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
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to BYMT and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.
So please dig deep and donate now.

