Let me introduce you to a pathetic coward

This is the picture of a SAD, PATHETIC, MISERABLE, SNIVELING LITTLE COWARD !

I want you to help me expose his cowardice.

YES, it is me. Am image from my younger days but it is still the image of a SAD, PATHETIC, MISERABLE, SNIVELING LITTLE COWARD who should be expose and despised for his cowardice.

Please read what I am about to write then share the bog on social media to make this coward cringe with embarrassment. He deserves your contempt.

Yesterday was blood donors day. I reached a bit of a milestone -  20 pints donated. PATHETIC !

Wind back the clock to 1973, round about the time this picture was taken. I was a student training to become a teacher. The college matron, a fearsome but loving lady, Mrs Meek received an award for donating fifty pints of blood. She tried to encourage we students to become blood donors.

NO WAY !  No way was I going to let some vampire stick a needle in my arm and drain off a pint of my precious blood !  NOT NEVER NO WAY !

WHY ?  Because I was a coward. A pathetic coward.

Wind the clock on now to 1983, the year Rebekah was born.  If I had not been such a coward I would by then have donated 30 pints of my blood to help doctors save lives.

I did not donate a single tiny drop. Not one tiny drop.

It was not long after her birth that Rebekah was diagnosed with chronic renal failure. I am trying to think how many times she went into surgery, eight I think. Each time she had an operation she received a transfusion of blood from a donor. A pint of blood and a pint of love from anonymous person somewhere in the country.

STILL her father did not sign up as a blood donor. DESPICABLE. I made every excuse but each and every excuse was a lie. What kind of  man does that make me ?

Years later, many years later I finally conquered my fears and donated that first pint.  Between Beck's birth and my finally signing up as a blood donor I could have given one hundred pints. Had I not been such a sad, pathetic coward my donation yesterday would not have been my 20th pint but my 140th !

There are 366 Ronald McDonald Houses world-wide. 366 houses each accommodating families who have children sick in hospital. That means at every minute of every day something like TEN THOUSAND families are being cared for.

Every family has a child sick in hospital. TEN THOUSAND CHILDREN.

How many of those children received a blood transfusion yesterday ?  One in fifty ? That's probably a fair estimate = 200. Ten times the number of the donations I have made. But even if I had been a donor since 1973 I still could not have given enough blood to help the children of families in Ronald McDonald Houses for even a single day.

Oh YEH I am banging on and on and on about my Frog Challenge on Saturday. How I am going to overcome my fear of frogs. How brave I am going to be. What a wonderful person I am !

RUBBISH. I am a coward, a sad pathetic, miserable coward who failed to help doctors save the lives of 120 people. 120 people who included my own daughter. Thank goodness there were people around who were not such cowards.

I am always talking about love - The Wave of Love. Since Beck died on Friday 19th May the wave of love that has washed over myself and my family has been unbelievable. I have met some very special people whose love is beyond measure. I want to tell you about just some of them in a moment but first let me suggest something before I do.

I have just made a Google search for this picture to add here to the blog. While doing that I found another picture here on the right.

That is something I did not know. So being a coward I failed not 120 people but 360 !

When a pint of blood is donated that is the physical, the mechanical thing. Above that is the love factor. When you give a pint of blood you also give a gallon of love.

This love thing............... I call my daily blog The Wave Of Love. It usually gets between 65 and 99 readers a day. The most it has ever received in a day is 117. I want this blog today to smash all records.

At the beginning of this week I was feeling very stressed. Everything was getting on top of me. I just could not cope with the work I have to do for OurRebekah.

On Tuesday I had a meeting with Scott, The National Trust's Operations Manager at Stowe. He showed me love and all of my stress was washed away by the wave.

Yesterday I popped into Wrigglies Exotic Pets to chat with manager Ro ahead of Saturday's Frog Challenge.  Ro you have absolutely no idea how much you inspire me It will be with pride that I introduce you to everyone who comes along on Saturday.

I had an e-mail yesterday from Libby who is manager of Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. She thanked me for the gifts I had sent to the house from Sheffield Wednesday's game last Sunday. 

Libby and her team may run a physical Ronald McDonald House but in truth they operate a MANSION OF LOVE. It is not a metaphor to say that love oozes out of every wall.

This morning I will e-mail Libby to thank her for thanking me. The Wave Of Love goes

backwards and forwards you know. Of course it does.

When I go to a blood donor session the staff there always thank me for donating. It's not a have nice day empty marketing phrase but words spoken out of love.  Yesterday evening my phone buzzed with a text thanking me for my donation. OK, yes a robot sent it but did so on the orders of a real person. Sometimes even a robot can show love. In a week or so I will receive another  text message to tell me in which hospital my blood was used.  I won't be told the patient of course but the text is a text of love telling me where my blood was used.

