 |
| Dodgy outside the South Street Arts Centre in Reading |
In the summer of 2014, one of my favourite bands, Dodgy played an acoustic show at the South Street Arts Centre in my hometown of Reading. This gave me a great opportunity to see the band play live for the first time in many years. I was also right in thick of doing the Lives & Times book so I thought I would see if I could get the band on board. Thankfully fate was on my side and Matt from the band came back with a very positive reply.
I got to the venue in good time to see the band soundcheck, and then we had the opportunity to go outside and take a few photos including this one of Andy having sunglasses issues! The gig was fantastic and the venue was the perfect setting. I was able to spend part of time in front of the stage with the band's blessing and got some excellent photos for the chapter in the book. In the lead up to publication Matt once again was lovely by sending me a video to help with promotion with an interesting runner bean slant!
One of things I asked the band at the time was about the prospects of new material. They were in the very early stages of writing new material for a new album. What Are We Fighting For which is released on September 2nd on Cherry Red Records and I for one can't wait for it...
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. Mum 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 2015 which was successful, and made a fantastic recovery. Unfortunately her CT scan last October revealed that the cancer had come back on her left lung and more bad news followed in November following a seizure when she found out that the cancer had spread to her brain. Mum had "CyberKnife" treatment in January for the brain cancer. In March she had more lung surgery, this time to remove the lower lob of her left lung where the cancer keeps returning to. Sadly the cancer once again has returned to her brain and a recent seizure has virtually paralysed her right side and severely affected her speech. There is no more medical treatment available and the devastating news is that Mum's cancer is now terminal. Following the seizure she spent almost 6 weeks in hospital and has now moved into a nursing home where she will have the 24/7 care she needs and have the best quality of life possible for the time she has left.
Lives & Times has now raised over £2300 for Beating Bowel Cancer. All proceeds are donated to the charity so please support the book and the recent stunning screen print both of which are available on my www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk website.
No comments:
Post a Comment