Campaign posters and Organ Donation in the news...

Hello!

A few of you have got in touch regarding my meeting with the Department for Children, Schools and Families which is great, if you have any more suggestions or ideas then please do get in contact!

A funny thing happened to me the other day, I was in my local WH Smiths and was at the till and the cashier said to me "Have you been on tele, I recognise your face!" to which I went rather red and said yes. I asked her what she had seen me on, wondering if it was GMTV or the Battlefront programme! She replied with "Oh I don't know, probably some rubbish on Channel 5!" I don't know if she thought I was an actress or something so I just said oh right it was probably channel4 I've been on there recently! Ha Ha! What a strange experience!

Anyway I had a quick play with the pictures from my photoshoot (see previous post) and this is what I came up with....


Not bad for an amateur? Let me know what you think....

There has also been some encouraging information in the news regarding Organ Donation.

Latest NHS figures show that UK Transplants are at a record high! There were 3,504 organ transplants between April 2008 and March 2009, up 8% on the previous 12 months.

There is still a huge amount of work to be done though... The NHS warned the need for donations had "never been greater", with 10,000 people waiting for a transplant.

The figures from NHS Blood and Transplant also show there was a 7% increase in the number of people joining the Organ Donor Register last year, with the total rising from 15.14 million to 16.12 million by the end of March 2009.

There was an increase in the number of deceased organ donors from 809 in 2007-08 to 900 last year and an increase in living organ donation, from 852 in 2007-08 to 944 in 2008-09. To read the full article click here.

However even though this is great news, there are still some recent stories out there which don't show Organ Donation in such a great light such as this article here: Organ Donation: is it ever right not to save a life? It is about a chap who received a new liver after damaging his taking an overdose, he is still depressed and has brain damage due to the overdose requiring him to have 24 hour care. There is often debate about the similar topic of should recovering alcoholics receive liver transplants.

Its a tough one and I can totally see both sides of the argument, I feel everyone has the right to live and the right to a transplant, however I also feel that if you would be willing to receive a transplant then you should be willing to donate your organs after your death and finally I feel that if you are given the Gift of Life then you should treasure it. (note: these are just my own opinions)

Stories like these do jeopardise people on the list waiting for a liver transplant, in fact it affects everyone waiting for a transplant. It puts people signing the Organ Donor Register and yet there are thousands of people that are in dire need and people signing up, need to be reassured of this. Jessica Wales is one of those people who is desperate need of a double lung transplant she has been waiting a staggering 1413 days! If that doesn't spur you on to sign up then I don't know what will!

The Campaign is still going strong...

Sorry I haven't blogged in a wee while...

I am pleased to say my cold seems to be clearing up and I am back on the campaign trail, trying to move things forward!

The first bit of exciting news is that I received a phone call today from the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) and a meeting has been arranged between their officials, myself and hopefully my mentor (if he can make it)! This follows the pitch I wrote to Ed Balls and the letter I received in response to it. We are going to discuss how they can support me in my campaign... I have a few ideas myself but if you want to share any, you are more than welcome! The meeting is in London on Tuesday 9th June so feedback would be much appreciated before then!

Yesterday I went for a photo shoot for the volunteering magazine called Engage, the photographer Simon is the owner of a vintage clothing shop called Rags to Bitches it was a fun shoot and my campaign mug came in handy as you will be able to see from some of the photo's below.

A quick blog today....

I've caught a cold... Bad times!

But the kisses were worth it.... Good times!

How could you refuse?

So a couple of days resting and recuperating I think... catching up on trashy celebrity magazines... soaps.... and some reading (that isn't university reading!)

Just when I thought it had all died down...

... It hasn't! I will explain more, but first you can find my Team Ethan pictures if you click here.

So the campaign is just as strong as ever, which is fantastic news, I was banking on a bit of a break but looks like that isn't much of an option! Well I like to be kept busy so I'm not going to complain (too much!)

So the latest news...

I had a great time at Radio Manchester, everyone there was lovely and the presenter, Heather Stott put me at ease and made me feel so welcome! Here are some of the pics from the day....









And if you missed the interview you can listen to it here, I am about 2hours into the show.

So plans for the campaign in the near future.