When I go to give blood I always turn things round when I am thanked by staff, I always say NO IT IS I WHO SHOULD THANK YOU.  I also make a point of telling the person who actually takes my blood the story of my cowardice. No matter who I am speaking to I always receive a similar reply: DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT YOU ARE DONATING NOW.

Coming to The Frog Challenge on Saturday are David and Susan Hopkins, Mayor and Mayoress of Milton Keynes. They are extra special people and our town should be proud to have them as our Mayor and Mayoress.

Susan said something to me a few months back, powerful words which have stuck in my mind ever since. She said IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH CHARITY OR GOOD CAUSE YOU SUPPORT PROVING YOU DO SUPPORT ONE. 

That's love isn't it ?

I am going to tell you something else that was said to me and has stuck firmly in my mind. Let me introduce you to Doctor Phil Mason from Oxford University Hospital and one of the nation's top consultants in his field. He said to me I DO NOT TREAT MY PATIENTS I CARE FOR THEM.      Love !

And this below is Doctor Jarvis. He was my college doctor when cowardice prevented me becoming a blood donor. He went on to become our family doctor until he retired shortly after 
Rebekah was diagnosed as a small child to be suffering from renal failure.

When Rebekah died he wrote to my family, he sent us an incredible and beautiful letter. How many tens of thousands of patients has that man cared for during his career ?  He retired thirty years ago yet still remembered Rebekah and took time to write to us. When I thanked him he shrugged his shoulders and said of course he would write, not to do so would be wrong. L O V E !

If someone had said to me all those years ago it was not a case of donating a pint of blood but giving a gallon of love I think I would not have been such a pathetic coward.

If you are already a blood donor I would ask you to continue but to change the way you donate. Continue to give a pint three times a year but alongside this PLEASE also give a gallon of love.

Do not be a pathetic coward the way I was so so many years, years which are filled for me with deep regret.

Don't look upon the act as giving a pint of your blood. Set it firmly in your mind that you are giving a GALLON of your love.

Twenty pints. It will take another ten years before I emulate the achievement of College Matron Mrs Meek and receive my 50 pints badge. I am determined I will achieve that and when I do perhaps it will take away just some of my cowardice. 

It is still a £20 note !

I did not publish a blog yesterday but even so 34 people visited The Wave Of Love and read archive pages. 

That's good isn't it ?

I am not going to pretend otherwise, everything yesterday got on top of me. There was so much to do, I thought I was going crazy.

The biggest issue was The Doggie Treasure Hunt which was spiraling outside the planning and logistics we had in place.

I sat down with our good friend, Scott - Operations Manager at Stowe National Trust and took the difficult decision to change the date of the event from Sunday 15th October to the Spring of next next year. This will allow us to change the planning in order to accommodate a much larger and better event. It was a hard decision to take but the common sense and right one.

Carlos, the manager of Sheffield Wednesday, was speaking about the club's THRASHING in the game against Sheffield United on Saturday.

He took out a £20 from his pocket, screwed it up, battered it then unfolded it. It was still a £20 note and still had its value. Nothing had changed. The club is still the club and while it took a battering in the game it has lost none of its value.

That's a good metaphor for life do you not think ?

When life batters you, when life deals you a duff card, when things go a bit wrong, let life screw you up and batter you then stand back and unfold yourself from the situation. You are still you and you retain the value and love you have always had.

Thank you Carlos, I like that.

Tonight Sheffield Wednesday is playing away against Birmingham City.

Kick Off 7.45pm. Within our SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY project you can cheer on the team and sponsor every goal in support of Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.

Last Saturday's match may have been a humiliating disaster but a £20 note is still a £20 note. I have sent THANK YOU cards to the two players who scored goals in the game. I will send lots more to players who score tonight.

On Saturday we have our FROG CHALLENGE. That £20 not is already worth £40. If absolutely nothing were to happen on Saturday, nobody turn up and we not make a single penny we have already doubled the target for the day.

One of the things that was stressing me out was the failure of Asda Supermarkets' bakery department in a number of stores to get their act together in order to supply presentation cakes for our events.

We needed a cake to give to The Mayor who is supervising our first challenge. Frustrating !

Maureen took the £20 note, unfolded it and made this cake which I am certain His Worship The Mayor will think better than any commercially produced item.

Here are some more cakes. These are the ones Maureen has made to give away on Saturday so if you plan to join us don't eat too much before you arrive.

