagnosed in 2012. I was really taken with the concept of what Tim was doing with his book, travelling the length and breadth of the UK to meet and photograph famous sportspeople, musicians, actors, DJs etc. The front cover of the book shows two silhouettes facing each other. I took this idea and developed my print with this in mind, thinking about the one to one interaction Tim had with many people in order to create his book. The print is made up of many different layers, each one possibly signifying the different stages in the journey that people follow once being diagnosed with cancer. I am very pleased to have produced this print for Tim and his charity. I really hope it brings joy and positive thoughts to all those who purchase one."
I was so pleased that Mum saw the finished print after I picked them up from Adan in the summer of 2016. At that ;point her condition was terminal and she was Wexham Park Hospital awaiting her transfer to the St. Marks Nursing Home in Maidenhead, where she spent the last few weeks of life on palliative care before passing away on August 29th 2016. Bowel cancer takes 16,000 lives in the UK each year. It is the second highest cancer killer, but if detected early it is one of the most treatable in 90% of cases. Much more needs to be done in increasing awareness about this awful disease and help to improve early diagnosis rates.
A couple of years ago I received a screen print of The Kiss kindly donated by Horace Panter from his Pop Art collection to help my bowel cancer fundraising. I'd contacted Horace's wife Clare to discuss the possibility of some kind of fundraising item, but I never thought that they would be so generous to send me one of these limited edition prints. The 8 colour silk-screen print on Colourset White 250gsm paper, and measures 36cm x 40cm (14"x16") Signed and numbered by Horace from a limited edition of 100, it was snapped up by Matt Downton with £200 raised for Beating Bowel Cancer, so my heartfelt thanks to him as well. Horace and Clare have been incredibly supportive of my fundraising, and on each occasion I have asked for help they have come through. I am ever so thankful for all their help.
I photographed Horace back in 2014 for the Lives & Times fundraising book, which has so far raised over £3750 for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, and it's still available from my website www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk. My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, and sadly passed away in 2016. All my fundraising is now dedicated in her memory. Bowel cancer claims 16,000 lives each year in the UK, and it is the second biggest cancer killer. However if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. More needs to bedone in helping to increase awareness and improve early detection rates of this awful disease.
Having met Horace and seeing his art close up I was so impressed that I ordered my own special print from his Cassette Editions. In the above example Horace recreated a blank tape I had from the 1980s and this takes pride of place in my house.
Born in Croydon in 1953, Horace graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Coventry’s Lanchester Polytechnic in 1975. It was there that he met Jerry Dammers, and together they formed The Specials, a band that went on to become one of the most defining British bands of the 1980s. He travelled the world (and its art galleries) as a musician and, from 1998-2008, was the ‘Head of Art’ in a secondary school. It was in 2008, when The Specials reformed, that he found he had the time to explore his own art practice. It's well worth taking a look at his website.
This May I will be going to America for the first time, and although I will only be in New York for a few days, I thought it would be amazing if I could get a high profile New Yorker to come on board, The Record, my forthcoming bowel cancer fundraising book. I am doing the book in memory of my Mum to raise money for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. Apart from it potentially being a brilliant experience in an amazing location, it would also potentially help raise the profile of the book, and my fundraising in America.
So if you know of any celebrities in New York, who you think might be good to target, please let me know.
My Mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012. After her bowel operation she lived on for almost five years before passing away in 2016. She had 4 operations to remove nodules from her lungs, and towards the end she received 'CyberKnife' treatment when the cancer spread to her brain. Throughout her cancer journey she lived with great courage and dignity, but the cancer never defined her, and she lived a very normal and happy life. 41,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK each year, and 16,000 people lose their lives. It is the second highest cancer killer, but if detected early it is very treatable in over 90% of cases. Much more needs to be done in raising awareness about this awful disease, and help increase early detection rates.
When I began writing Lives & TimesI tried contacting a few of the local politicians in Berkshire where I live. I was somewhat disappointed when I didn't get one single reply, and this included my then Reading East MP Rob Wilson, and my Mum's Maidenhead MP none other than Theresa May... I didn't have any joy with Labour Party MPs either, so I gave up on the idea of including MPs in the book. However this was to change when I came into contact with Nadine Dorries, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire. Through an exchange of messages on Twitter I found out that she had bought my first book Beating Bowel Cancer. With nothing to lose I asked Nadine if she would be in the new book, and I was delighted when she agreed. Nadine had in fact lost a close friend to bowel cancer, so she was keen to support the book project.
The chapter in the book describes exactly what happened. It was an amazing experience that was very typical of many in the book. I thought that Nadine would meet me at her constituency office, but instead I was invited up to the Houses of Parliament and I met her on outside terrace that overlooks the River Thames. Over the course of an hour I went through tunnels under Parliament Square, had tea with Nadine, and ended up being given a grilling by an armed police officer. It's all in the book!
Nadine is of course also a very successful author in her own right. I look on in envy at her wonderfully high rankings on the Amazon best sellers list, and I can only dream for such success. It would be nice to borrow just a few of her avid readers for Lives & Times. Her support throughout has been brilliant, and it was fantastic meeting Nadine.
My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, and in spite of successful surgery to remove the tumour she went on to suffer from secondary bowel cancer in her lungs and finally her brain. She went through a number of operations, and endured each treatment without complaint, and with courage and great dignity for 4 years, but sadly she finally passed away in August 2016. I am carrying on with my fundraising and raising bowel cancer awareness.