• Next week the photographer from Engage is coming to take pictures of me for the front page of the magazine.
• A french magazine wants to interview me (in English) the magazine goes out to around 50,000 young french people who are learning English.
• I want to develop a viral game and video to spread the word amongst young people!
• I have a few talks in schools organised in July for LLTGL and one off the back of Battlefront too!

The most exciting news is that I received a letter (via email) today from the Rt Hon Ed Ball's in response to my email! It says....

"Dear Holly
Thank you for your letter following up the recent Battlefront event. It was great to meet with you and the other young people at the event. The passion and enthusiasm that you all expressed for your campaigns was good to see, and I wish you well in your campaigns. I want to take this opportunity to reaffirm the Department's commitment in encouraging young people to learn more about organ donation and the issues involved in this debate.

In this respect i really appreciate your efforts and have asked officials to explore further with you how you believe this Department can support raising awareness of organ donation in education following the joint letter sent out to schools on 28 September 2008. In order to arrange a mutually convenient meeting, please contact....."

I submit my last ever University assignment tomorrow, an end of an era... the time has gone so fast, I can't believe it has been three years! So much has happened over that time, I've made lots of great friends, my brother got married, I became an Auntie, won the Battlefront competition, and received "The Gift of Life"!

When I first started my degree I didn't know if I would be able to complete it through being on dialysis... but I did it and I'm so glad I did, obviously I couldn't have done it without the support of my family! Now I've just got to wait for my results... I'm not too bothered (well ok, I'm lying, I want to do as well as I can) as long as I graduate then I will be proud!

I might have to start thinking of the big wide world now, actually grow up and find my self a job! Don't fret though, I will continue my work with LLTGL, keep spreading the word with The Gift of Life campaign and hopefully meet Gordon Brown and Ed Balls!

So there you go! No signs of slowing down yet....

My Busy Weekend

I had a lovely weekend (pictures to follow) with Oli and Emily from Live Life Then Give Life!

Emily arrived around 12.30 on Saturday and we spent the afternoon chatting and watched Fridays Battlefront programme! We managed to get "some" work done and the rest of the afternoon was spent playing with my nice or rather watching her run around with her walker (her new party trick)! Emily bought me a gorgeous bracelet (pink of course) for my birthday and her sister Abby bought me a lovely necklace that matches perfectly!

Oli arrived around 5pm with a bottle of wine and flowers in hand for my folks, that went down well and he immediately got an invitation to come back again!!! We did some filming for the LLTGL website about my story, LLTGL and Battlefront! We had a laugh sitting on the grass and chatting, it was a lot less stressful than the filming for the Battlefront Documentary! We finished filming and Emily snuck off upstairs and came back down with her hands behind her back, her and Oli had been chatting in secret code and I had no idea what was going on, she handed me a little box and to my surprise when I opened it... it was a stunning silver necklace with two hearts on it (a big one with a little one dangling on top) on the back of the big heart were the engraved letters LLTGL! I almost cried, I wasn't expecting it at all, it was from all the trustees of the charity for the work I have been doing with Battlefront! Just want to say thank you to them all, I didn't do any of it for a reward, but because I feel so passionate about raising awareness of Organ Donation! I have promised I will wear it to every LLTGL event I attend...

After that we went out for a lovely dinner, everyone enjoyed the carvery and then we had dessert! Jelly and Ice-cream for me and Em, very grown up! We came home and spent the evening chatting, cringing at eurovision and making plans for the following day!

The following day started quite early, we arrived in Manchester around 9.30, this was for the BUPA Great Manchester Run, which Team Ethan were running in aid of Live Life Then Give Life in memory of baby Ethan Collins who lost his fight earlier this month after complications following his liver and bowel transplant. We were there to cheer the whole team on, and to film the event for the website. Ethan's Dad, Stu - despite his grief lead the team round the course and managed to record a time of 65minutes for the 10K run!

We left Manchester (in the pouring rain) and headed back to mine in Warrington for a spot of lunch before leaving again for the evening event in Bolton. This was a fundraising auction consisting of concert tickets, signed memorabilia and theme park tickets etc... The turnout was amazing and the whole evening was so inspirational! The total raised was almost £6000 pounds (with some money still to come in) through their justgiving page for the run and through the auction and raffles at the evening event. Ethan's family are lovely and so strong. To read LLTGL's account of the day with some pictures click here!

