Yesterday was an amazing day! Utterly exhausting but really good. I will write more about what happened in tomorrow’s blog entry, but here is the background to what I got up to…..

I have been in touch a lot recently with a wonderful woman called Sue Cansdale. Sue’s daughter, Zoe, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in 1998 when she was just 22 years old. Sue and her husband Richard knew that Zoe had wanted to be an organ donor when she died because of a conversation she had with them when she was just 10 years old after watching a TV programme about organ donation. Despite their utter devastation at Zoe’s sudden death, this generous family decided that they would give hope to others. As a result, Zoe’s heart valves saved the lives of two little girls and her corneas restored the sight of a young man of 24. What an incredible legacy.

But Sue and Richard did much more than just this. They decided that more awareness needed to be raised of the issue of organ donation and the miracles it can achieve in helping and saving the lives of others. Believe me, Sue is a woman who once she has made her mind up doesn’t stop at anything! She decided to publish a glossy A4 book called “Transforming Lives”, full of stories and beautiful photographs about the people whose lives are touched by organ donation and transplantation…people who have received transplants, families who have donated their loved one’s organs, surgeons and nurses and many others. To have a look at the book online click on the link in the right hand column ---------------------------------------->

In order to publish this book they needed some funds. So Sue and Richard set up their own charity called “Legacy of Life”. But Sue wasn’t going to sit and wait for money to come in! She began fundraising in earnest (including baking cake after cake to sell last Christmas) and copies of the book started to be produced. However this was a very slow way of raising funds and because they were only able to afford to print small quantities of the books, the costs were high. But as I said before, Sue doesn’t take no for an answer and as she says herself “Time lost is lives lost”.

It therefore came as no surprise when she told me last week that she had just auditioned for a new ITV Show called “Fortune”. The programme is basically very similar to the BBC programme “Dragon’s Den” but with a slight difference. There are 5 millionaires on a panel and they have each donated £200,000 of their own money to go to what they feel are worthwhile causes. Individuals go before the panel and do a one minute “pitch” of their idea before being scrutinised and interrogated at great length by the millionaires. Finally they are told whether they will get the money they need or not – at least 3 of the panel have to want to support the person/venture in order for any money to be passed over.

Sue had travelled to London (from Newcastle) to audition for the show in order to get financial help with printing the “Transforming Lives” book and DVD….and she had got through!!!! In one week she would have to go back to London for the filming of the TV show in front of a studio audience! This opportunity could not have come at a better time as Sue and Richard had just received the backing of the Department of Education for their book to be used in schools for the teaching of the subject “Citizenship”. The book and DVD pack could therefore be placed in every one of the 25,000 secondary schools in the country, as well as all the hospitals/prisons/libraries that Sue had already planned to get it into. All she needed now was the money to do it…£100, 000!!!

So, yesterday I headed off with Brad to drive to the studios in Bow, East London for the show! Sue had arranged that Brad and I and another guy (Andy) who I knew and who needs a kidney transplant, could sit in the audience to watch and she said that if she got chance she would mention that there were people in the audience who needed transplants and we might even get shown on the TV. As I say, it turned out to be one tiring but excellent day…full update tomorrow!