Masks are the bane of our lives, but, oh, so necessary. I think they will be with us for quite a while and so we need to embrace them. We have to all wear the disposable ones at work, but donors can have any on and today I have been looking out for those that stood out.

Some masks are just pure fun and you just have to keep staring at them. This donor loves that his mask makes people smile.

This midwife is like us, she has to wear disposable masks at work so she liked her splash of sunny sunflowers.

I am always amazed at how many people come to a session without a mask. Surely everyone should be carrying one wherever they go. It does frustrate me to see people in supermarkets and shops without face coverings. C19 has not disappeared just because they aren’t mandatory, we will be back at square one if people don’t act sensibly.

When I took the photos some said, “I am smiling behind this!” A real smile illuminates the eyes and lights up a whole face so mask or no mask you can see a smile.

It has been very difficult over the last two years for those with hearing difficulties. Obviously lip reading is impossible with a mask….unless you stick a clear one on. We always have some on session as no-one should struggle. Of course, there are disadvantages to a clear mask. You can’t chunner or grimace behind them. I have to be careful when I wear one…ha ha ha. I can’t be the only one who has found a mask quite useful for a sneaky whinge behind it whilst trying to convey professionalism through my eyes.

Quite a few people have realised that even though they don’t have hearing difficulties they still rely on lip reading. We have music playing on session so that what is said in the screening booths can’t be overheard as it is confidential, background noise can make hearing hard. I know many people will be glad when we have faces on view again.

I shall be on the look out for other masks this week, masks that show a sense of humour, masks that make you smile and masks that spark conversations. Masks are here to stay for now and so we might as well embrace them.

At long last we have gone live with session solution. Other teams across the country have been using it for a few months and our own static centres in Manchester are already live…this week we joined them.

We have hand held devices to input donor information from when they check in to when we pack their blood in a polar bag. We are not completely paperless and we do have to double up information on the donor questionnaire and the device….but it speeds up other areas of the blood donation process. I’ve only used it for an evening session but so far I have to say that I like it.

When a questionnaire needs to be printed it is so much easier and quicker now. It is literally just the press of a button rather than logging in, typing in donor numbers, waiting for the ancient system to find your donor and then printing.

There didn’t seem to be any problems on session but the big question is…..will we all remember it tomorrow??? Lol

I’m sure we will 🤗

It has been a spooky few days at home and at work. We decided to start the hallowe’en shenanigans a couple of days early at the Poynton session.

With some Addams family finger clicking, a bit of monster mashing and the time warp…again, we danced around the donors in our hallowe’en head gear.

The donors were keen to get in on the action too.

It was all great fun with lots of laughs as the blood bags filled up.

Saturday mornings for me always start with a swim at Salford Quays. The Glampod decided to don some extra head gear this week.

It was a good job we made an effort because we weren’t alone in the water. With just our costumes on…no wetsuits for us, even though it was only just over twelve degrees, we set off down the dock. As we neared the bridge we came across four fire fighters in the water, “What are you doing?” we called out. “Just bobbing,” came the reply. They were training in the water and were happy to chat and let us bob about with them.

They said their hands were a bit cold. With fleecy suits under their dry suits and boots on they were infinitely better off than us, but then we were going to get out and have a hot drink and cake, they could be called out for a job at any minute.

As our fingers and toes were gradually becoming numb we left the fire fighters to their bobbing and we swam off.

It was a glorious morning with a rare bit of sunshine. There is no better start to a day than a dip in chilly water with great bunch of people. It calms your brain and enlivens your body. It also gives you an appetite for afternoon tea with friends…

Tea and scones taste far better when dressed in your finest witchy clothes. I’d had a text from Ellen, oh she of the devils horns, asking if by any chance I had some fake blood. People have been queuing outside fancy dress shops buying costumes and accessories…we’ve had a rush on toilet rolls and petrol and it seems, this week, fake blood! I didn’t disappoint, I had a spare bottle (and before you ask it definitely wasn’t pilfered from work!)

