It goes without saying that COVID-19, on top of sadly claiming many lives, has also caused massive disruption to people’s livelihoods, mental health and, in many cases, their job security. Industries across the board have suffered huge financial losses with some even facing the prospect of collapse.

As a freelance classical singer who has built up a sustainable and exciting career as a concert performer (one which I certainly have never taken for granted) the past few months have been devastating as I have seen my concert diary wiped clean. In some instances work has been rescheduled to 2021 but for the most part pre-contracted concerts have been lost and prospective corporate and health sector performances remain just that - prospective. 

Amidst all this uncertainly I have chosen to use the extra time at home to focus on raising my son and to take full advantage of growing the bond between us. During lockdown he has gone from baby to toddler and his development has been staggering to watch. Without going into details we’ve of course had our fair share of difficult periods, I think any honest parent would tell you that but, in many ways, for me, lockdown has been quite an eye-opener for reassessing what is important in life and what to prioritise moving forward out of a post-lockdown society. Every cloud has a silver lining for sure. 

I’ve been very fortunate in that I qualified for the government SEISS grants (and during the beginning of lockdown I was lucky to receive a small grant of £500 from Help Musicians) so I have had a short term sustainable form of income over the past few months. There are many in my industry however who have not been so lucky which brings me to the point of this fundraiser. 

The performance industry has taken a battering through all this period and many freelancers have fallen through the net for financial help with no other income or limited prospect there of. People been unable to afford rent, mortgage payments, food, you name it. Help Musicians UK are a phenomenal charity that does sensational work in supporting musicians through times of hardship. Needless to say, their generosity and support during lockdown has been second to none. Not least as a grant recipient myself, I feel compelled to do something to try and bring a bit more support to my fellow artists. 

Those of you who know me will know that as well as a singer I am also a runner. Since  my son was born, training has been pretty non existent but another silver lining of lockdown has been the chance to get back out on the road. So much so that I have been clocking up the miles and built my fitness and strength to a whole new level. Recently I decided to enter my very first ultra race which, due to COVID-19 is being run as a virtual race and with an extended time limit to that of the usual conditions. Both of those reasons have enabled me to rise to this challenge and enter. I figure if I can’t sing right now then I’ll run instead and use the opportunity to do some good. So what’s the challenge - basically I have 25 days (between Jul 25th - Aug 18th) to run 250km. My training has been going really well and I‘m absolutely pumped for this but it will be challenging for sure. For the past two months I’ve been out running every other day (varying 10/12km routes) but for this I think I’ll be racking up around 12/13km EACH day. Sorry legs...

If you’d be so kind as to make a donation to my cause I’d be so grateful. Your donations could give financial support that in turn allow a performer or musician to maintain a career in a sector they sacrificed and trained for for years (some - like me - since they were in their early teens) Even those not working in the performance industry cannot deny their dependence on the arts so go on and help me do a small bit to ensure it’s survival. 

Wish me luck 😁 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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 the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.