Lives & Times Bowel Cancer Charity Book Meets Gabby Logan

One of the longest quests for the book was trying to meet Gabby Logan. I initially made contact with Gabby on Twitter, and she immediately agreed to be in the book. After months of near misses, cancellations and me nagging her agent, we finally did the photograph for the book in Reading of all places being where I live, where Gabby was supporting the Great British Tennis Weekend in 2015. I met up with her towards the end of her stint, so time was against me, but she kindly chatted for a few minutes and happily posed for photos including this one with the bowel cancer tie. The chapter includes the near miss story of going to do this photo at the BBC Match of the Day studios in Manchester. Gabby was absolutely lovely, and I really appreciate her support for the book.

My mother sadly lost her long and courageous four and half year battle with bowel cancer on August 29th 2016. She died peacefully with me, my brother and sister at her bedside. My fundraising continues, and the book is now dedicated to the memory of our wonderfully brave and courageous mum. Please support this fundraising book, which is available on my website, as every sale counts both in raising money and raising awareness about bowel cancer. All proceeds raised from sales are donated to the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. Over £3250 has been raised so far.

Over the course of 18 months I met and photographed people from all walks of life to form the chapters of Lives & Times. Every single person taking part has given up their own time to do it and all funds raised go to the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. As well as Gabby, others included are, Sir Steve Redgrave, Katherine Grainger, Jonathan Agnew, Nadine Dorries, Lorraine Kelly, Christopher Biggins, Matthew Wright, Freya North, Gail Porter, Alan Davies, Shaun Keaveny, Carrie Grant, Mike Read, Status Quo, The Stranglers, The Alarm, Clare Grogan and many others.

Lives & Times Fundraising Book Video

Lives & Times promotional video

In the last 18 months since its publication, the Lives & Times fundraising book has raised over £3000 for the Beating Bowel Charity. My mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012 and fought with great courage and dignity for over four years before passing away in August 2016. Bowel cancer is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, with 16,000 lives lost each year. If detected early it is one of the most treatable in over 90% of such cases. Raising awareness about bowel cancer is so important, and hopefully the book is playing a part in helping to do this.

The book contains photographs and recollections of my meetings with people from all walks of life. Everyone gave up their own time to support the project. Among those included are Katherine Grainger, Steve Redgrave, Gabby Logan, Lorraine Kelly, Gail Porter, Alan Davies, Matthew Wright, Christopher Biggins, Jonathan Agnew, Status Quo and The Stranglers. The latest promotional video shows some of the people I photographed.

The book is available as a hardback, paperback and ebook. My own www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website is selling the book along with other items, including a very limited edition silk screen print created by artist Adam Green, with all proceeds raised donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.

Gabby Logan, Lorraine Kelly, Steve Redgrave, Shaun Keaveny, Freya North & Many Others Feature In New Charity Book

Over a period of 18 months I met Gabby Logan, Lorraine Kelly, Steve Redgrave and many others for the recently published Lives & Times charity book. All proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Beating Bowel Cancer charity, which I have been supporting since 2012 when my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. To see how you can buy a copy of Lives & Times click here.

The journey gave me so many fascinating experiences. To meet such a diverse range of people including many household names was fantastic. Everyone gave up their time to participate in the book, and the support and encouragement I have received from them has been amazing. To see a more complete list of the celebrities taking part click here.

I have had some great support from best selling author Freya North. She is an ambassador for the charity, and we actually got to meet up to take her photograph for the book before a gig by The Charlatans at The Roundhouse in London. 

Shaun Keaveny, host of the BBC 6 Music breakfast show, was one of the final photographs I took for the book, and the chapter on him also describes how I had to make the trip up to the BBC twice to get his photo. 

I met Sir Steve Redgrave in Marlow by his statue on the banks of the River Thames. We chatted more about local rowing than his Olympic exploits. My late father was a keen local oarsman and it was fascinating to how many names in the local rowing fraternity they had in common. 

To date the book has raised over £700 for the charity. Every purchase makes a difference, and I hope that people will find the book interesting, entertaining and uplifting. Bowel cancer remains the second highest cancer killer in the United Kingdom, and as well as raising funds the purpose of the book is to help raise awareness about bowel cancer.

Happy New Year - Let's Beat Bowel Cancer in 2016

A very Happy New Year, I hope your 2016 be full of happiness, laughter, fun, love, peace and the very best of times.

On New Years Day, 2016, the Lives & Times book had raised £707.38 for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity, which is totally due to the fantastic and generous support of everyone who has bought the book so far. My heart felt thanks to everyone...

