At the Britmums Live Conference in 2014 I listened to a wonderful speaker – Emma Freud talk about something that she was incredibly passionate about – Comic Relief. It was funny and emotional and above all inspirational. She had a big idea of something they were hoping to plan for bloggers to be involved with for 2015 and although there wasn’t a lot of detail at the time I decided there and then to do it. At this moment I was starting to realise I had post natal depression – an illness which unfortunately has become a lot worse over the past year but I was determined. Even when the official date was announced and it was the day after Andrews birthday and when the medication I was on made me feel woozy when I stood up too fast.
So we fast forward 9 months from that inspiring speech to last Sunday when I did something funny for money. Something extremely funny if you happened to be watching me because I danced for 6 hours..pretty much non stop ( minus wee breaks ) and I can’t dance at all so I imagine I amused a fair few people in the audience and crowd.
But it’s all for a good cause right?
And it really is because I was dancing as part of Team Honk for Comic Relief. I raised an individual £345 ( still increasing) and the team collectively raised approximately ( it’s still rising ) £30,000. Which is amazing.
On arrival at Wembley Arena:
Warming up…
The day itself was highly charged and emotional as I kind of expected it would be. There were tears ( mostly from me) and lots of laughter and joy throughout the stadium. We were dancing as a team, all of us. The celebrities, the instructors and all of the crowd. It was an experience I don’t imagine I will have again. At times when I felt like I needed a 5 minute break I just looked at Rufus Hound who just kept going ALL DAY LONG.. Or ahem.. Adam Garcia for inspiration.
Highlights for me were the Michael Jackson section, 70’s and Bashment – I did enjoy dancing to Mysterious Girl a LOT more than I should admit. I was perhaps the only person who didn’t know the single ladies dance or Gangnam style – out of touch a bit??
I remembered that yes perhaps this was a daft thing to do considering how unwell I’ve been and that I hadn’t done ANY kind of fitness or training for about two years but that I wasn’t doing it for myself I was doing it …
To help provide a young carer in the UK with a fun activity day, giving them a much-needed break from their huge responsibilities at home – this cost just £10.
So Comic Relief could pay for a young woman in the UK who is experiencing domestic violence to get professional help from a specially trained advisor. – just £30.
So that £100 could enable a young person in Uganda to set up a farming business and work their own way out
of poverty.
Or so £500 could pay for 8 Zambian orphans to go to school for an entire year. A year? That works out at about £1.30 a day for 8 children – less than most of us pay for a coffee.
A small amount of money from us can make such a HUGE difference to people’s lives.
And yes you know what’s coming next don’t you?
You can still sponsor me by clicking here. Or you can sponsor someone else within Team Honk or simply give today as much as you can within your workplace bake sale or your school non uniform day. Do something funny for money – ask your family to pay you a £1 each for you to wear a tutu to the supermarket. Think about how much money you, we, I waste every month and spare a little of that for a great cause.
Believe me if I can dance for 6 hours after 48 hours prior spending an entire 24 hours vomiting .. It should make you dig in your pocket. I’d love you just a little bit more for it.
To those that have already sponsored – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and how you all spurred me on during the Danceathon.
PS – I only went and learnt the Thriller routine.
