Last year, The Plug nightclub in Sheffield got in touch with me, they’d seen my blog and the work I do and wanted to help.
They choose charities and donate the income from their guest list donations. So basically, if you are put on the guest list to see a band at The Plug, you are asked on the door for a small donation. Seems fair if you’re blagging your way in for nothing!
Anyway, they asked me who I’d like to donate to and I, of course, chose Crohns and Colitis UK. I volunteer for the South Yorkshire branch of CCUK and so the money will go directly to the people of South Yorkshire which is just awesome!
I would like to thank The Plug for an astounding £732.62! This money will make a big difference and I am super proud of being part of this.
If you live in South Yorkshire and either have Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis, or if you have a close family member or friend who does and you want support and information, then please do get in touch, attend the coffee mornings and get involved!
CCUK are a charity so close to my heart, it is well worth joining the national charity for support and info and then getting involved in the group in your area.
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It’s ironic that today on World IBD day, I spent the morning at the GP surgery. For a week or so I’ve not felt quite right, increased toilet visits, urgency and a couple of accidents. I have also been struggling massively with joint pain.
I had a Twitter chat with IA Support (isn’t social media brill?!) who suggested possible Pouchitis and recommended I visit the doctors. I put it off as my anxiety over being taken back into hospital kicked in and I wanted to hide from any medical professionals but then yesterday my son held my hand and it hurt so much I had to let go.
I realised it was probably time to call the GP…
So with a temperature, bad joints, increased poos with urgency and blood and feeling like I have the flu I am so fatigued, my dr thinks the same and I have some big boy antibiotics to try and kick this bout of pouchitis in the ass.
Yet it is world IBD day which means though I’d rather be in a duvet den I am actually on the bus into Sheffield ready to go on BBC radio to talk about IBD!
Because though I am a BIG fan of listening to your body and stopping when you need to, today is just too important to me to cancel. I do everything I can to keep raising awareness, to #stoppoobeingtaboo and to help as many people as I can. And I do it all whilst fighting my own battles.
I know today I can reach a large audience of people with IBD, as well as carers, family and friends of those with Crohns or Colitis. And so I will carry on regardless because it means EVERYTHING to me to make a difference.
This shitty disease that keeps knocking me down every time I am feeling better. It has to be for a purpose. I have to believe that my life isn’t a struggle for no reason, and I choose to believe that reason is for this Sheffield lass with a big gob to help others.
And so Ill keep going today, through running to the loo and grinding aching joints and I will make a difference.
(Let’s not even DISCUSS my day trip to London tomorrow for business meetings!!!!)
Luckily I am going on holiday at the end of this week with my lovely Timm and the kids to see my fab in laws in Lanzarote. Not great timing as I’m worried about ruining the trip but at least I have some down time and can relax and rest.
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I bloody love Sheffield and so thought I’d share with you the 10 best things about the mighty Sheffield… (In my humble opinion)
1. We breed the very best folk
Jarvis Cocker, Arctic Monkeys, Jessica Ennis to name but a few. Sheffield is home to a huge amount of amazing people, the great Sean Bean, Joe Cocker, Michael Palin also hail from our great city.
People of Sheffield are proud and no matter where they live in the world, Sheffield is always in their hearts…
Totes braggy photo of me and Jarvis…
2. The Snooker makes us all fans and experts once a year
Once a year, everyone in Sheffield becomes a snooker fan! The World Snooker Championship held at Sheffield’s mighty Crucible Theatre is a sporting highlight that shines a light on our great city.
It matters not if you never look at another snooker table for the rest of the year, throughout the championships Sheffielders are experts on 147 breaks, snooker tactics and we all DEFINITELY once saw Ronnie O’Sullivan in town…
3. We have the best music scene
Sheffield has always had strong ties to live music, we have some great larger venues, but even better smaller ones that host such a range of music that fit to all tastes… From Corporation to The Plug, Leadmill to the The Harley.
Music in Sheffield is exciting and I believe this is because we nurture young talent, a good Sheffield band take a place in your heart and are supported strongly. And because Sheffield is the world’s biggest village (see number 10) everyone knows everyone in the music scene… This is a nice thing! Going out in town means bumping into the who’s who of Sheffield music and collaborations and musical appreciation are rife.
Go take a look at Exposed for a foray into Sheffield music awesomeness…
Sheffield has it’s very own inner city Glastonbury, Tramlines festival is HUGE and takes over the whole city with venues all across Sheffield from the main stage through to bars, pubs, parks and pretty much every space going. It’s one weekend a year where music lovers, families, hard core festival goers and festival virgins alike don a wristband and experience three days of music, arts and Sheffield love.
