Mark needs treatment for pancreatic cancer. He doesn't have the funds for this and I want to help him by crowdfunding. Please let's all help get Mark the treatment he needs.

The unsung hero

I met Mark by proxy when I was visiting family in Brighton. I'd met up with a friend telling her about this dream I had locked away in my heart for years. in a nut shell, the dream was to start and run my own choir and set it up as a charity. I knew the purpose of this was to bring people out of loneliness and isolation. I had no idea how to start and set up a charity or how to run a business. I didn't know where to begin not until I met Mark.

Mark and Amanda his wife run a business consultancy, social media training and marketing company called Talkativeonline. My knowledge in these areas was pretty much non existent. Mark took me under his wing and nurtured my desire to be of service to my community. In the last eight years the amount of time and hard work that Mark has put into setting up Got Soul Charity and without any recompense what so ever is beyond measure considering the geographic distance between us Mark in Hastings and me in Edinburgh.

He has spent hours and hours day in day out week after week for eight years to ensure the growth and success of Got Soul charity. He'd be on the phone or Skype or join.me or FaceTime or whatsapp or a thousand other ways he'd find to see my screen or supervise what I was doing. Mark has travelled up to Edinburgh numerous times to provide support. From the moment he arrived he'd work nonstop just to make sure not a minute was wasted and the most was made of the time he was in Edinburgh. It is sad to know he has done so much for Scotland and our community without ever having had the opportunity to see much of it. The Edinburgh airport and Got Soul office were the only locations he ever spent any time in.

In all this time he has never asked for anything in return and gave his time, energy and knowledge generously. All that interested him was to ensure our charitable purpose was met. Got Soul's success has been hugely attributed to Mark's ability to spot problems, their implications and the solution to fixing them in record breaking time.

Through the years I have learnt that he does all he does out of the desire to help mankind in any way he can despite having all the challenges we all face in life. It is impossible to measure his contribution to Got Sou's achievements. His support in the management of Got Soul has been in a way that has kept the pressure off of those of us on the ground so that we could go out there and carry out our activity and be of service to the community.

He is relentless in his commitment. We are still screen sharing and he's spotting any problems, coming up with solutions almost instantaneously. He is still supporting, guiding, working and being of service. Only, he is doing all of this from his bed in the hospice and in pain. I've known folks with incurable illnesses but not a single one of them ever like Mark.

Fast forward

Mark as a trusted servant of our community and an incredible trustee on the board has walked and talked me through every second and inch of the way. The choir that was then set up in Edinburgh now runs in Glasgow, Dundee and Fife. Everyone involved in the team of trustees, staff, volunteers and even Mark himself through the years kept saying "Maryam you are the force behind all of this BUT

The truth is

I REALLY AM NOT. Everything this charity has ever achieved I mean everything big or small is because of Mark Baldwin. The unsung hero, the man who has seen the choir rise up from eight members to over four hundred. He is the one who said Maryam just go ahead, take a leap, jump and learn to fly as you fall.

I leapt but only because he leapt with me and look where we landed: on tour with Take That and Lulu

and on stage with Mica Paris as OUR guest

Mark is a dream maker and I don't just love him because he made my dreams come true. He does that for every life he touches in person or by proxy. Because literally hundreds of Got Soul Choir members and others have benefitted just because he's around.

Without a shadow of a doubt and with all my heart I attribute all my personal, professional and Got Soul charity's achievements since the time I met Mark to him. He is the single most significant man I have ever had the honour and pleasure of calling a friend.

I ask you please to donate generously to help Mark who has never wanted to do anything other than support and help others.

Thank you