Sunday was wild, windy and wet in Worsley, but that didn’t stop a blood donation session. All the team dressed up and we decorated the room.

Donors loved the effort we had put in and some had even brought us sweets and cakes. Our supervisor had baked brownies…thank you, Alice, they were delicious.

Gayle is a regular donor at Worsley and it was her tenth donation. Not only did she give blood she brought some hallowe’en treats for us too.

With all the tasty treats it was a good job I was going for a Spooky Swim and fireworks at Boundary Water Park that evening to burn off the calories…although it was so cold I think I burnt more with shivering afterwards.

It was eleven degrees in the water, but it was warmer in than out. The rain was lashing down but who cares about rain when you are in water anyway. There is no better way to enjoy fireworks than in inky black water…although I could have done without the weeds that wrapped themselves around my arms. The fireworks exploded in a kaleidoscope of colours that shimmered in the water all around us.

And that is another hallowe’en. Lots of dressing up, lots of swimming, lots of tasty treats and lots of blood….fake and real!

(Thank you to Victoria for some of the photographs in the water)

Today was a day of feet. It started with frozen feet and ended with scorched feet.

Thirteen degrees of toe tingling coldness at Salford Quays was a great start to the day. I wore my new hat….it says it all really.

Once I was in and nicely numbed the water was lovely. I didn’t lose all feeling in my toes as it isn’t quite cold enough for that…yet. My fingers suffered slightly more, but I swam just under a kilometre before deciding I’d had enough.

From cold to hot, from water to fire…my evening was the complete opposite. I went from 13 degrees to over 600 degrees. I completed a fire walk, my cold feet soon warmed up on the burning embers.

Before the onset of covid, or as we now just say before, I had been talking to a donor about things that put us outside our comfort zone. I think we all should take those knee knocking steps every now and again just to inject that amazing adrenaline rush that reminds us we are alive. The rush that makes us stand back from the daily routines, that makes your stomach whizz in a frenzy of uncontrolled anticipation and makes you fist pump the air with satisfaction that leaves you buzzing for days. Anyway, my donor told me about a firewalk she had done and she showed me some photos. I knew the minute she mentioned it that I wanted to do it too. I looked up the place she had done it and as if it was meant to be it was on again within a few months…I booked it.

Of course, like everything else it was postponed, and then postponed and then postponed. But eventually it took place….23rd October 2021. Last night, after freezing my toes in the morning, I subjected my feet to burning embers.

It was all in aid of Willow Wood Hospice in Ashton-under-Lyne. My partner in crime, Victoria, met me there. We almost didn’t make it as we went to the hospice first and it was at a local garden centre, but after a couple of wrong turns and some shouting at the satnav we made it. There was a strip of flames rising a couple of feet from the ground and a huddle of people so we knew we were at the right place. We rushed over. We had missed the first part of the inspirational talk, but the guy who greeted us said that basically if we just walked quickly we would be fine. I hadn’t planned on stopping half way across to pose for a photo so all was good.

So, why walk on fire anyway? The act of fire walking is a key element of many religious and spiritual ceremonies performed on all continents, except Antarctica. Apparently, there is evidence dating back thousands of years showing man has walked on hot coals. I’m not sure what evidence this is as I don’t suppose there is much singed skin found on remains. Maybe there are cave drawings…I shall have to investigate further.

“Fire walking is a powerful technique that can accelerate a radical transformation in consciousness. People constantly say it changes their lives forever.” Tolly Burkan, the co-founder of the American fire walking movement. That is quite a statement to make. I understand it is about self belief, confidence and empowering, but I don’t think it changed my life. Maybe Americans can say such a huge statement, but we British don’t tend to enlarge beyond the boundaries of truth to the extent that they can. It was empowering, I felt amazing, I conquered, but I still did my washing and nipped to Tesco today. I will be back at work tomorrow. Of course, I have a story to tell and I will show off my photos, but today’s news is tomorrow’s chip paper!

