______________________________ It's not a calling in the biblical sense but it is a challenge that I hope will deliver something meaningful not just for myself, but for anyone requiring a stem cell transplant. As you know, of the 30 million globally registered donors, none are a match for me. But someone out there is. It's a numbers game. I'm going to be kicking off a campaign when all the pieces are in place, called 10'000 Donors (ex/current Goldmans employees, it's a coincidence) I've already been told this is ambitious by a couple of people, which because of my enterprising (bloody-minded?) personality, means I am definitely pushing on with the goal! How am I planning on tackling this?
I've written a presentation I'm going to take on the road/seas/skies to educate and hopefully, persuade people to sign up (big thanks to Rich Newman and his team at Salesworx.com for their work making it look awesome)
Setting up a YouTube channel to document events, ideas, stuff
This blog
Social Media. (I have stacks to learn here so anyone who has ideas on how best to take advantage of the platforms, please shout)
I met with my local MP today who was keen to engage and pick up on some ideas to get more people signed up. Watch this space because even I accede that a grass roots push alone might not be enough to get people energised about this.
ANY OTHER IDEAS, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH! I will travel, talk, write...whatever, to get the message out there. If you have a room or auditorium you think I could use, please send me the details. In the last few months alone, the engagement of people and organisations has been astonishing. Thanks to DKMS, Anthony Nolan and ACLT, we've been on the radio, in magazines, blogs and check the irony in this; I am (yes me, the art philistine) going to be part of an art installation!! I won't spoil the surprise but my voice was recorded today to be in piece which will move in September, from London to Cardiff, Manchester and Edinburgh. I'll share all the details when it is ready to go live so if you can, you can go check it out.
______________________________ I'll know by the end of this month what my drug regime is going to look like. I suspect from the last meeting, that I'll be on a steady maintenance regime of oral chemotherapy for the foreseeable future. Not ideal but if it keeps everything under control, it means I'll be able to drive my ambition of finding 10'000 (and the rest) new donors. As always, your support has been and continues to be invaluable. The black cloud on the horizon always looms, but not quite so large when you have the backing I have had. And any success this campaign may have, will be directly linked to you all too. Share, like, talk...what ever it is you do, just to keep the momentum going. In my mind, the task is simple but the goal could be colossal; not just in scale but, much more importantly, in its wide reaching impact. We are saving lives. One swab at a time.
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