When I started putting together the Lives & Times bowel cancer fundraising book, one of my big ambitions was to meet and photograph all four original members of The Alarm. However, little did I realise that this would be just the beginning, and what followed would have a huge impact on me.
One of the first people I contacted when I started the book was Eddie Macdonald, and I managed to photograph Eddie and Nigel Twist together in London. Eddie has been a tremendous supporter, and he got Nigel on board, when Nige was in the UK on a rare trip over from the US, where he now lives. Jules Peters was instrumental in sorting out a photograph with Mike Peters. This took place at Abbey Road studios when I was truly honoured to be part of The Scriptures - the world's longest song. Finally just when I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen, I met and photographed Dave Sharp in Winchester. I got to see him soundcheck before his gig, and that was observing a real master craftsman, and he was really nice when we sat down for a chat. As well as the original band, along the way the current line-up also got snapped at Abbey Road. In fact Steve 'Smiley' Barnard popped up twice in the book, as he also features in the chapter on From The Jam.
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| New York, May 2018 |
The good news is that I have already met and photographed 'Smiley' and James from the current line-for the next book, The Record, which is well under way. This will also hopefully feature Jules Peters, now also a regular in the current group. She has recently been treated for breast cancer, and her story is a huge inspiration for many. I recently also met Gareth Jones (Gaz Top) for the new book before the band's recent London gig, so it will have plenty of Alarm in it too. Who knows what else could happen before the book is published. In the meantime you can still buy Lives & Times from my ETSY online store.
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| Alarm fans with Lives & Times |
I've followed The Alarm since 1983 when I heard The Stand on John Peel - never has a record made such an impact on me. Until I started my fundraising I had followed the band with a few close friends, and had kept myself pretty much to myself. In fact during my first 33 years I barely met more than a handful of fellow fans. My mum's illness, and the subsequent fundraising has changed all that. The friendship, and amazing support for my books and t-shirts, from fans has been utterly amazing. I have lost count of the amount of books they have bought so far, and some of these have lost people to bowel cancer too. When I went to a bowel cancer patient event in London in 2016, I was joined by fellow fan Tina Atkins to help me sell the book there. We'd never met, but she very kindly agreed to come and help. That has been the start of a great friendship, and the friendships have kept on coming thick and fast ever since. I can't believe why it took me so long to come out of my shell. At The Gathering in 2017 I seemed to spend as much time selling books as anything else - it was quite astonishing. I can now go the gigs and know plenty of people, which makes each gig so much better and fulfilling. I recently went to see the band in New York, which was an amazing experience making many new friendships there. Every single person who has supported me, has helped take the fundraising past £4000 so far. I thank you all 💓
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| The Alarm - New album Equals out on June 29th |
Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK taking 16,000 lives each year. If detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. The key thing is to increase awareness, and improve early detection rates. At the moment on 15% of patients are diagnosed at early stage 1. All the funds that I raise are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. These two charities joined together at the beginning of the year to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity. My mum passed away from bowel cancer in 2016, and as well as fundraising I am helping to raise awareness about this awful disease, and hopefully by the year 2050 no-one will die of bowel of bowel cancer.