So I’m not bigging it up. Neither am I putting it down. It was a great thing to do. I did actually put my bare skin onto extremely hot burning embers and walk about fifteen foot. I felt on top of the world, I felt I could do anything…so long as it didn’t involve heights…and it is this feeling that I have to recapture when I’m faced with a tricky situation. No, my life won’t change, but I may approach things in a different or more confident way.

Pine, ash and oak coals had been burning at temperatures reaching a thousand degrees. The fire starters (Prodigy’s Fire Starter was going round my head) raked out the burning wood and broke it down into soft smouldering embers. the temperature dropped to a toasty six hundred degrees and we were, literally, fired up and ready to go. “Take your shoes and socks off,” said our inspirational leader. “I’ll ask you two questions, your name then if you are ready. Shout out your answers then go go go.”

We lined up ready.

“What’s your name?”

Belinda

“Are you ready?”

Hell, yeah!

It felt feathery soft to walk on and I did feel a very hot bit on a part of my right foot, but it was great. Victoria stormed it too.

It was such a crazy experience, but I would recommend it to everyone. The buzz afterwards was phenomenal, I would do it again anytime.

I started with a photo of wet, chilly toes. Now I shall end with soot coated toes that tingled all evening.

Now, get out there and find a firewalk near you. Raise some money for a good cause and enrich your life. Give yourself an experience that makes you feel AMAZING!

Let your feet complete a feat.

Life is trying to regain some sort of normality. Whether this is good or not I’m not sure. Most people are facing up to it sensibly, still wearing masks in public places and keeping a social distance. As we slowly emerge into a world of events and activities it is nice, though, to do those things we did in our life before. Today I went to Haworth to a steampunk gathering.

Pat and I donned our best steampunk outfits and set off. We parked up and walked into Haworth. We were passed by walkers and cyclists and your every day normally dressed person. We had a little moment of panic where we thought we were going to be the only people with a smidgen of burlesque mixed with a handful of Victorian and a whole heap of eccentric, weird fun. People smiled indulgently at us and we held our goggle topped hats high and walked confidently on. It was a relief to see other people as we neared the top of the cobbled high street dressed in wonderful costumes. There were pith helmets, goggles, corsets, masks, amazing weaponry, but most of all there was a feeling of community. Everyone smiled and greeted each other, it was like a Victorian promenade.

It is amazing to see the imagination and inventiveness of people. Anything goes. Some people just had a token that gave them entry into the steampunk community, others had the most marvellous creations. It didn’t matter how much or how little people had put into their costumes because we were all there to enjoy ourselves.

At previous events the cobbled streets have been crowded with steampunkers and there were lots of stalls. Today it was quieter, but this was probably a good thing. We all had space and I didn’t feel uncomfortable at any time, yet it felt like a return to some sort of normality. I use the term ‘normality’ even though we looked anything but normal.

I loved dressing up and just walking up and down Haworth. It is amazing that a crazy costume can unite strangers and that a promenade can induce smiles and conversations, but it did. What a great day.

A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear. It makes you feel good, it tops up the confidence and it can make someone’s day. Some say it takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown, there are different figures bandied about, but the positive repercussions of a smile surely outweigh a frown. I had a quick shufty on t’internet as my ‘A’ level human biology is a bit rusty and here follows the biology of a smile in a nutshell:

The muscles of expression around the mouth are…depressor anguli oris, therisorius, zygomaticus major, zygomaticus minor and levator labii superioris. When we use them to lift the mouth into a smile they trigger the facial nerve that sends signals to the brain that you are smiling. Endorphins are then released into the blood stream. Dopamine is the ‘happy hormone’ and it reduces stress and gives a feeling of well being.

