A little bit of name dropping

I opened a meeting earlier this week by explaining when I mentioned different people who were involved with and helping us within OurRebekah projects I was not name dropping.

I tried to explain that it was not myself dropping the names of well-known and influential people but OurRebekah.

Actually that is not strictly accurate. It is The Wave Of Love that is dropping the names, boasting who is surfing with us.  Am I making sense ?

On Tuesday next week it will be four months since Rebekah passed away and a little less since Beck's friends started OurRebekah to raise £1,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities. 

We have our e-bay project operating and we have our Sheffield Wednesday goal sponsorship working but we have yet to have an event taking place on the ground, so to speak. All of the past three months have been involved in planning. Within that planning we have smashed our original target.

The days are counting down to our first event on the ground - The Frog Challenge happening on Saturday 30th September.

Fifteen days to go !  I don't mind telling I am absolutely terrified.

The target for that event which will support Ronald McDonald House in Oxford is £100. Nothing has happened yet and we have £200, double the target, in the pot. 

Let's drop some names for this shall we.

On The Wave Of Love for this event we have The Mayor of Milton Keynes who will be supervising the first challenge.

The second challenge of the day will be supervised by Tony from Secklow Radio 105.5.

On Wednesday I met with a politician's diary secretary from which I am hoping someone from a major retail chain within the city will be supervising the third challenge of the day.

I am now finalising the planning, all the practical stuff, for this event. Surely we are going to raise three hundred pounds. I am hoping we will make more.

Yesterday e-mails kept flying in from Trevor, now a good friend of OurRebekah and director of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.

Trevor is doing everything he can to get the photograph his official club photographer took and the article I have written into the match-day programme for Sunday 24th September. This is the local derby game against Sheffield United which will have a capacity crowd of forty 

thousand people.

Gary and I will be there. I will again write a match-day blog and goals the boys score will be sponsored in support of Ronald McDonald House Birmingham.

How many organisation which have been in existence for just over three months do you know which could boast the level of influence OurRebekah has ?

How have we been able to achieve this ?  Simple - LOVE. The love we have for what we want to do and beautiful people from all over wanting to surf on our wave of love.

Tomorrow Sheffield Wednesday is playing away at Cardiff City. You can surf the wave of love and add yourself to our collection of names to drop. CHEER ON THE TEAM and support Ronald McDonald House Birmingham.

I popped into a local vet's surgery yesterday to drop off leaflets for our DOGGIE TREASURE HUNT BBQ AND RETRO DISCO. 

Maureen took some leaflets for the FROG CHALLENGE to another vet's surgery.  One of the vets was in the surgery and said: 

I've heard about this, isn't some guy holding a frog or something ?

OurRebekah's name is being dropped !

Graham, who is the Dj for our Retro Disco was shopping in Tesco when he spoke to someone about the amazing place the disco is being held in.

Just look at it.  How many operations of three and a bit months do you think could pull that

off ?

Somebody overheard him and said:

Excuse me, is that the disco David is involved with ?

OMG how embarrassing but at the same time how wonderful that the name and MORE IMPORTANTLY THE LOVE of OurRebekah is spreading.

Now here's a really big name I want to drop. Yes, Mr Speaker Bercow I know you wrote

us a beautiful letter of support.   Yes, Professor Henderson who signed his letter of yesterday to us BEST WISHED JOE. Yes, Local Police Commander who ended her e-mail message, SPEAK SOON YVETTE. Let me introduce you to Anne.

It was Ann who started OurRebekah with the fun run which is to happen on Sunday 15th October. She and her husband Mark are running our e-bay auction project. Ann has been the inspiration for OurRebekah and without her initiative nothing we have achieved, nothing we are going to achieve would be possible.

The names above are lovely people who want to help families in very difficult times of their lives. We are PROUD to have you on our wave of love, we are not boasting and we are not name dropping.  Personally I AM name dropping when I say THANK YOU to Ann.

Under Pressure !

Yesterday The Wave Of Love had 93 visitors - THANK YOU.

