So what's this all about?

I'm cycling from London to Paris for our small but perfectly formed charity Community Music in Action.  A charitable organisation run by the members of FUNdamentally Gospel (of which I am one!). Our aim is to enrich the lives of local people through music projects, who, for social or economic reasons, may not otherwise have the opportunity to access activities like these.

But how did it all begin? Because if you've known me for some time, this is not the sort of thing you'd expect from me.............................

At the back end of 2009 after a couple of glasses of wine, I agreed to help a good friend Jeannie, pursue her dream of joining a choir. I'd always liked singing when I was younger & still blasted out the odd tune in the shower. It might just be good fun. To cut a long story short, I went along to hold Jeannie's hand and to give her some moral support. It turned out, the choir wasn't for her, but I found a passion I had no idea had been lurking for all  this time. I became a member of FUNdamentally Gospel, a community choir based in Beckenham. We sing a mixture of gospel, pop & world music and we're 35 strong. We rehearse every Wednesday & I wouldn't miss it for the world. I never realised when I pitched up (no pun intended) to "give it a try" just over a year ago, that it would have such an impact on my life.

My first public appearance with the choir was 6 weeks after that first rehearsal. I was both petrified & horrified in equal measures to find myself on the front row! Unsure of the words to the songs, and even more unsure of myself, it was one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life. Had I not felt so self conscious about my weight, I probably would have really enjoyed it.  So I decided that if I was going to continue this pastime that, in a short space of time, I had grown to love so so much, I would need to get more comfortable with myself.  The only way to do that, was to lose some weight & start to feel better about myself. I was going to be 40 in 2011 & I definitely did not want to be fat at 40. I had two great incentives to lose weight. I was determined, and with this in mind, took myself off to Weightwatchers.

An important part of my new regime & healthy lifestyle had to involve exercise. Over the years I've been to numerous classes, joined several gyms, tried more new fads than I care to remember, but I've never found anything that I was passionate enough about to stick at. I decided to try a new approach. In our garden shed, was a very old Muddy Fox mountain bike that a friend had given me when she moved to Australia (thanks Jenny) which had been gathering dust under the lawn mower for about a year or so. If I used this to go to the shops and back at the weekends, perhaps I could get fit without even trying and without shelling out for yet another gym membership. My first few rides were agony.....then they started to get easier.....and more enjoyable. Well I never, who knew?.....another passion was born!


At a rehearsal in August last year, our musical director Fiona Bolton, shared with us a vision that she had for the choir to form our own charity.We'd already raised more than £1,000 for charities close to our hearts. Seeing how a collective purpose was having a positive effect on our own lives, we began to formulate a plan as to how the benefits we had gained from singing as a community could be passed back—the idea of Community Music In Action was born.

All proceeds raised by the choir are used to fund music projects within the London Borough of Bromley & neighbouring boroughs. We mainly target vulnerable groups of people who, for social or economic reasons, may not otherwise have the opportunity to access activities like these. We ran our first project at the end of last year with the Marjorie McClure Specialist School. A school which provides education for children aged 4 to 19 that have physical disabilities or specific medical needs, as well as for those that are physically or socially vulnerable. We paid for a music therapist to run 6 sessions with the children, in the lead up to their Christmas Carol concert. It was so rewarding to actually see how the money we had raised was being used in our local community. 

So at our Winter Concert, I proudly stood at the front of the stage, weighing 2 stone less than I had the previous year and really enjoyed myself properly for the first time. We showed our audience footage of our first project at Marjorie McClure. In the audience was my friend Ed.  It was the first time he'd seen the choir, and he was very impressed with everything I'd achieved in the last year. It was so lovely that an old friend was so proud of my achievements. Over a long Sunday lunch (and another couple of glasses of wine) I was flattered when he told me I'd inspired him to raise money for charity himself in the new year. Little did I know that I was also part of this particular piece of divine inspiration. And so, the rest, as they say is history, I find myself in training to cycle from London to Paris on the 6th June raising money for Community Music in Action. It's a long way, around 90 miles a day for 4 days. I should mention that whilst I've found a passion for cycling this year, the furthest I've ever ridden in one go is 35 miles, so I've got some serious training to do! Still it could be worse, I could be Ed, he doesn't even own a bike yet!

So come with me on my journey.......it's going to be a long but hopefully eventful one!!!