Okay, it may be a bit more technical than that, but basically if we smile we feel good. A smile is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles right back at you. How many times have you smiled at a stranger and they automatically smile back at you? The answer is probably, ‘not enough’. If you smile at a stranger you might just change a life. That sounds a bit dramatic but think of chaos theory and the butterfly effect. The flap of a butterfly in the Amazon can cause a tornado in Texas. It won’t actually cause a tornado, but small things have a linear impact on a complex system. Small actions have consequences. We all know the nursery rhyme:

For want of a nail a shoe was lost

For want of a shoe a rider was lost

For want of a rider a horse was lost

For want of a horse a battle was lost

For want of a battle a kingdom was lost

All for the want of a horse shoe nail

If everything does have a consequence then let’s throw smiles out there and make good things happen because let’s face it if someone smiles at you it makes you feel nice. They might go on to smile at someone else, they might start talking to a stranger, love might blossom…okay I’m getting carried away, but you get the gist. If someone frowns at you then you think, heck, what have I done to upset them! or yes mate, I feel rubbish today too! or why did I bother getting out of bed today?? or life is bad enough without you making my day any worse….

There is a point to all this preamble, honestly. I’ve seen some great smiles recently and they need sharing.

I took part in the Neon Night Swim down at Salford Quays. What a great night it was, it was a lovely evening, the inky black water was about eighteen degrees and as flat as a mill pond. Karen and Dave and all the Uswim team always run a good event and, of course, they greet us with a smile. (Yes, I’m going to keep the smile theme running all through this.)🙂

We have to wear a glow stick to swim in so we can be seen in the dark and we are encouraged to have neon paints and dress up. I don’t need much encouragement for a fun event like that. I decided to make the Detroit Bridge that scans the Quays and wear it on my head.

People came and took my photo, they commented on land and whilst swimming. I looked a prat but I made people smile. The event was great and we all grinned from ear to ear all night.

I realise that a dip in the Quays is not everyone’s cup of tea and it would incite a grimace rather than a smile, but for us hearty souls it was heaven.

So if cold water isn’t your thing then maybe a holiday is. It certainly made Sue and I smile on our girly trip to Norfolk.

We stayed in a lovely lodge, we had fish and chips by the sea (well, that is the law, isn’t it), we had sunshine even though the forecast was for rain, a cheeky drink here and there and lots of laughs.

Who wouldn’t smile when you can steer a boat around the Norfolk Broads, when you can take silly selfies, dodge inquisitive swans and pootle about with other sailors. It is even more fun when you try and get in a boat with Iggle Piggle.

We were working at Bolton Wanderers home ground, The Macron, recently. Alison was on session with us and it was her last session before her wedding day. We decided to make the day as special as we could for her.

The day began with a toast to the blushing bride, Nonsecco, of course, and pastries and chocolates…well it would have been rude not to.

Whilst we were doing what your friendly neighbourhood vampire does best we noticed that Bolton Wanderers were all lining up for an official photo down on the pitch

I thought it would be great if we could get Alison down there for a pic or get them up to us. I had to do some serious schmoozing with a manager who said that they would see what they could do. They tried their best but the team had left just after their photo…but…and this is a good but, their manager, Ian Evatt would come up. When Mike heard that Ian was going to pay us a visit he said he wanted to meet him too as he had been a season ticket holder at Bolton Wanderers since the year dot. There was a donor sitting at the refreshment table wearing a Wanderers football shirt so I went over and told him to hang on for fifteen minutes. I waited, hoping that Mr Evatt wouldn’t let us down…he didn’t. Awww, what a lovely man he is. I called the donor over, he was all flustered but the smile on his face was wonderful. I asked if I could take his photo and I said I’d take one on his phone too. He was like a little kid meeting his idol as he tried to find the camera on his phone. It was great to see his huge grin. As I walked him back he kept saying, “I can’t believe that happened. I never expected that. It’s made my day. I just can’t believe it.”

The next big smiler was Mike.

