My name is Mike Purton and I am Principal of Bromley Youth Music Trust, which is the best music service in Britain! Through our activities we reach annually the incredible number of over 8000 children and we have senior groups who regularly win ‘outstanding’ awards in national and international competitions. BYMT is able to do this because of generous grant support from Bromley Council and the Government.

Simon Sundermann, our Head of Vocal Teaching recently raised just under £4,000 for special BYMT projects by running the New York Marathon and while I don’t feel able just now to do this myself,   I have my own plan. My son (former BYMT violinist) recently told me that he is to be married in June this year. My thoughts immediately went back to visualise that young handsome and slim fellow (me!) who was married all those years ago in 1975 and I looked at my waistline and thought – ‘I can’t stand next to my son looking like this’, so I decided that it’s now time to reduce my weight so I look and feel younger and in order to benefit my own health so that hopefully I will be around to annoy people for many years to come.
 
So I stepped on the scales on 19th January and discovered that I weighed 16 stone and 6 pounds, which is far too much. Please note I use the old fashioned Imperial weights and not metric weights. For those who are more up-to-date with such things, a kilo is just over 2 pounds and there are 14 pounds in a stone!
 
I am aiming to lose approximately 4 stone by the end of May. As I write, I have lost 8 pounds (half a stone) over the last two weeks or so and am already noticing the benefits. I am doing this by a carefully balanced diet with a minimum of carbohydrate and sugar. No sweets or snacks except very occasionally as a treat and no sweet drinks. Some wine at the weekend is definitely permitted! Please never try to lose weight by extreme diets and only do it for genuine medical reasons.
 
I would like to invite you to support me, both to encourage me and to raise money for BYMT special projects. Part of the money raised by Simon is being used to fund a series of Percussion workshops at Riverside Special School. On the basis that I will reduce to 12 stone and six pounds (in my socks) I invite you to make a donation, either per pound or just a total for any weight I may lose. Any messages of encouragement are also welcome.
 
Best wishes
 
Mike

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