5. Hendersons is KING (and we are a bunch of foodies!)
Hendersons Relish… It’s a Sheffield staple. We hold Hendersons to our heart and have a ridiculous amount of love and pride for this spicy relish! We sing about it,make art from it, dress up like it. It’s as big a part of Sheffield as the now destroyed Cooling Towers (See number 9!)
“It was Mr Henry Henderson who first began manufacturing his own special type of sauce back in the late part of the 19th century. Originally manufactured at 35 Broad Lane in Sheffield, Henderson’s Relish is still being made and has been in uninterrupted production within half a mile of the site from which the first bottle was filled.”
You can buy prints of this amazing work here by Neil Antcliff.
But we aren’t just about the Hendos, Sheffield is fast becoming a foodie capital with amazing places to eat. Pub grub is so much more at The Great Gatsby by Shyboy Cantina and for something a little smarter the amazing Wasabisabi is a must. Sheffield Food blogger Feast and Glory is a great place to look for reviews and ideas on where to eat next time you are out!
6. Sheffield is the greenest city in the world!
61% of Sheffield’s entire area is green space, and a third of the city lies within the Peak District National park. There are more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens in the city, and an estimated 2 million trees, giving Sheffield the highest ratio of trees to people of any city in Europe. There are 4 trees to every person in Sheffield… I love that fact!!
Despite its urban location almost three-quarters of the city is taken up by natural vegetation and waterways.
More than a third of the city is located in the Peak District National Park – no other city has a National Park within its boundary. You can find 10 epic walks in the Peak District here on the 10adventures website, all information on it is free-to-download for everyone, including GPS.
In addition you’ll find 150 woodlands and 50 public parks all within Sheffield and it is rumoured that there are 4 mature trees to every person living here!
Over 44 per cent of Sheffield residents live within a five minute walk of a wood and half the city’s population live within 15 minutes of the open countryside. Imagine that!
7. We have our own language
After thas finished tha snap tha can av some spice, orate?
Gi’or wi thisen, thas gorra get dahn thi jennel.
Neyow.
Understood? I love the confusion on people’s faces when they listen to a full on Sheffield accent, like the Full Monty but further…
In case you were wondering the above statements say
After you have finished your food, you can have some sweets, alright?
Give over with yourself (stop yourself, calm down), you have got to go down the alleyway between two buildings. (It is DEFINITELY a jennel and NOT a ginnel…)
8. We have a band who play ukeleles, make puns and swear a lot… Everly Pregnant Brothers
I love a ukelele. I love puns. So I was always going to love Everly Pregnant Brothers! A group of Sheffield men, including artist Pete McKee and singer ‘Big Shaun’, they play Sheffield ukelele versions of classic songs such as No Oven, No Pie (No woman, No cry) and Hendos (Yellow).
A Tramlines favourite, EPB are everything that is right and good in silly, funny music that doesn’t take itself too seriously…
If you are over 30, you may remember the Hole in The Road?! Yes? They sang about that too…
9. We all mourn the loss of the cooling towers
The Cooling Towers were an important part of Sheffield, the beacon on the M1 that said you were nearly home (or just getting to Meadowhall, yeah yeah I know I should probably have included Meadrall/MeadowHell or it’s many incarnations but you know, it’s just a massive shopping centre!!)
When they came down in 2008, a city mourned. There was an attempt to save them by artists, but alas they were demolished and an icon disappeared.
You can buy beautiful art prints by Jonathan Wilkinson here, seen below.
But plans to reuse the site for a £500,000 public art project are to go ahead and so perhaps we will soon have a new icon to behold!
10. We are the biggest village in the world!
We really are! Despite a population of over 550,000, Sheffield manages to redeem the feeling of living in a large Village. Perhaps because the city centre is the heart, with clusters of great areas surrounding or perhaps it is just the great people of Sheffield. Either way, you know on a stroll through town or a wander on Ecclesall Road you will most likely bump into a lot of people you know!
Sheffield just has a great feel to it, it has a character and an authenticity that Sheffielders hold close to their hearts. It is a great place to live and whenever I have been away for a while, coming back into the city always lifts my soul and makes me smile.
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On my old blog I started a series of interviews with some of the interesting folk of Sheffield, one of them is my favourite bloke of all time, my husband, Timm.
I talk about him a lot on So Bad Ass as he is a huge part of my journey, illness and recovery and so thought it would be nice to share it here.
With a music career that spanned two decades, Timm has worked for so many bands, there are too many to mention so I’ll just mention a few of the Sheffield bands, Reverend and the Makers, Richard Hawley, Human League and Arctic Monkeys.
In early 2005 Timm started working for Arctic Monkeys, he spent the next 6 years touring the world with them, watching the band grow from a bunch of teenage kids to one of the most popular and influential bands of our generation.