Hope to see lots of friends on Saturday - CLICK HERE for all the details. 

No, you will not need to bring anything to eat but please DO bring your £20 notes !

JFDI v Marketing ? Give me JFDI every time !

The Steel City derby happened yesterday. Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United.

Wednesday was well and truly THRASHED.

United VISITORS 4

Wednesday HOME TEAM 2

A Wednesday fan I may be but to say anything other than THE BEST TEAM WON would be a lie.

The Two goals Wednesday did score, one from Gary Hooper (left) and one from Lucas Joao

(right)  sent another £10 via our Sheffield Wednesday project to Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.  Later today I will be sending THANK YOU cards to the two players.

Sadly the game was lost simply because the players right across the team failed to do their jobs properly.  No need for any in depth analysis, no need for fans or people within the game who think they know what they are talking about to explain the poor performance - the team just did not do its job properly. the team did not JFDI.

We arrived early as this  first picture shows. 

The second shows Hillsborough just before kick off, the crowd was excited in anticipation.

Such a shame the players were not.

There was someone at Hillsborough yesterday, however, who DID do his job properly, who DID JFDI ! Trevor Braithwait, the club's Director of Communications and good friend of OurRebekah.  NOTE Trevor does not call himself Marketing Director. Trevor is an old fashioned type of guy which means he just gets on and does the job. That's the difference between communications and marketing.

For this game and to celebrate 150 years of Sheffield Wednesday Trevor produced an incredible 150 page souvenir programme. No big marketing deal, he just got on and did the job. Did a fantastic job. JFDI Yesterday I purchased no fewer than eight copies. On page 117 of the programme is the photograph from the presentation we attended earlier in the month and the little write up I did. Trevor, who I have said is a great friend of OurRebelah, moved heaven and earth to get that feature into the programme. He had to change editorial which had been set down weeks ago. He did not make a fuss about, he did not call a marketing meeting, He simply got on and did it. JFDI.  That's the difference between a director of communications and a marketing director.

You can see here above the eight copies of the programme I brought home with me from the game. One is for a family in Ronald McDonald House Birmingham, one for Ronald McDonald House Oxford, one for Ronald McDonald House Nashville, one each for the two Ronald McDonald Houses in San Francisco, one to go with the autographed ball when we auction it in November, one for my grandson Adam and one I will keep for myself.  Later today I will write letters and pop into the post the copies for the Ronald McDonald Houses, no big thing I will just JFDI.  No need to market anything, just to communicate.

When I was at Bristol University last week and was chatting to some of the country's top scientists we got into conversation about the non-subjects universities offer these days. You know - hairdressing, leisure and tourism etc, etc. One of the scientists then said "marketing" and we all laughed about the so called marketing experts who know little or nothing about the real world yet think they can tell people how to "sell" themselves. People who would not know how to JFDI if it jumped up and bit them in the rear end.

Within OurRebekah we have six registered website domain names.  To register a domain you have to give certain information, unfortunately this includes a telephone number. On average I get ten calls a week from marketing idiots hoping to sell me their services. If I were to type here what I say to them I would run the risk of prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act.

Have a look at OurRebekah's website. have a look at Trevor's Sheffield Wednesday website. Then compare them with the rubbish some so called marketing experts put out. Trevor's and our website do their job. Both are updated immediately anything happens. Both JFDI.

Sheffield Wednesday is playing away at Birmingham City on Wednesday then at home to Leeds United on Saturday. A message to all players, just keep it simple boys and JFDI !

Both games will have goals sponsored for Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. Will you CHEER ON THE TEAM.  No need to think about it, no need to consult a marketing expert, no need to hold a committee meeting JUST JFDI.

The sun never sets

Good morning !

I am driving to Sheffield in a few hours to watch Wednesday play and hopefully THRASH United in the local derby.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club has become special to OurRebekah.  We have a project where supporters can sponsor goals the team score to support Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. 

You can join in for £2 a goal - just visit our SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY webpage.

For the game the club has produced a special souvenir programme in celebration of its 150th birthday. The photograph we had taken by the club photographer and the little article I wrote are in this programme.

I will be buying copies of this programme to send to football supporters in Ronald McDonald Houses in Birmingham and Oxford. I also plan to send copies to our international houses in San Francisco and Nashville. Yesterday I updated our website and completed the San Francisco House page.  There are actually TWO Ronald McDonald Houses in San Francisco. I am not a city person but I am looking forward to OurRebekah's visit to the City By The Bay next year. STILL TIME TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE GUEST LIST AND TAKE PART IN OUR GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE FUN RUN.

