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Breathing Life Awards
One of the biggest
events of the year for the CF Trust is their “Breathing Life Awards”,
where those with CF are recognised for outstanding achievements. As one
of their nominated charities for the year, B&Q kindly hosted a table
at this year’s event, enabling myself and others from the company
to attend the Awards evening.
To be honest, the awards evening was not brilliantly timed for me – two days before my wedding – but I really wanted to attend to meet with others who also shared an interest in CF. Thank goodness I decided to go, otherwise I’d have missed one of the best and most inspiring evenings of my life.
We had no idea, as our taxi pulled up outside the Hilton Metropole in central London, just how special an evening this was. The red carpet was rolled out and we walked into a celebrity filled champagne reception. I can’t claim to be too good at celebrity spotting but the paparazzi gave it away – hundreds of flashing cameras went off as someone else famous entered the party.
That night, long-term and first time celebrity supporters of the CF Trust turned out to show their support and give out the televised awards. It was after the presentation of the awards though that the celebrities really surprised me. I’d expected them to be off as quickly as they could but they tirelessly accepted to have photo after photo taken, sign autographs and basically chat about their involvement with the Trust. Many were still chatting away to people in the bar long after midnight.
What
was amazing about the evening was the breadth of celebrities involved. Charlie
Dimmock a long-time supporter of the Trust took the time to pop over to
the B&Q table, which was obviously very special for all those from B&Q
- many of whom watch her gardening shows like a religion.
My favourite photo from the evening was the one I got of Aiden and Morgan’s
mum, Vicky, with David Seaman. Another long-time supporter of the Trust,
David was great fun and was more than happy to pose for a photo with Vicky.
She
explained to him that her household was dominated by four men who were all
football crazy. He was happy to restore some female balance into her football
mad household and I can guarantee this photo will be hanging with pride
in their front room for the rest of eternity.
The celebrities gave the evening glamour but it was only to be expected
that the night would be an emotional one - with many children and young
adults given awards following videos showing their pure determination to
get on with life and make a difference despite their illness. 
We
were hosting Anders Gibson on our table who was nominated for an award for
his efforts in Scotland to have CF put on the medical exemption list, to
enable those over 18 to receive free prescriptions, as well as many other
achievements to his credit. Again, his dedication was awe inspiring.
Other
than those previously mentioned, the evening held a couple of real highlights
for me, the first was meeting Amanda Lamb (from A Place in the Sun), who
as you can see from the photos is not only gorgeous but lovely with it.
The real surprise for me was Mel C (former Spice Girl) whose live performance
was nothing short of fantastic. The star of the show though, at least for
the majority of the kids in the room, was undoubtedly Gareth Gates (X-factor).
To his credit, Gareth spent hour after hour signing autographs and having
photos taken with what must have been every child in the room (and some
adults too!) I don’t think he can have moved in over two hours.
Later that evening, as we were leaving, Alex started talking to a little
girl who had won an award. She was only young – no more than 10 and
Alex asked her what she had enjoyed most about the night. Her eyes opened
as wide as was possible and she beamed, “I met with Gareth Gates.”
Her
face said it all, and despite the everyday pain and suffering associated
with her CF, this evening, she was the happiest little girl in the world.
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