Then after almost 20 years in the business, he decided he would stop. That he wanted to do something different.
We have three kids together and touring 9 months of the year just got too much. He tells me that one day he was sat in a suite in some exotic location, in the bar downstairs were a group of young, beautiful famous faces partying. And all he wanted was to be back at home with me and the kids. So he stopped touring…
He was interviewed by Mixed in Sheffield, about his life and work in the music industry, its a really interesting watch, take a look.
So how do you move on in your work life from touring the world with musicians? Well, we knew it had to be something that he loved. So he took his years as an amateur photographer and put them into use. We set up a photography company, The Picture Foundry, and have spent the last few years building it up into an amazing business where we work together every day and Timm is at home and there for his kids every day.
He also runs Responsible Fishing UK with his best friend James Brunt, creating natural art installations and working with children and young people to encourage arts and play. He keeps his finger in the music pie as the Productions Director for Sheffield festival, Tramlines.
How has living in Sheffield and Yorkshire affected your life and attitude?
Living in Sheffield has affected my life in so many ways, I moved here when I was 19 and from then on it’s shaped my life, from studying photography at Stradbroke college to getting dragged into the music industry gigging with local bands in the early 90’s. It’s also inspired much of my work and style in photography, I love industrial settings, probably due hanging out in too many dodgy warehouses and industrial ruins. I would have never had the opportunities I have had without being in Sheffield.
It’s affected my attitude in many ways too… coming originally from Barnsley it was a bit of a shock living in Sheffield, the multicultural nature of the city and the many characters and sub cultures that made up Sheffield in the 90’s challenged most of the conceptions I’d had living in Barnsley in such a positive way… and I’m glad it did.
Yorkshire has provided such an amazing place to live, I’ve had many chances to move away (London, Aus, USA) but I’ve always felt at home here, even though I’ve spent most of my life away Sheffield and Yorkshire has always been the place I come home to.
How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
Grumpy, Creative, Beardy, Happy, Bloke
Tell me something peculiar about yourself.
I have “Dude” tattooed on my left shoulder and the owner of a tattoo shop / bar called White Trash in Berlin, Germany has “Sweet”…. Yep we were drunk.
I’m going to be a 40 year old Grandpa
I like Fish Fingers and Custard
What are your future aims?
To have an amazing photo studio in a beautiful house that we can use as locations inside and out
To be a great dad / grandpa
To reach old age with my lovely wife but still act like kids
To have my own festival with my Best pal James
If there were a zombie apocalypse, what would your survival plan be?
Fight, fight, fight… Gather as many tools, weapons and vehicles as I can and FIGHT.
What is your favorite thing about Sheffield?
The fact the within 20 minutes I can be in the city or amazing country side or a big shopping mall.
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Today has been a big day for me in getting back to life, exercise and being outdoors. Since my j pouch operation I have had a few days out but today was the first real time I was out and about with no easy and quick toilet access and I was scared!
Physically I’m doing loads better but mentally I still struggle from time to time. I worry about having accidents, about not being able to live the life I want because of fear, I worry that I’m abnormal. But today had lifted my spirits and boosted my confidence!
I went for bike rides around Rother Valley Park today with my friend Caroline, Timm and all the kids. I only learnt how to ride a bike a few years ago so it was a bit nerve wracking but we had a fab time!!
Then Timm, the kids and I went on a bit of an adventure, it was supposed to be a planned walk to see the Steel Giant but we were running late and missed the group. So we googled and found a ramblers walk and decided to go it alone.
Starting at Darnall train station I have to admit the start of the walk was not quite what I was expecting but as is the wonderful thing about Sheffield, within minutes we were in woodland.
We then found The Steel Giant, a sculpture hidden away in the woods by the Sheffield Parkway.
We had a great time exploring parts of the city we’d never seen before. Then the thing I was most frightened of happened. I was desperate for the loo… I couldn’t hold it and we were no where near any toilets. The question ‘does a bad ass shit in the woods?’ has been answered today…
You know what though? I had been stressing thinking this is the worst thing that could happen. That I’d be mortified and it would be the end of the world. Turns out it’s quite funny and now I’m telling you about it… I’m almost glad it happened as now I don’t feel stressed about it happening again. It happened, it wasn’t ideal, but I dealt with it and the world is still turning.
I share these embarrassing things because unfortunately they are things us IBD folk have to face. But when shit happens (literally) you can either let it ruin your day or thank your lucky stars you have nappy sacks and baby wipes in your bag and laugh it off! I pick the latter…
I mean, look how pleased I am…
So my lovely, beautiful, wonderful readers. Remember that when shit happens as long as you are a little prepared and can find your sense if humour, everything will be ok.
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