It's not what you know...

... but who you know!

Remember back in February (its ages ago, you may not) I met the founder of Bebo, Michael Birch... After being introduced to him by Oli Barrett during filming for the Battlefront Programme. Michael is a lovely down to earth man who I quizzed about how to maximise the use of social networking to aid my campaign. He answered all my questions and was keen to get involved... he suggested a viral website that would get passed around social networking sites in the hope of people signing the organ donor register.

Well I didn't think anything would come of it... but to my surprise... it has! Recently when Jess was admitted to hospital (Just before the Save Jess-tival) I and many of my friends sent out an email to our contacts to tell them of Jess's story to encourage people to think about Organ Donation. I thought I would add Michael to this list... I forgot all about it and a few weeks later an email arrived in my inbox saying he had designed a website based on Jess' story... one that could be passed around social networking sites and hopefully reach thousands of people!



So if you want to check out Michael's handy work, why not pop on over to Help Jess Breathe and show your support by passing it on to family and friends.

Together we can make a difference... we can Help Jess Breathe.

Your Job For The Day...

I didn't get to do the BBC Radio Merseyside show as I was unwell yesterday, at first I thought it was side effects of my Immunosuppresant drugs, they are tinkering with the doses! For those of you geeks out there (I mean transplant patients, haha) I am now on 1.5mg of Tacrolimus twice a day (which was reduced from 2mg twice a day) and I'm on 500mg of MMF twice a day (I was on 250mg 3 times a day). I thought me feeling unwell was due to the higher dose of the MMF, turns out my neighbour had a stomach bug so maybe it was just that!

I'm feeling much better today, not totally well but I'm a lot better. I am due to get bloods on Thursday morning with the good old 24hour aswell (this totally puts plans for going out off the cards). Anyway so I was really disappointed about that but they said they will try and fit me in another time which is good of them.

I've done a few other bits and peices for the media in the past couple of days, one for a womans mag (not sure which one and when/if it will be released) and the other is for a french magazine that will be released next year, this is through a contact from Battlefront and the magazine helps French kids learn English!

In other news my good friend Emily Thackray has appeared in a short documentary by Award winning film-maker Rob Hindle its for Channel 4's 3 Minute Wonders, an entry for a competition called "It's good to know..."

The film, "I'd Give You One" is now up on 4docs website. It is extremely hard hitting and follows Emily through her wait for transplant and her recovery.

It starts with a choice that Emily had to face, a choice that is hard to comprehend...
Either we weld your lungs to your chest cavity so that you can breathe, but that will be permanent and you will die within a year; or you can wait to have both your lungs transplanted, which may never happen and if it does, you are likely to die before you ever get it...

So your Job for the day...

If you can, please can you register so that you can "love" it (by clicking the tab with the heart next to the screen) - the more love it gets, the higher up the list it goes. The winning documentary will be shown on Channel 4.

Thank you!

Campaign news....

The campaign is still in the forefront of my mind at all times, although I may not blog about it as much as I should.

I do as much as I can to help the charity Live Life Then Give Life and this is a great way to keep my finger on the pulse about what is going on in the transplant community and the world of Organ Donation. I am thrilled that Vinspired have given the winners of the National Awards the opportunity to donate £1000 to their favourite charity... of course I have put forward LLTGL and hope that they will be accepted. Its great that I can give something back to them as a thank you for all they have done for me, whilst I was waiting for my transplant and also what they continue to do for me, supporting me in my campaign.

There have been a few articles on a local website about me that I have only just come accross... One about me graduating which is here and one about me winning the National Campaigning award here. Apparantly I was in the Manchester Evening Newspaper as well but I didn't get a chance to see that which is a shame!

I also have the opportunity to go on to BBC Radio Merseyside tomorrow to discuss all of the above and hopefully will get to mention the Downing Tweet party. It is for a programme called "Life Begins" about how peoples lives change after a significant event in their lives and how they overcome adversity. I am really looking forward to it, it should be around 10minutes long and will take you right back to the beginning of when I was diagnosed, dialysis, my transplant, the campaign, graduating and the award! (Hoping I have enough time). You will be able to LISTEN LIVE here, I will be on at around 6.45pm.

This is a bit of a mixed up blog... but one thing is for sure I am still just as passionate as ever to campaign about Organ Donation, I want to make a difference (even if it is only small) and I want to take The Gift of Life campaign forward to bigger things!

The mingling at Downing Tweet makes me want to get my bum in gear and get organising Donor Day 2010! (If you are a new reader, here is a bit about Donor Day 2009). Oli has suggested a meeting in the new year to discuss the campaign, ideas and Donor Day itself so if you think you can help at this meeting then get in touch (@thegiftoflife).