2015 was certainly a roller-coaster of a year. In February Mum had another procedure on her left lung to remove a secondary cancerous tumour related from the bowel cancer of 2012. She made a great recovery and was soon back to riding her horse (not bad for a 79 year old) and sunning herself on the Greek Islands. Unfortunately as the year drew to a close the cancer returned on her left lung, and then the news got worse when the cancer spread. On Jan 4th Mum begins three consecutive days of "cyber knife" treatment to zap the tumours and then all being well she will face another operation to remove a tumour from her lung. Mum typifies so many of the people with cancer. She has the most amazing positive attitude and is absolutely determined to beat it. I have nothing but admiration for Mum and those like her. At the same time I don't lose sight of the fact it has been another year when many people have lost their courageous battles with cancer. The bowel cancer community is the most warm spirited compassionate bunch of people I have ever known, and their support for each other, the book and Mum is wonderful.

Going back a couple of years I had thought the book would be published by the end of 2014. However as 2015 began I was still chasing Gabby Logan and Jonathan Agnew, and more and more people were agreeing to be part of it, including Lorraine Kelly, so this success in attracting new people meant publication didn't happen until November 27th. The Lives & Times fundraising book for Beating Bowel Cancer is one of the proudest achievements of my entire life. So many fascinating experiences all put together in one book. Available in paperback, hardback and digital eBook. The Lives & Times can be bought in three different formats. Here is the breakdown on how you can order your copy. Please support this book and ALL the proceeds I receive are donated to the charity.

Hardback Edition

• Bowel Cancer Fundraising Website. This is the website I have set up. The book costs £25 + P&P of which the £8-£10 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
• Amazon. The book costs £32.50 of which the approx £4.80 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.

Paperback Edition

• Bowel Cancer Fundraising Website. My website. The book costs £10 + P&P of which the £5 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.
• Amazon. The book costs £10 of which the approx £2.50 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.

Ebook Edition

• Amazon. The digital edition for the kindle is only available on Amazon at the moment. There are free kindle apps that can run on your iPads and laptops. The book costs £5 of which the approx £3.00 I receive will be donated to Beating Bowel Cancer.

Finally I am quite happy to sell physical copies of the hardback and paperback editions directly bypassing the websites. Please contact me on email me at timdarv@googlemail.com and we can arrange it on there.

I would like to thank everyone for the encouragement and support given so far. I am hoping people will decide to buy the hardback and paperback editions through me or my website to maximize the profits, but every purchase makes a difference. Please support me on this venture. It's taken over 18 months to put this book together and it's fantastic to finally see it come to fruition.

So who are the people featured in the book...

• Sir Steve Redgrave CBE
• Katherine Grainger CBE
• Phil Parkes
• Jonathan Agnew
• Lorraine Kelly
• Christopher Biggins
• Matthew Wright
• Freya North
• Ben Richards
• Carrie Grant
• Gail Porter
• Alan Davies
• Shaun Keaveny
• Mike Read
• John Shuttleworth
• Tom Rosenathal
• Antonia Maariconda
• Status Quo
• The Stranglers
• The Alarm
• Clare Grogan
• Mikes Hunt& Erica Nockalls
• Horace Panter
• My Mum!

And so very much more.... Over 100 photos and about 45,000 words.

Please help me in doing my small bit in helping to beat bowel cancer and raising bowel cancer awareness.

In The Press

After 18 months of meeting and photographing people, the Lives & Times fundraising book for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity was published on November 27th. It's got off to a decent start, and I should be able to make a pretty decent donation to the charity during December. The book was featured in the Maidenhead Advertiser last week who ran a great piece. I have been trying to get interest from other media outlets, but nothing has happened yet.

The book features a collection of photographs of various people, and anecdotal stories about the photos. The process of putting the book together started back in March 2014 when I photographed Status Quo from the photo pit at the Hammersmith Apollo, and since then I have met up with and snapped many famous people who have all very kindly given up their time to support the book. Among those featured in the book are Steve Redgrave, Katherine Grainger, Lorraine Kelly, Freya North, Ben Richards, Mick Channon, Gabby Logan, Matthew Wright, Christopher Biggins, Carrie Grant, Johnathan Agnew, Gail Porter, Alan Davies, Mike Read, Shaun Keaveny, Horace Panter, The Stranglers, The Alarm, Dodgy, Antonia Mariconda, Nadine Dorries and Clare Grogan. The book also features many everyday people photos including a chapter on my Mum. The book is available on my own website, www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk, and on Amazon. To find out how you can order the book click here. Absolutely every penny I receive in royalties is being donated to the Beating Bowel Cancer charity.

I have been supporting Beating Bowel Cancer since 2012, as it was then that my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. In September 2012 she had a section of her bowel removed and then at the start of 2013 she underwent two further operations on her lungs where she had a cancerous nodule ,which was a secondary bowel cancer. She remained in remission for about 18 months, but unfortunately in November 2014 another cancerous nodule appeared on one of her lungs. She underwent surgery in February which was successful, and made a fantastic recovery. Unfortunately her recent CT scan revealed that the cancer has come back and she is undergoing more treatment. The treatment and care she has received throughout has been wonderful. Information about the charity and the work that is does can be found by clicking here.

