If you missed it at the weekend an amazing thing happened and Amanda Palmer, musician, connector, gracious lovely person shared my blog post on facebook with her fans, adding a commentary and exploring the point I made in the last post about people choosing to focus on her eyebrows, rather than her talk. I added a postscript to my last post with more info. Sadly it didn’t lead to thousands of pounds in donations, but it did lead to some, and perhaps more importantly it led me to a really useful reminder about the importance of listening to myself and owning my decision. This was a couple of the responses to Amanda’s post on facebook:

How awesome is that. Just checked a moment ago, 593 likes for Amanda’s post, and while I’m the first to point out that quantity/likes/endorsements aren’t worth pretty much anything, there is something deeply reassuring about people’s support, even if it’s really by proxy.

I have asked for help with raising funds and raising awareness and so far I’ve been rewarded to the tune of £2,340. This is amazing. I feel incredibly grateful, I know the difference that would make to Rowcroft Hospice or JusticeforLB. What I’m really hopeful for is that I can double that!! It costs about £1.8k per person to receive the Hospice at Home service that supported Dad, and us. That post goes into greater detail but essentially:

The Hospice at Home service does it exactly what it says on the tin. It is available to patients in the last two weeks of their lives, and it provides them with invaluable support to enable them to remain in their own home…. I believe that Dad had a fantastic death, there were ups and downs and some scary moments, but Dad wouldn’t have had it any other way. Dad lived his death much the same as he lived his life, and his illness, with a stubborn determination, a sense of humour and a positive mental attitude, all in his own way. The Hospice at Home service enabled that to happen.

What I’d love is to be able to repay that cost, while also still making a sizeable donation to JusticeforLB.

I’ve had a couple of conversations with people interested in purchasing the £1k workshop on offer – it’s an absolute bargain, the chance to hear from myself and Sara (LB’s mum) on how we’ve used social media to support our campaign, and consider how it could be used for the organisation that pledges. I can think of a number of organisations that would benefit from that workshop, especially in social care right now, more than ever, we need to change things. We believe that we can share our learning and help. I still have some dignity though and while I’m happy to ask for help, I draw the line at begging. So please keep spreading the word about the pledges available, and encourage those who are interested to donate! You can donate anything from a fiver, you don’t have to have a grand spare, that’s about the same price as coffee and a cake or a cocktail and it is calorie free and conscience rich!

I’d also like to take a minute to acknowledge the support of Lucy and the team at Stylz, who have not only kept my hair looking decent for the last few years, but have also offered their services to do my shearing. I am also very chuffed that the amazing Paul Clarke (you can read why I think he’s amazing here) offered to photograph the #hairhack. Paul is an award winning photographer, yes really, and perhaps more importantly someone who I respect and trust. So between him and Lucy I’m sure all will be fine, as long as I remember to keep breathing!

So, in four weeks time, on 2 July my head will be shaved. I have asked for support, and while reactions to my choice have been a little mixed, the overwhelming sense I am left with this evening is confidence and impatience! I am keen to get it done now, but I must bide my time for another four weeks, a useful life lesson. Time is running out for pledges though, they finish at 3:27pm on Friday 20 June so please don’t delay, go pledge if you’ve not had a chance to do so yet.

It’s my birthday at the end of the week, and I’m only working (very) part-time in June, so I’m off to chase the midnight sun. That means I may not be online as much as usual, but I’ll hopefully still blog occasionally but I’m relying on you guys to spread the #hairhack word and keep up the momentum! Thank you all for the support so far and I’ll leave you with a midnight sun photo from last year around this time, taken from Narvik Veteran’s Memorial in Norway.