Last but not least, our bride to be, Alison.

Ian Evatt made the day just that little bit special for three people, just by coming up to say hello he made them smile.

Swimming, holidays, celebrities and weddings all of these made many people smile. It doesn’t have to be a big thing though, sometimes just a silly little thing can make someone’s day. When I took a needle out of a donors arm I told them that we had some brand new technology at NHSBT that can predict the optimum snack for each donor after their donation, I invited them to take part. When they agreed I took a paper fortune teller out of my pocket….

Well, they would burst out laughing before we had even started. “I remember those from school!” Under each number was their optimum snack…water and half a Kit Kat, chocolate and a bag of crisps or….the best ones had a forfeit attached to them. ‘Any three snacks but you have to do a chicken dance first’. ‘Whatever you want but you need to tell me a joke or a funny story first’. (This was the first one I was told…Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party? Because he had no body to go with.🤣) Some chose the booby prize…a slap round the face with a wet kipper and some chose the jackpot, but whatever they got they all smiled.

Michelle and Sarah chose the goody bag. They could have picked up those biscuits from the refreshment table, but the fact that they had ‘won’ them made their day. They might be wearing a mask but you can see the smile that shines around their eyes. They loved it.

One of the best smiles came from Denise. It was her 119th donation, which is fabulous considering it was all whole blood (no double or triple donations of platelets or plasma) and she had time out from donating to have children. Denise was a very young seventy year old, she chose her number which said she could have chocolate but she had to do a chicken dance first. With her plaster on she stood up and did the best chicken dance I’ve ever seen! We were all smiling! In fact our smiles erupted into laughter.

So….smile. Go out there and throw smiles right left and centre. Be the reason that someone smiles! I’ll just add this little video in to hopefully elicit a smile as you go on your way…

Remember…a smile increases your face value 😁

Every day is different in so many ways and so I’ve decided to do a ‘Day in the Life of…’ and this is the first one… Friday, 26th February.

I was a driver today. It was an Accrington session that originally was to be at Hyndburn, then moved to the lovely Crow Wood Hotel and then moved to Burnley Football Club. It’s a good job our donors are committed with all the to-ing and fro-ing we put them through. So, we were off to Jordan North’s ‘happy place’, Turf Moor.

With my mask on and my temperature taken I headed to the garage to do my driver’s checks. Now I can switch a windscreen wiper on to make sure it works, I can beep the horn and I can do pretty much everything on the sheet, but I’m used to my car’s computer telling me if there is a problem. It flashes up with something and I get someone to sort it. I know, I know…I’m letting all women down here and I hold up my hands, but it’s not going to change, I’m afraid. So, I opened the front up and…..yes, there was an engine there so all was good!

With ticks all round it was time to load the blood bags and the stock for the day. With Alice, the mini bus driver and Stephen, the driver’s buddy, we were all sorted and ready to hit the road for 10:50.

It took about an hour to drive to Burnley and it was a good job I was on my own in the lorry as the radio was on full blast whilst I squawked along. Our little convoy arrived and the rest of the team were already there eagerly waiting to unload.

It is a bit of a pain to have to unload and then take cages up in a lift, especially when only one cage will go in at a time and the lift creaks up slowly. Eventually everything was up in the room and then we were like a well oiled machine setting up the session. Everyone has an appointed job and within half an hour we have a whole session up and ready to go…a welcome desk and refreshment area, a computer, four screening booths, donation chairs, a front pod where all the blood packs are set up and a reconciliation area where the packs are sealed and bagged.

With a view of the pitch it’s a nice room. There are always people working on the grass and today was no exception. Even after all the rain we’ve had recently they were sprinkling the pitch. The huge sun lamps were on and moved around…so the grass could get an even tan I presume! It did look good and it’s a shame that the fans can’t get in to see it. We held a session there a week ago and one donor looked round at the staff and donors and said, “Well, this is the biggest crowd Burnley has had for the past year!”

