I was lucky enough to be invited to co-host a charity event in Munich with actor Ian Harding to raise money and awareness for Crohns and Colitis UK and the Lupus Foundation of America.
Munich is a beautiful city and it was my first visit, we had a bit of time to sightsee and though it was bloody freezing, we loved it. Timm came along with me because I’m not really strong enough at the minute to travel alone, he was a brilliant assistant and also took photos and video’d the event for me.
The event was held at the Black Box in the Gasteig and was organised by Susanne Augustine, it was a night of music, awareness and fun with bands Liann, Lilly among Clouds and Splashing Hill entertaining an audience of over 250.
Ian is the star of Pretty Little Liars and is a patron of the Lupus Foundation of America as his mum has the autoimmune disease and so he is passionate about raising awareness and tackling the misconceptions of Lupus and other chronic illnesses.
It was an absolute honour to be invited to host alongside him, I love supporting Crohns and Colitis UK. Their work is vital to people with IBD and I am so proud to get to promote their work not only in the UK but all over the world.
Though I was really nervous, it was a brilliant night and Ian was a great partner in crime, we were both excited to get to talk about the charities that we love and we got to do this during a panel discussion on the night.
After the event, there was a signing table, and despite my worries that no one would want my autograph, there were lots of lovely people who had brought photos of me to sign and wanted to talk about So Bad Ass and my talks. Don’t get me wrong, they were mainly adoring fans of Ian’s but it was a brilliant experience to meet so many folk. The event had made t-shirts with my little old face on them which was an absolute hoot!
Grab a cuppa and settle down, because this video is a long one! But it is worth it to hear Ian and I talking about Crohns, Colitis, Lupus, elephants, body image and so much more. Thanks to Splashing Hill for the music and Timm Cleasby for the video.
Love Sam xx