Of course there will be a call to action to the public to get involved, to tweet, to facebook or to even run their own Donor Desk. I really hope it is bigger and better than last year... with the help of YOU we can really make it something, get people to think about Organ Donation, talk about it and ultimately sign the organ donor register!


Sign Up, Spread the Word, Save Lives.

Together we can do it.

On Cloud Number 10....

Ok so the title is a clue...

Not on cloud 9, even higher... I am on Cloud Number 10.

Let me explain. I shall go back a couple of weeks when I got a message on twitter (I'm @thegiftoflife, if you are interested) from the Prime Minister's wife the lovely Sarah Brown (@SarahBrown10). The message said can I please have your postal address as I would like to send you something... of course I obliged, wondering what it would be? I did not for one second think it would be an invite to Downing Street but that is EXACTLY what it was!

An invite for little old me to go to Number 10! I couldn't believe it, but there it was in black and white!

It was an invite from Sarah to her Downing "Tweet" party in support of the Million Mums campaign by the White Ribbon Alliance. If you haven't checked out the website, do so here. It is a great cause and aims to prevent the deaths of women in childbirth as one woman dies every minute of every day somewhere in the world due to pregnancy or birth complications. So please show your support.

Back to the evening! My parents kindly drove me down and we met up with my Battlefront Mentor Oli Barrett (@OliBarrett on twitter) who was as lovely as ever, bought us champagne and we got chatting about next steps for the Gift of Life campaign.

Oli is an old hand at going to Downing Street and so talked me through all the security stages... I think he could tell I was nervous but so ecstatic to be there! We knocked on the big black door (not before Oli did one last tweet) and then we were in, handing our phones in and people kindly taking our coats.

We headed up the famous staircase with all the past Prime Ministers pictures adorning it (Yes it was just like Love Actually) We entered the Pillared Room where the networking began and who best to show me the ropes than Oli himself! It didn't take me long to spot my good friend Emily Thackray and photographer Sarah Milne. I was a bit nervous about being in a room full of complete strangers but soon got into the swing of things (with the help of a few glasses of wine). I had been twittering with a few people that were also going to be there, including the fab Henry Elliss (@HenWeb) and so it was great to meet in person! You should check out this blog of his, where he is collating all the pictures and blogs from the night. One of the highlights for me was Beverley Knight (@Beverleyknight) singing "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda" (one of my favourite songs of all time) and "Gold" barely 6 feet away from me, with no mic. It gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't wait to meet her, she was so lovely gave me a hug and a kiss, she was so down to earth!

Of course THE highlight of the night was speaking with Sarah herself and her husband, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and inevitably we talked about Organ Donation! We posed for a photograph, which is something to treasure and definitely deserves a frame! (Although I do look like a child in a sweet shop, I really was that excited).

At various points throughout the night, it came back to me where I was, I still can't actually believe it all happened! Things like this don't happen to Holly Shaw from Warrington! It was THE most amazing night I have EVER had! I was mingling with stars, MPs, journalists, business people and entrepreneurs!

The famous people I met included...

Dr Christian Jessen (Embarassing Illnesses Ch 4)
Kirstie Alsop (Location, Location,Location)
Claudia Winkleman
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Richard Bacon
Brian Friedman (Cheoreographer from X Factor)
Peter Serafinowicz (Who is now following me on Twitter!)

My confidence grew throughout the night, I actually approached Peter at the end myself (yes we are on first name terms now! Ha!) and told him that I had to say Hi before he left! At one point I was having a conversation with 5 other (lovely) people that were complete strangers. They were asking me about my campaign and were geninuly interested in it which was fantastic. I would never have had the confidence to do this before! I did find that I introduced myself almost as Holly "Kidney Transplant" Shaw, however it was a great conversation starter and a way to get talking about my campaign! It was great meeting the celebrities from the night, but I feel that the other connections I made whilst at Number 10 are people that I may be able to call friends or colleagues in the future. I hope they might be able to help me out on Donor Day 2010 and one day I may even be able to return the favour!

I can't believe the path my life is taking, yes kidney failure is a rough hand to be dealt but I'm not going to let it stand in the way of what I want to do. I wonder what direction I would have gone in otherwise? I wouldn't have met all these wonderful people, I wouldn't have been given the opportunities I have been given and most importantly I wouldn't be the person I am today! (Little old Holly Shaw from Warrington)

A blog I didn't want to write...

Volunteering in the field that I do, loosing someone I knew because their transplant didn't come in time was bound to happen. I woke up to the news that a young 22 year old girl, A, had died. I am not claiming to know her well, but we chatted often online... she was always interested in what I was up to and how my campaign was going, she rarely whinged or moaned about her situation but it was clear to see she was struggling.

