Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Sunday 22 December 2019

Give Love In A Box - Teams4u Christmas Shoe Box Charity Appeal


Tis the Season for even more giving! 🎅🎄🎁

It's Christmas time again and I think back on my childhood growing up in London in the 80's and 90's distinctly remembering the excitement bubbling in the pit of my 8 year old stomach after seeing neatly packaged presents (usually in red wrapping paper and with reindeers dotted all over it) nestled snuggly at the bottom of the Christmas tree (when we still had one up) along with all the other mysterious wrapped shapes that were also for my two sisters. We would often look at the name tags, to see how many presents we had that year - we pretty much were guaranteed to get the main present we wanted and more .

Wednesday 2 October 2019

13. My Kilimanjaro Training: 6 Months In - Getting High at The Altitude Centre

Howdy folks!


 I'm coming near to the end of my Kilimanjaro training journey with just one week to go before I board the plane to Tanzania! Thank you to everyone who has followed the long slog over the last 6 months but the bigger journey is yet to come!

I've decided to braid my hair too! Just to keep it out of the way and make it easier not being able to wash it for days up on the mountain.

Despite training for 6 months and having the right gear on the mountain, many people don't reach the summit of Kilimanjaro because of the misfortune of genetics and biology with their bodies not being able to respond well to the thinning air as you climb higher up the mountain - Altitude

So, as luck would have it in this case - I won a voucher for a free altitude training session at The Altitude Centre  

Would be a waste to waste a taste of altitude right?

Sunday 20 October 2013

Let 'Em Skate - An Extreme Street Sports Charity Thats Off The Wall




Ok so for this scribble, even though I'm all grown up (as the conforming society will say) I'm a fan of cartoons, especially this little guy who probably is one of the most famous cartoon characters created on our third rock from the sun. Can you guess who it is ......even though there is a picture right there...yep Bart Simpson. I loved him as a kid, he was a real rebellious dude - the famous little yellow rascal who's mischievous nature is rarely seen without hurtling along on a trusty skateboard up to no good.....but actually not all skateboarders are up to no good, undeserving of the whole 'tut tut tut' waving the pointed finger in disgust at them as if they were juvenile delinquents. Lets lift those judgemental stigmas.....they actually should be encouraged.

Thursday 25 July 2013

The Royal Baby - Awaiting The Heir to the Throne

It's the morning of Monday 22nd July 2013 in London, England and a historic event is about to ignite a spark in the slumbering world and the future of the British monarchy and Commonwealth. The morning news and tabloids are fired up with the unexpected headline that Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge has gone into labour....a baby is on its way.
 
 


But this is no ordinary birth that the world are ruffling their feathers over in colossal anticipation - its the birth of a baby that is destined to rule a nation and commonwealth. The future heir of England.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

The Day Murray Won Wimbledon - My Video Blog





Our hearts were in our mouths, our knees quivering as we held our breaths in the rally of the final point....but after 77 years, 15 Prime Ministers and 3 Monarchs, a British Man FINALLY wins the Wimbledon Men's Singles Title...and I was there...here's my video blogs following me on the unforgettable day that Andy Murray made sporting history....

Tuesday 4 June 2013

A Royal Encounter...The Queens 60th Coronation Day

4th June 2013. London, England.

Blue skies, warm weather - It can't be? really British Summer? Today, a somewhat unusually summery British day in the capital is championed by a special royal occasion -the celebration of Britain's long reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth's II 60th Anniversary of her Coronation in 1953. I wasn't even thought about then, but Queen Lizzie's the only British Monarch that has been a constant presence in my life; stamps, coins, T.V, Movies, Cartoons - c'mon she must be a real person.

You can pretty much tell there's a national occasion taking place in Merry Ole' London, which to give us credit, we do very well at staging, as we did with  the controversial National Funeral of Margaret Thatcher on that gloomy morning in April and of course the London 2012 Games.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

The National Funeral of The Iron Lady - As I Saw It


The Iron Lady. The Iron Lady. Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher - now I'm not one that can sit and talk about politics all day but I don't have to be a political junkie to know who Margaret Thatcher was or 'The Iron Lady' as she was affectionately christened based on her nerves of steel and her strong and hearty manner. Love Her or Hate Her she was one tough lady, couldn't have been an easy job. I was only a toddler throughout her time governing the country at 10 Downing Street, so I guess I have no memories of her and know very little about her political lifetime. The news of her death earlier this month in the UK seemed to bring rejoice to certain societies and affectionate praise and blessings from others. So I thought it would be an interesting experience to hop on down to the streets of London to observe the atmosphere of this highly anticipated and controversial national funeral of the former Prime Minister. A historic occasion not to be missed.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Livin' London 2012 - My Short Life as a Games Maker Volunteer


Summer of 2012 - this short period of my hopefully long life I call my Games Maker Life.  I need to be at the Olympic Park by 7.00am for a morning shift as a 'GM' - my identity during the English summer. Afternoon shifts don't start till 2:00pm which gives me a little time to catch some of the morning coverage on T.V. Morning shifts means a 5:00am bus ride and hop on a summer mornings tube up to the Stratford, the home of the Olympic Park in the east of the city. Funny enough I actually enjoy the getting up early part, but I can never sleep very well knowing that I need to be up at the crack of dawn to travel into the city. I leave in my generously free special purple and poppy uniform, which only a handful of people have been selected to have. Looking very militant, I could almost feel myself totally out of character marching down the street like I'm on duty somewhere. That's just dumb.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Memories of a Games Maker - The Rehearsal of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony




 
So London 2012 is over, the build up over seven years for hosting the Greatest Show on Earth has now climaxed. But man what a summer it was. I want to share my experience witnessing the rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony that shook the world on the night of 27th July 2012.