So how many good friend will read today what The Wave Of Love has to share ?

Queen had a hit in 1982, yes it was that long ago, with Under Pressure. I feel a bit under pressure today. 

We have The Frog Challenge racing towards us - 16 days to go - I am now working on the publicity to make sure we have people coming along.  Wrigglies Exotic Pets in Old Stratford is a small shop so while I need people there throughout the day I need a balance, a steady flow of friends and not hundreds of people to swamp the shop followed by it being empty.

CLICK HERE to check out what we have planned.

Today I will be putting out one thousand fliers inviting people to come along.

Milton Keynes Mayor, David Hopkins, is coming to supervise the 11am challenge.  David is a lovely man, Milton Keynes should be very proud to have him as our mayor. I know he will start the challenge in a fun way.

Waiting for me in my inbox this morning was an e-mail from this friend. Secklow 105.5's very own Tony who presents Afternoon Delight and Tony's Time Tunnel.

Tony will be supervising the 12 noon challenge.

Moving on to the Doggie Treasure Hunt, BBQ and Retro Disco, I really am under pressure. CLICK HERE for information. 

Both this event and The Frog Challenge are supporting Ronald McDonald House in Oxford.

The National Trust has been amazing in its support for what we will be doing. Not only do I have to make sure we have lots of people there, again I am now working on publicity, but I

need to be certain we have both doggies and their two legged friends coming along as well as lots and lots and lots of two legged people dancing at the disco.

Just look at the building the National trust has set out for the disco !  Nobody, but nobody has ever held a disco in a location like that.

It was my plan to drive over to Stowe today with my updated plans. Under Pressure I don't think that is going to happen. Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting for The Frog Challenge, There is no way I will have plans ready to share with the National Trust today so it is going to be Saturday. UNDER PRESSURE.

Talking of pressure the photograph taken by the club's photographer last Saturday appeared in my e-mail yesterday. OMG just look at the old man on the left. That is going to appear in THIRTY THOUSAND match-day programmes.

I have edited it to use within our own webpages and have printed off copies for Ronald McDonald House Birmingham, The Lord Mayor of Birmingham and Mike Ashley's PA. We are in contact with her regarding the help Sports Direct gave to us in selecting the ball for the players to sign.

Even editing the picture the old man on the left looks every bit as silly as he is.

UNDER PRESSURE 

I put that picture on Facebook yesterday. TWENTY-FIVE people LIKED IT. Does LIKE mean they were splitting their sides with laughter ?

Club Director and OurRebekah friend, Trevor, thinks it funny how the club's anthem SINGING THE BLUES is constantly ringing round and round in my head.

Yesterday Tony told me he played the song for me in his show. 

Also yesterday the original 7" vinyl copy I have purchased for the club turned up in my letterbox.

As I plan the doggie treasure hunt and retro disco I have some silly games I want to play, providing DJ Graham approves. I wonder if we could do something with this song.

Oh what the heck - let's play the damn tune now !

Are you ready for this ? I'm NOT !

Sheffield Wednesday's next game is away at Cardiff on Saturday. Lots of goals boys, lots of goals.

Every goal is sponsored by OurRebekah to support Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. Click Here to CHEER ON THE TEAM.  

No pressure boys but you has BETTER win !

I am away in Bristol all next week but hope to be at Sheffield on the 24th for the local derby against Sheffield United. Now that is a game the team had better win or else. Under Pressure - he he !

Tell you what lads. I hope you enjoyed the champagne I left in the dressing room for you as a thank you for signing the ball. Win against Sheffield United and there will be some more. Lose and I will bring you DIET COKE !

OK it is 5.16am, Jake will not be wanting his walk for an hour at least. I think I will relieve the pressure a just a little bit. I'll start work on the planning notes for The National Trust and the doggie treasure hunt.

Speak again tomorrow.

The House That Love Built

I walked out of New Street Station and into a time warp. I was in the heart of Britain's second city, a city where I worked for two years as a management trainee in a large department store.