A special touch to the evening was a balloon release we wrote messages on them and watched them float up into the sky, an emotional moment for everyone, especially Ethan's parents...

My message read;

"We never met you, but you made a huge impact on us all. A true inspiration! R.I.P Mr Brave. Lots of Love the LLTGL advocates x"

A truly inspirational evening... and a truly inspirational family...

Manchester Evening News and Radio Manchester!

Yesterday I was in the Warrington Guardian, it was a small article so it is not available online!

Today I am in the Manchester Evening News which can be viewed here! It is great that they have focussed on the praise from Gordon Brown and the fact that the programme was aired yesterday! It is a shame however that they didn't include the link to the Organ Donor Register, they did mention Battlefront so hopefully if people want to find out more and sign up they can do so by visiting the Battlefront website!

So today's Battlefront programme.... I had no Idea that I would be featured so much! It was really well edited again and it was so great to see what the other campaigners got up to behind the scenes! I have had some figures from UK Transplant known now as NHSBT to say that Organ Donor registrations went up to 900 yesterday compared to 400 from Monday - Wednesday! Hopefully I will receive some more figures and get them broken down into how people signed and how many were directly through my campaign! So far 1209 people have signed up directly through my weblink and 389 people have signed up via my registration leaflets (these are still coming in and being processed!)

In other exciting campaign news I have been asked to do a Radio interview with Radio Manchester, in the studio! This will be my first studio interview, my previous ones have been done on the phone so it is quite daunting, but the good thing is that I will be able to take some notes with me so I don't miss any vital information! I am really looking forward to meeting Heather Stott, I will be on air with her around 11.10am on Wednesday 20th and you can listen live here.

So plans for this weekend... Emily and Oli from Live Life Then Give Life are staying for the weekend as we are attending a fundraising event in memory of little Ethan Collins. I will do a blog over the weekend telling you more about brave Ethan's fight and the event that we are attending....

It's all over... but this is just the beginning!

Gosh, what can I say! Thank you so much for all your supportive comments it means a lot! I am really pleased with the final edit, although my one liner "I am more of a kidney person!" is not my proudest moment! Ha Ha! Also when I said about my appearance on GMTV "I am just going to pretend I am talking to a normal person!" Like Ben Shephard isn't normal? Ha Ha! There was also a still of me that looked like I am eyeing him up! (Not that I wasn't, but I was hoping they wouldn't advertise the fact!)

I also didn't realise that they were filming me when I went into Sky News... this was good as I was more natural on camera but I sounded like a right wous saying "Do I have to go in there (the studio), ON MY OWN?!" Ha Ha! It was the first time I had seen footage of Sky news and GMTV, I didn't like the thought of watching myself on TV but was determined to watch the Battlefront Programme after all the work I had put in, and I am glad I did.

I have already been in touch with my mentor Oli Barrett with some projects I want to focus on so hopefully he will give me some input and introduce me to relevent people!

Thanks to everyone involved in the programme, first and foremost my family, for putting up with my mood swings and stresses over filming and the campaign!

GMTV, Sky News, The Battlefront Team (too many to list) Oli Barrett, Amy Maclaran, Emily Thackray, Live Life Then Give Life, Jessica Wales, Mr Bakran, Oli Foggin, Holly Cocker, Freya Austin, Abby Thackray and All the volunteers at the Photocall, Donor Day and the drinks reception!

Oh and don't forget to tune in same time, same place tomorrow! All the campaigners meet up to discuss their campaigns with each other, they are all inspirational people fighting for worthy causes. We also had the chance to mingle with influential people that may be able to help us in our quests!

I did a speech in front of them including Ed Balls MP and Esther Rantzen, so be sure to watch out for it! (Unless it has been cut, which is an option as Manpreet's and Alex's speeches were much better than mine!)

So the programme may be over... but the campaign doesn't stop, I am already plotting my next steps... and I am hoping to replicate the success of Donor Day in a new and innovative way...

So feel free to get involved, share your thoughts and ideas! I would love to hear them! Whether it be on the Battlefront website or at www.thegiftoflife.org.uk

Thanks again for your support, It's much appreciated! x