It just shouldn't happen, A should have got her new lungs. It makes me angry because its not like it was an accident that she died, it could have been prevented, if more people think about their own mortality for two minutes and sign up!

It was such a shock to hear the news, as just 10 hours earlier she had posted a status on facebook which read "is off.. to have words with her lungs for being attention seeking!! There's really no need...pull your selfs together... and breathe!!"

This is what scares me... It shows how quick it can all happen. This makes me think of Victoria Tremlett and Jessica Wales, I always presumed that if someone was losing their fight for life, the wouldn't be online posting things on facebook, but it just shows you how fast things can go down hill. Victoria and Jess update their facebook regularly and this to me meant they were still holding on and staying strong... A losing her fight so quickly dismisses my theory!

I do not want to be writing another blog like this anytime soon! Please Please prove you believe in Organ Donation, in memory of A and for the sake of Tor, Jess and the other 9000 people on the transplant waiting list... give them the second chance that A didn't get, a chance to live a life that they deserve! Please Sign Up to the Organ Donor Register.

I will miss my chats with A and hope that she is breathing easy now wherever she is.... R.I.P x

And the winner is...

ME

Arghhh I still can't believe it, I actually won the National Shout award for Campaigning! I don't campaign to get recognition, I campaign to make a small change in the lives of other people... especially those waiting for a transplant.

It was a fab evening, I travelled down with My Mum, Dad and Brother by car, we arrived at the hotel and had plenty of time to relax before getting ready for the evening! Me and Mum got on the coach to the O2 arena whilst Dad and Andy had food and met up with Pops! Mum was my dinner guest and so we had some lovely food, you could have one of every main course (as they were only tiny portions) I had tai chicken, Duck, Sausage and Mash and finished with 2 portions of Baileys chocolate moose (Pops came down after the awards and had about 5 of these).

Before the ceremony started I met Lil Chris and James Caan and had my picture taken with them both, they were both so lovely and didn't mind at all, in fact James was in the middle of eating some mini Pizzas as he was walking round and still posed for photos!

The Ceremony itself was great, each of the nominies stories was projected onto screens around the arena, a celebrity would come on and present the award to the winner. The presenters of the show were James Redmond and Jamelia Jameel, they were great together!

So the Shout category came up, the video was played and then this video camera was heading towards my table... my name was announced, I was so shocked... the other nominees (HIV campaign and Cancer Campaign) were amazing and had done a great job! I made my way up to the stage (followed by the camera) and was presented my award by a lovely chap (I can't think for the life of me of his name, he was an MP? or from the Cabinet? I'm not sure) anyway I didn't have much of a chance to make a speak as I only got asked how I was feeling to which I replied Shocked, in a good way! Not very useful... so here is my chance to say what I would have said had I not been so nervous/excited/shocked!

I would have accepted the award on behalf of everyone still waiting on the transplant waiting list, and those that lost their fights because their chance didn't come. I would have thanked my family, friends and everyone that had helped me in my campaign. Lastly and most importantly I would have thanked my donor, as without them... the campaign would not have happened and I wouldn't have been at the awards!

There were 9 other awards given out, all to worthy winners... After the ceremony some of the tables were removed to make way for the dance floor! Mum, Dad and Andy left (with my award in tow, as I didn't want to lose it) and this is where me and Pops came into our own, throwing some shapes on the dance floor while the drinks were flowing! Tynchy Stryder, Lady Sovreign and some Djs did some sets and a great time was had by all! You can see some of the official photographs here.

Me and Pops got on the coach back home along with 2 goody bags each from the night... loads of people got straight off the coach when we got back to the hotel and went straight to the bar, so not wanting to seem rude me and pops joined them! We ended the night on some shots of sambucca (seemed a good idea at the time, they were bought for us)!

It really was amazing, still can't quite believe it all happened! Thanks to Pops for coming down to share the night with me, as well as my family, it's a night I won't ever ever forget and I hope I have and continue to make my donor proud with the volunteering work that I do!

I will leave you with some pictures....

Me and My Mum before Dinner

Me and Dawn Butler MP

Me, James Caan and Tamina Lawrenson (who was on the Vinspired Judging Panel)

Me and Lil Chris!

Me and the Family after receiveing the award!

Me and Pops!

Me and the Family again (all looking rather proud)

The after party begins... and so do the drinks...
Me and OB from Hollyoaks!

Me and Max from Hollyoaks

Poser

Drunkerds!

Sorry for the picture overload... there is more if you CLICK HERE!

Thanks for your continued support x