When I started putting together the Lives & Times bowel cancer fundraising book, one of my wishes was to meet and photograph all four original members of The Alarm. However, little did I realise that would be just the beginning, and what followed would have a huge impact on me.
I struck gold early on when I photographed Eddie Macdonald and Nigel Twist 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.
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 featured in the chapter on From The Jam. The good news is that 'Smiley' amd James from the current line-up will feature in the next book, The Record, which is well under way. This will also feature Jules Peters, now also a regular in the current group. She has been fighting breast cancer, and her story is a huge inspiration for many. Oh, and Gaz Top will also feature, so the new book will have plenty of Alarm in it too.
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| Alarm fans with the book |
I've followed The Alarm since 1983. 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. Lives & Times changed all that. The friendship, and amazing support for the book, 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. 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 am looking forward to meeting up with many friends in a couple of weeks time at The Gathering 2018.
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. All the funds that I raise are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer / Bowel Cancer UK. These two charities joined together on January 1st to become the UK's leading bowel cancer charity.
I have already had some terrific support from fans for my 'Stop Bowel Cancer' t-shirts, which has just gone on sale. Just the best set of people 😊
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