Here's a picture of Yours Truly, taken a good while back, in Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco. The arrow is pointing to John sitting behind me. He used to be the DJ when we ran Leon Disco. I have not heard from John in years then the miracle of Facebook linked up again.

While writing this blog entry I am listening on-line to a radio station fro Portland in Oregon US of A. This radio station is 100% owned by John.  John that's a bit of a step up from being the school disco's DJ.

I like the music John !  I like the music.

Oh yes there is a Ronald McDonald House in Oregon.

I don't own a radio station and, sadly, my DJ days are over but I do have my YouTube Channel and here's something from it to start your day.

Recognise the song ?  I wonder if there is a Ronald McDonald House in Amarillo Texas.

Of course there is !

There used to be a saying THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE. I suppose we still have Gibraltar and The Falkland Islands but the British Empire is long gone. If you ask me the world is not so good without it but we will not get into that !

BUT THIS IS TRUE !

I am a different person - LEGALLY

I have been away from home for a week. Returning home last night there was quite a lot of mail waiting from me. Among the various letters was a large brown envelope from this place.  A white seal on the envelope announced that it was from THE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE at THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE.

Nervously I opened it. Very nervously I may say !

The contents came as something of a relief, indeed I was very pleased to receive the contents..

This picture shows my grandmother holding a little baby. That baby is me. Within days of my birth my name was registered as DAVID JOHN ASHFORD. That letter from the court confirmed that is no longer my name. David John Ashford does not exist any longer.

My name has legally been changed. I am now DAVID JOHN BEKAH ASHFORD. Almost sixty-seven years since that photograph was taken I am a different person, legally.

I am no longer married to Maureen Ashford. The court has changed her name to Maureen Rebekah Louise Ashford.

Normally I write a lengthy blog but after explaining that I think I will stop for today. There is other news I would normally share but that can wait until tomorrow.

Inspiration

A couple of months ago I was at an event, nothing to do with OurRebekah, which was attended by the mayor and our local MP. Chatting to them I said it must be quite a task to have to keep attending events like this week in week out.

They both corrected me saying how much they enjoyed meeting people and chatting, how these people from all walks of life gave them inspiration.

I know what they mean. When it comes to writing this daily blog I am never short of things to write about, there is always such a lot happening. These "things" give me inspiration, I hope they inspire all who are involved with OurRebekah. Yesterday 99 people read the blog. How many will read today's edition ?

My day began with a text from Gary telling me to check out Sheffield Wednesday's website and look at what the club had done for the match-day programme on Sunday. It is a special, extra special 150 page souvenir edition celebrating the club's 150th birthday. The OurRebakah photograph and article have been included. Thank you to Trevor and his fellow club directors for such wonderful support. I am looking forward so much to being part of the capacity crowd at Sunday's game.

Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday.

Don't forget you can sponsor Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham as you CHEER ON THE TEAM.

Yesterday I met three very special people who were an inspiration to me.

Professor Mark Birkinshaw, left, Research Associate Alistaire Fraser, right and Dr Michael Masheder, below left.

These are three of the top men in their field. The last thing I am is a scientist and I must admit much of what they said was far beyond my comprehension but I still found it fascinating.

They talked Quantum Physics, I talked Philosophy but I think our minds met and I came away very much inspired and full of gratitude to the trio for their time.

I had gone to Bristol University to visit its radio telescope. This is something I had promised myself for many years that I would do this and yesterday my ambition was reaalised.

The distances this telescope can see are unbelievable, measured in hundreds of billions of light years. The telescope was paid for by an old friend of mine. I wanted to see what he had given to the university but also I wanted to take photographs I can use to support our Fire A Rocket For Beck project. Updating the web page and launching, pardon the pun, is now high up on my doings list.

At the other end of the academic spectrum are my granddaughters, Katherine and Frances. Katherine is in Year One at school and Frances is in nursery school. Here they are signing cards for families in Ronald McDonald Houses.

You can Sign A Card, just click the link.

Here's another picture from yesterday where Katherine is printing some posters for the Doggie Treasure Hunt.

Next week I  will be blitzing the publicity to bring as many doggies to the treasure hunt as I possibly can.

Katherine's Dad is Managing Lawyer at The Environment Agency, I have told him he had better make sure we have good weather for the event.

Yesterday Chase added his name to the guest list. Make sure you register your four legged friend to come and join in the fun.

I have been working though the many pages in our website, updating information and cleaning a few typo's. I have now reached T in the alphabetical list so that brings me to The Bridge House.

I am very much wanting to get back to writing as a relief from running all of these projects.

So that's the update for today, almost as much happening as the number of light years Bristol University's radio telescope can see !

Speak again tomorrow.