Three things immediately struck me.

Look at this picture and the one below then answer these questions.

1. Where is the litter ?

2. Where is the graffiti ?

3. Where is the traffic ?

This was not the Birmingham I knew. Several people had said to me I would find it different. Yes it was different, it was better. Unbelievably better.

From leaving school in the summer of 1967 until August 1969 I worked as a management trainee in Lewis's Department Store in Bull Street.

Last year I wrote down my teenage memories into an autobiography and published it as an e-book on Amazon. This is the book on the left and this is the department store in the picture below on the right.

Tuesday for me was a walk down memory lane.

The department store went bust decades ago but the building is still there.

Significantly modernised but I was able to pick out the very window on the third floor where I worked in the soft furnishing department.

I have been promising myself this visit to Old Brum for years and yesterday I finally achieved my ambition. I liked what I saw, it was not at all what I expected. I thought I would find a scruffy, run-down city centre but NO far from it this was a clean, vibrant lovely place.

But Memory Lane was not the reason I have travelled North, I was there to visit Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.

I had carefully prepared a map of the location. I wish I had not bothered. If I had followed my memories of the city I would have gone straight there instead of getting lost.

Stopping someone and asking for directions I asked where Birmingham Childrens' Hospital was. Ronald McDonald House has sixty-six rooms accommodating families from all over the country who have a child sick in this hospital.

Ronald McDonald House is a HOME FROM HOME taking care of families whose child has been sent to a hospital where specialist treatment is needed, a hospital some distance from where they live. That hospital is Birmingham Childrens' Hospital

Just watching the Mums and Dads going in and out of the main entrance I could not but be impressed with this hospital.

But where was Ronald McDonald House ?

The man at the reception desk in the hospital gave me precise directions and within minutes I was there. Ronald McDonald House Birmingham - The House That Love Built.

There it was, adjacent to Birmingham's Queensway. Every night the 'bus home from where I worked at Lewis's went down that road. I took this photograph from a window in the house.

EXCUSE ME - where is the traffic ?  Where is the litter ?  Where is the graffiti ? 

Let me digress and tell you a story not many people in twenty-first century Brum know.

Just off to the left of the picture is an underpass. The Queen came to open and name this underpass.

I name this road Queensway.

AH !  Your Majesty, it was the tunnel we wanted to call Queensway, not the entire road ! The deed was done the monarch had spoken, the entire length of road was then called Queensway and has been called so ever since.

I knew I would fall in love with Ronald McDonald House Birmingham the moment I was there. The telephone conversation I had with Bethany was fun. The e-mail I received from House Manager Libby was so lovely. Before I met them I knew these were people after my own heart.

Ours is a LOUD house, I was told. We have FUN.

That's the way to care for families. Cuddle them, metaphorically, but don't wrap them in sympathy - LIFT THEM UP. Have fun, be a bit silly, smile and make others smile.

Where have you heard that before ?

As I was shown round the house I could feel this spirit coming out of the walls.

This is the laundry room. Probably the most boring place you could imagine, but this was not boring.  Look at the painting on the wall. Isn't that fun ?

Bethany told me how the grandmother of a child in the hospital had based herself in the laundry and taken charge of the washing and ironing for all the families.

Isn't that wall painting just fun ? I wouldn't mind that on the wall of the utility room in my own home.

Here's another painting which was just as much fun but has a sad story behind it.

It was produced by a family whose child had not survived treatment in Birmingham's Children's Hospital. It was given to the house in memory of the child and to

say THANK YOU. Isn't it lovely

Isn't that The Wave Of Love on the wall ?

And what about this ?

The world's largest jigsaw puzzle.

My photographic skills do not do justice to this amazing image. It is made up of tiny puzzle pieces. I have tried to estimate how many there are. It must run into hundreds of thousands, everyone a piece of love.

No, my photograph does not do justice to this amazing jigsaw puzzle nor do my words. It is incredible !  Absolutely and utterly incredible !  