Following mum's first operation I decided to try and give something back, so at the end of 2012 I published a book of various photos, and the stories behind them called "Beating Bowel Cancer". It is still available to buy on Amazon and my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk site, and all proceeds raised are donated to the charity. 

Aggers Photographed at Lords

Last night I travelled up to Lords to meet Jonathan Agnew from Test Match Special. This was an absolute highlight for me being a big cricket fan. I travelled up to London after work, and managed to get into the ground after play had finished to meet Aggers under the media centre. 

In just the few minutes we had together I managed to get the photo for the book, and a photo with the Beating Bowel Cancer charity tie for the Facebook group that raises awareness about bowel cancer. Aggers also very kindly did a short video message for the Knowl Hill Cricket Club side I play for following our disastrous 48 all out the previous week. It's worth a watch and the following week we scored a much more respectable 159 in a drawn match :)

So with Aggers captured for the book there are just a few more to do. Attention now turns towards Gabby Logan with the possibility of meeting her next week. If everything comes together the book could be published fairly soon...

The Book Foreword...

I am very pleased to announce that Matthew Wright has written a wonderful foreword for the book. It is something that I found quite moving when I read it, and I would love to share it with you on here, but you will have to buy the book when its published later this year to read it for yourself :) When it came to thinking about who to ask to do this Matthew was the obvious choice. Firstly he has a high profile which will help enhance the book's credibility, and secondly and more importantly he has a knowledge and passion about bowel cancer that shone through when I photographed him for the book. Apart from Joanne, who is editing the book for me, Matthew is the first person to get to see the book in its fully glory. It still requires more work, but I sent him a version that is mighty close to how it will be published. 

There are still a few more photos to do, but the end is definitely within sight now. Next week I am hoping to photograph Gabby Logan and Christopher Biggins. I am also hopeful that Jonathan Agnew from BBC Test Match Special will meet me, although this might have to be in a few weeks time once he returns from the West Indies tour. With Tom Rosenthal and Kylie Michelle Smith being other ones I am hoping to do that will complete the book unless any other last minute opportunities crop up.

I haven't had any success with obtaining book sponsorship yet, which is a shame as it would have been a great boost for its release, and getting copies printed and out there to those who took part and potential book reviewers etc. However I haven't given up, and if anyone out there can help please let me know.

Coming Soon... Miles and Erica from The Wonder Stuff

I was delighted when a request on Twitter to Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls from The Wonder Stuff to take part in the book was accepted straight away by Miles. If everything goes to plan this will be the last photo I take for the book as I am meeting them at their acoustic gig in Winchester at the beginning of March. Hopefully by then the last few people I have left to photograph will have been done, and then the countdown to publication can begin!

So as the book nears completion I still have to hopefully photograph, Gabby Logan, Freya North, Christopher Biggins, and Kylie Michelle Smith. If I can nab anyone else in the next 6 weeks I will, but I am going to try and work to an end of February deadline, bar Miles and Erica, otherwise the book will just keep going back. I am so looking forward to sharing this labour of love I have been working on over the last year.

One more thought I am having is whether to ask someone to write a forward for the book? It might be nice to have someone who I have photographed do this?

Introduction to the Lives & Times Fundraising Book For Beating Bowel Cancer

2015 will see the publication of the "Lives & Times" fundraising book for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. This blog is dedicated to the book, and will follow its progress as it nears completion and is published. The book will feature a collection of photographs of various people, and anecdotal stories about the photos. The process of putting the book together started back in March 2014 when I photographed Status Quo from the photo pit at the Hammersmith Apollo, and since then I have met up with and snapped many famous people who have all very kindly given up their time to support the book. Among those on board are Steve Redgrave, Gabby Logan, Matthew Wright, Christopher Biggins, Carrie Grant, Johnathan Agnew, Gail Porter, Alan Davies, Freya North, Antonia Mariconda and Clare Grogan. As well as a number of bands the book also features many everyday people photos.

I have been supporting this particular charity since 2012, as it was then that my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. In September 2012 she had a section of her bowel removed and then at the start of 2014 she underwent two further operations on her lungs where she had a cancerous nodule ,which was a secondary bowel cancer. She remained in remission for about 18 months, but unfortunately in November 2014 another cancerous nodule appeared on one of her lungs. She underwent surgery in February which was successful, and has made a fantastic recovery. The treatment and care she has received throughout has been wonderful. Information about the charity and the work that is does can be found by clicking here.

Following mum's treatment I decided to try and give something back, so at the end of 2012 I published a book of various photos, and the stories behind them called "Beating Bowel Cancer". It is still available to buy on Amazon and all proceeds raised are donated to the charity. 

The current plan is to publish "Lives & Times" this summer once again on Amazon. The book is well on the way to completion with just a few more photos to get done. I will move the publication date back if necessary as the main thing is to make the book as good as I possibly can. The above picture is one idea I am currently working on for the book cover. 

The blog will be regularly updated with news on photos, and most importantly its release date and how to buy it.