The book has so far raised over £4000 for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. ALL proceeds raised from sales are donated to the charity. It is available on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website. I am currently in the process of writing a new book, The Record, which will hopefully be published in 2019.
It seems apt on Mothering Sunday to talk about my Mum. I often blog about her in terms of the bowel cancer, and that journey. But of course bowel cancer never defined my Mum, and it is certainly not how she lives on in my memory. She simply refused to let cancer take over her life. Whenever she was faced with an operation, the first thing she wanted to know was when would she be able to ride her horse, Shimara, again and when could she drive? If the answer was eight weeks, you could bet anything that she would be counting down the clock.
Mum was a very active person. Her lifelong love of horses meant she was still riding up until the last few months of her life. She loved her part-time job as a receptionist at her doctor's surgery. She was never phased by the developments in technology. After her bowel surgery in 2012 she was determined to return to work, and did so.
Travel... Mum loved travelling, and she was an intrepid traveller. In her later years she would make annual trips to the Greek Islands where she would go island hopping with her great friend Anne. She went to Australia a number of times, and was quite happy to get on a plane on her own, or travel with my brother or sister. In those last few months she went on a lovely trip to Cornwall just before her health deteriorated.
Gardening... She loved her garden. She had a wonderful collection of flowers, many of which now have new homes at mine, and at my sister's. The garden was full of colour throughout the warmer months, and it was a great place to spend time. After Dad died in 2009 Mum kept on the vegetable patch which he loved so much. She was rather good at it, although I am not so sure Dad would have approved at the increase in the amount of flowers in the garden. In his eyes things planted in the garden should be edible! She was very dedicated in keeping dad's grave (where of course she is now too) tidy, and with flowers. She would always get so frustrated when the wild animals ate the flowers, which I always found amusing.
Mum loved her family, and she was married to Dad for 49 very happy years. There was a special place in heart for her only grandchild Anna. We would make regular trips to see them in Oxfordshire. During the hour long journey we had some lovely conversations, and it also gave me the opportunity to bore her with my lack of love life woes. She was always so reassuring saying that it would happen, and I just needed to find the right person.
We are a family that doesn't always outwardly display our love and affection for each. It is just always there, though never taken for granted, and sometimes words aren't necessary. As Mum peacefully slipped away she left a peace of paper with a few words on it for me Noel and Ali, "Look after each other"... Just perfect...
I still find it hard to put into words how I feel about losing Mum. So for now what I have written here will have to suffice, barely scratching the surface with a few happy memories. However, I recently came across the song 'Supermarket Flowers' by Ed Sheeran, which I am sure will strike a chord with anyone who has lost a parent. So on Mother's Day raise a glass to your Mum.
The news broke this week that Bill Turnbull is being treated for prostate cancer. Thoughts are very much with Bill and his family at this time. He is encouraging more people to get tested, and catch the disease at an earlier stage, and have a better long term prognosis.
We met up for the new fundraising book in Leicester Square last autumn. Bill currently presents a show from there on Classic FM, following a long and distinguished career in journalism, including 16 years with BBC Breakfast News. So why is Bill holding my copy of 'The Stand' by The Alarm? I am sure all will become clear when 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. I really enjoyed my time with Bill. He was really talkative, very supportive, and great fun - 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 going to be yet another great chapter in the book.
The reason why Bill and everyone in the book is taking part is to help raise awareness about this awful disease, and raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK, who have recently merged to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. My Mum passed away 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.
On this day in 2017 I was in Glasgow to meet and photograph Scottish Television presenter Laura Boyd for my forthcoming bowel cancer fundraising book, The Record. To date this is still the furthest that I have gone to take a picture on my fundraising travels. I had originally approached Laura to be in the Lives & Times book, but unfortunately we weren't able to make that happen, so I was really happy to get the opportunity this time around.
Laura was diagnosed with leukemia since in 2009. She epitomizes positivity and living life to the full that I have seen in so many people living with cancer. This will be reflected in the photo that I have chosen to use in the forthcoming book, which is not the photo that I had planned to use... All will become clear in the book.
We met at Kelvingrove Park in the centre of Glasgow, which was somewhere where I could safely park with the dogs - sadly, Storm, one of my dogs has since died of lymphoma. Our midday meeting also allowed me to make a brief visit to Balloch Castle on Loch Lomond in the morning, which was a great location suggested by Laura. She was lovely to talk to and was very relaxed for the photos, which made my job, both enjoyable, and very straight forward. It's a really great chapter, and Laura's first record is an absolute belter! 😉 Since we met Laura has got married, and more recently she has started a blog, For The L Of It. Since we took this selfie I have got my hair a little more under control!
The book is being done in memory of my Mum, who died in August 2016 four and a half years after being diangnosed with bowel cancer. All funds raised from sales will be donated to Bowel Cancer UK (Beating Bowel Cancer Together), the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. The book will also help raise awareness about this awful illness, which is the 2nd highest cancer killer in the UK. Yet if detected early it is very treatable in over 90% of cases.
Please check out my online fundraising store, where my other books are sold, alongside with art, t-shirts, mugs and pretty much anything that will raise funds for the charity 😊 The fundraising now stands at over £4000. I am hoping that The Record will be publishedduring the first half of 2019, although this might change depending on quickly I can complete the meetings and photography I have still got to do...