One of the first donors through the door was Janet. With her (almost) claret coloured tights and matching handbag I thought she was worthy of a photo as I do like a donor who dresses to fit the day or the place or the situation. Well it turned out that it was Janet’s fiftieth donation, a great achievement, and so it definitely needed photographing…

It wasn’t only Janet who had reached a milestone donation as Stephen was on the chair next to her giving his fiftieth ‘pint’ also. As a big Burnley fan he said, “What better place to give it!”

Stephen wasn’t wearing his claret tights today, but he filled a bag with the red stuff!

It was a reduced session today and it gave us time to have a chat with people…and for me to take a few photos.

We always have music on so that we can retain confidentiality in the screening booths and I had one of my playlists on. Stephen commented at the end of the day saying how he had enjoyed the songs. With his tattoos one could easily assume he wouldn’t have appreciated the ‘classics’ such as Aqua’s I’m a Barbie Girl, but you’d be very wrong. (He may never speak to me again for pointing this out ha ha ha). We did listen to Tainted Love twice as I had played Soft Cell’s version and Mike then played the original by Gloria Jones and we agreed that the original is definitely the best version. It’s always good to have a bit of banter and sing a long during the day.

Martina was having a good chat with one of her donors. She has Czech origins and he was saying that he had visited Prague and liked the Czech beer. They talked beer and after he had donated he went down to his car where he had some Czech beer in the boot and brought a bottle back in for her…how nice is that!

It was definitely Fat Friday today! Lou brought in donuts and Mike brought in cream cakes. It would have been rude not to partake…it will take a lot of walking this weekend to work off all the calories…

It wasn’t all singing, chatting and eating we did put a few needles in too…

We stuck needles in, we took needles out, we pricked fingers and stuck plasters on, we filled test tubes, we packed blood bags…we had a ‘bloody’ good day.

If you ever watch us set up a session you’d be amazed how quickly we can transform an empty room, but….if you ever watch us pack up a session, especially on a Friday evening, you would be open mouthed at how speedily we can get everything back on the lorry.

It was a great day. A good team. Lovely donors. Lots of laughs. Too much cake eaten. As colleagues set off for home Alice, Stephen and I headed back to base to get the blood to the labs so that the night staff could start work on it straight away.

The labs are ‘clean areas’ and so we wheeled the cages of blood to the yellow line on the floor and rang the bell. Francis came out…he stayed on his side of the line and we stayed on ours. The blood passed between us. “Strike a pose for me,” I said…

“You’ve taken my picture before…” he said. “Yes,” I replied, “It was with a towel.” Both Alice and Stephen raised an eyebrow or two. “Noooo, it’s not what you are thinking,” we both said. It was for Towel Day held on 25th May, from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy when I took a photo of 42 people each holding/wearing/lying on a towel. All perfectly decent and above board…lol. (I must remember to do it again this year!)

And so that was my day. Now I need a drink before bed. It can only be…a glass of claret!

Oh we are all so weary of being in lockdown, aren’t we. Not being able to go out for a meal, no drinks out with friends, not seeing family, no holidays, no hugs, no nipping round to a friend for a cuppa and a chat. Gyms are closed, pools are closed, golf courses closed. We feel frustrated and fed up, some people feel lonely or isolated. I’ve had to resort to a box colour from the supermarket for my hair. It will do for now, but oh, Jane, my lovely hairdresser, I can’t wait for you to work your magic on my forlorn locks.

We could just wallow in self pity, but thankfully I’ve met plenty of people who rise up and keep us all smiling. Yes, life is hard at the moment but we must look at other ways to carry on. We have to cherish those little moments that make us feel good and make us smile.

Jennifer donated at Stockport and she made my day.