I took with me some gifts from OurRebekah to families in the house. I took sixty-six cards

friends had kindly signed for families and I took the scarf, programme and match-day ticket from my visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Sponsoring goals at Saturday's match generated £40 for Ronald McDonald House Birmingham. 

Sheffield's 2-1 win against Brentford last night generated another £4.

YOU CAN HELP RONALD McDONALD HOUSE IN BIRMINGHAM BY SPONSORING THE GOALS SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY SCORE - JUST CLICK THIS TEXT AND CHECK OUT OUREBEKAH'S SPECIAL FOOTBALL PROJECT.

I had an e-mail from Club Director Trevor waiting for me in my inbox when I got home from Birmingham. He said an anecdote I had shared about that song had made him laugh.

Trevor, I have managed to buy from e-bay an original 7" single of this song. We will be doing something special with this so make sure the boys score LOTS of goals !

The next Sheffield Wednesday game is on Saturday AWAY to Cardiff. Will you CHEER ON THE TEAM and support Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham ? 

CLICK HERE

I shared with friends at Ronald McDonald House Birmingham three ideas I have for OurRebekah to support the work they do. As soon as they give my ideas their blessing we will kick off - pardon the pun - and start work.

Thank You Ronald McDonald House Birmingham for a lovely day and THANK YOU Birmingham City Centre for such a special welcome as I wandered down memory lane.

This morning I have a meeting with the diary secretary of a government minister who wants to help OurRebekah and pass over some contacts. Then I am going to see Ro, the manager of Wrigglies Exotic Pets which is hosting our frog challenge. Then I will come back to the laptop and sort out the busted link - I am not going to tell you where it is ! Update the Sheffield Wednesday pages and rewrite The Bridge House project.

Yesterday 95 people read the blog, numbers down a bit.  I wonder how many will check today's entry.

SPEAK AGAIN TOMORROW.

Off to Birmingham today.

Yesterday 118 kind people read the blog. It took me a long time to write that match report from our visit on Sunday to Sheffield Wednesday. The game and the time with the club certainly was a lot of fun.

Sunday was the JOURNEY. Today I am going to Birmingham to visit the DESTINATION, Ronald McDonald House which supports families in Birmingham Childrens Hospital. All the money raised from the ball auction AND our now sponsoring goals scored by Sheffield Wednesday will support families staying in the house.

Sheffield Wednesday has another game today against Brentford. Would you cheer on the team and support Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham ?

Click Here

While I am in Birmingham today I will be talking to staff at Ronald McDonald House about other ideas to help support the 66 families who stay there while they have a child sick in hospital.

Yesterday we had another friend add his name to the Golden Gate Bridge Fun Run.

Why don't you come ?

Our e-bay project is now up and running with two items starting things off.

A signed photo and words from Gerry Marsden of Gerry And The Pacemakers hit Ferry Cross The Mersey together with the original 7" single will support Ronald McDonald House in Liverpool.

CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE

The signed DVD of Mrs Henderson Presents given by Will Young will support Ronald McDonald House at Evelina Childrens' Hospital within St Thomas's Hospital, London.

Will Young, of course, was our August Smile Of The Month.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK THIS AUCTION ITEM

We will be adding all the items we have collected for our e-bay project over the coming weeks. 

You can see what we have by CLICKING HERE.

I spoke with a local school yesterday about our FROG CHALLENGE. Hopefully they will put together a small team of students to help on the day.

Also on The Wave Of Love Yesterday was one of my former students who is now trustee of a youth centre. She wants to put OurRebekah to her fellow trustees asking them to involve the youth centre.

A kind lady who knew Rebekah has offered to run a candle party in November or December.

So much is happening. SO MUCH LOVE.

It took me three hours to write Monday's blog with my match report from Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

I just know that when I return home from my day in Birmingham, my day at The House Love Built, it will take me as long to write tomorrow's blog and share that love with you all.

Speak again then.

Have a wonderful day - I know I am going to.

Oh, before I go.

Sheffield Wednesday - make sure you score a lot of goals today !