Sue was taking Jennifer’s needle out after her donation and she called me over. Jennifer has been reading my blog and commented that I hadn’t written anything for a while. She has watched the videos of the team dancing and the videos of my silly swims. To know that someone enjoys reading what I write really made my day and it was a kick up the backside to get me blogging again. Thank you, Jennifer for putting a smile on my face.

Today, apparently, is ‘National Random Acts of Kindness Day.’ Little acts are the things that keep us all going at the moment and they must continue long after we regain some sort of normality because they really do give you that warm, cuddly feeling inside. Helen donated blood today in Failsworth. Elle screened Helen and when she walked out of the screening booth she was beaming from ear to ear because Helen had given her a bunch of flowers as a random act of kindness.

Elle might have been wearing a mask but you couldn’t miss the smile that sneaked round the edges and shone from her eyes. How lovely to just give someone something just to be nice and kind. When Helen had donated she then gave me a bunch of flowers too….thank you, Helen, you made our day.

A random act of kindness from Helen started a domino effect as both Elle and I said we will do something for someone else and who knows they might then perform a random act too and kindness and smiles will flourish. Gavin….or as I renamed him, ‘Twenty Four Hours Too Early Gavin’ as he arrived to donate at the right time but a day too early, loved the idea of a random act and he said he would buy a treat on his way home and just give it to a neighbour just to make their day and make them smile. Let’s all be like Helen and do something kind because when we put a smile on the face of a friend, a colleague or a stranger it makes us feel good too.

So…thank goodness for people like Jennifer and Helen, they fuel the feel good factor that makes life wonderful, even in lockdown!

One of the strap lines for donating blood is….Give Blood. Do something amazing. I like the word ‘amazing’ it conjures up wonderful achievements. Giving blood is a truly amazing thing to do, it is a small act of kindness by one person that can change the destiny of another. But donating blood is just one of the amazing things that people do. I have been asking donors to tell me something amazing about them and this is a record of some of the things I’ve been told.

It wasn’t just the strap line that provoked an interest in amazing things though, a little bit of friendly competition was the catalyst….Whilst working at the Dukinfield session, Paula and I had just screened our donors and were preparing the blood packs. Paula turned to me and said, “My donor works in a furnace, isn’t that amazing?” Even in a mask she could see the equivalent of a ‘meh’ expression on my face. I took my donor to the chair and said to him, “David, tell me something amazing about you.” As he thought about it I said I needed to better the furnace guy. Well David didn’t disappoint, it turns out he installed the water features at the Trafford Centre and also at Wimbledon. I was a point ahead.

It started as a competition between Paula and I but soon I was intrigued to find out things about all the people I came into contact with. Some had a ready answer. Some needed to think. Some said there was nothing amazing about them…this I refused to believe. Amazing comes in all shapes and sizes, what we think amazing one day is superseded by something another day. Whilst meeting a celebrity is amazing for one person overcoming a fear is amazing to another, this is what made every response I got so interesting.

I strengthened my lead from Paula when I spoke to my next donor. He had only played the piano with Elton John! Paula closed the gap as her next donor had danced with Diana Ross. Oh my, we were enjoying ourselves and the competition between Paula and I was usurped by the wonderful things people shared with us. It is not ‘the British way’ to boast of our achievements, but once I teased something out of people they enjoyed sharing their experience.

I have to say the folk of Dukinfield exceeded expectation. One lady told me that three days after her last donation she was in an awful car accident. She broke both her arms, both legs and her collar bone yet she survived and recovered and was back donating blood. Another lady learnt Russian dancing as a child and went on a trip to Russia where she met a famous Russian choreographer. One lady told me she had the opportunity to fire a machine gun whilst on a trip in Vietnam.

After some thought one man announced that he had driven down two hundred steps in Spain. Well I had to get him to elaborate on that. It turned out that he was on holiday with three mates and they took it in turns to drive their little hire car. When it was his turn he ended up going down a windy road that got narrower and narrower, it suddenly ended at the top of some steps. The idea of reversing all the way back round tight little bends didn’t appeal and so he decided to drive down the steps. As little old ladies in their Mediterranean black garb looked on in bemusement he galumphed downwards one step at a bone shaking time. I bet he didn’t mention that to the car hire firm when he handed back the keys!

My next donor was a teacher but his amazing was from a previous job when he was an actor. He had been in an episode of Doctor Who. Matt Smith was the Doctor and he had been the best man at a wedding. He had been listed in the credits. For me this surpassed playing the piano with Elton John, he went to the top spot.

I met a woman who had visited every continent except Antarctica, which she hoped to add to her list. I met a man who had played darts with Eric Bristow. Then I met the man who had been to Norway….he went to Lillehammer to the Olympic toboggan run. He actually told me he had been to Sweden, but I presume he meant Norway. He had the chance to go down the run. He said he covered nearly three kilometres in a few seconds and the experience was mind blowing. He and his friends were then offered the opportunity to do the skeleton run….basically lying on a tin tray with your face centimetres above the ice as you travel at breath taking speeds. His friend decided to give it a whirl. He shot down the track and wobbled over to them afterwards looking pale. They asked him what advise was he given as he prepared to do it….’Just hold on!’ Yikes!

I met the lady who runs marathons and promotes Blood Not Money. She wants people to sign up to donate rather than ask them to give money. I then met a lady who is a district nurse, she told me few things about her job and her family, but then she told me something amazing. She had worked for a few weeks on a Covid end of life Ward and it made her realise, along with the fact that she had lost her mother a few years ago, that end of life nursing was where her destiny lay; she felt strongly that the way we leave our life is very important, she was passionate about how it needed to be right. What an amazing lady, just the person you want to nurse you in your last days.

My last donor of the evening proudly shared a video of her doing a fire walk. I have had ‘walking across hot coals’ on my bucket list for a long time. When she told me where she had done it I googled it and it turns out it is being held again at the end of this month. Well, what else could I do but book it. In fact Paula and I have both booked it. These amazing people have inspired us….

All this amazingness came from just one session. I have scribbled notes from other sessions which I shall write about in my next instalment of Tell Me Something Amazing About You!!

The virus is still ruling our planet, but life goes on. It is all unknown territory. We live in isolated clusters that shouldn’t overlap, where we turn from fear to wonder. Rightly or wrongly I avoid the news, I avoid the number of deaths that still go on. I want to hear some good, I want hope in news that rejoices in those who have recovered. We all feel the weight of the tragedies and it is a burden that I feel can only be endured by a balance of joy and hope.

Captain Tom Moore is an amazing man. A man who will turn 100 on the last day of April, the same day I celebrate my birthday. He has walked his way into the hearts of the people and raised a phenomenal amount of money. I think this proves that so many people feel like I do. We are drawn to his positivity, his strength and his determination. This does not mean that we are disregarding the deaths, it means we are striving to survive and remember those that have fallen with dignity and love. We don’t want them reduced to another statistic.

Captain Tom keeps walking, people keep donating and day to day we hear about the little gestures that people have done to help others. Picking up shopping, singing happy birthday outside the window of a family member who is isolated and can’t have a hug, quiz nights via zoom, dinner parties where everyone FaceTimes. We all need this positivity and feeling of community in a time where we are socially distanced. There are more smiles from strangers as we walk by…at a distance…and I hope we continue with this long after we are released from lockdown. We all need to cherish and nurture the little things we have taken for granted.

I am loving the creativity that lockdown has released in so many people. Social media is bursting with brilliant, funny, crazy, hilarious dances, videos, songs, artwork….the list goes on. Peter Kay is going to recreate his Is this the way to Amarillo song with keyworkers providing the background. We had to join in and fingers crossed we may be chosen when it is aired on 23rd April. You can see all the videos at #BigNightInAmarillo

Even if we don’t feature we laughed when we made it and we all need to laugh in these crazy times. We need to balance the heartache with joy.