WOW - What a day!!

Hello!!

Foggy is curled up on the sofa with Patch and Sally this morning. Sally had insomnia, too much excitement yesterday, and so is getting the last few Foggy bits and bobs sorted before her day starts.
Here is what happened on the last day of Foggy's World Tour!

Hi,

Phew, yesterday was a long day! The trip to the London Eye had been planned, with military precision, a while ago and it was expected to be a slow, non-chaotic, trip to London so that Foggy could end his campaign on the London Eye. However, the BBC contacted me and asked if I would like to go on BBC South Today to 'tell Foggy's story'. This is something I had been hoping for during the entire campaign; it was an opportunity not to be missed! So, all London plans were rearranged. Foggy and co had to be in the studio in Southampton by 4.40pm (things didn't go quite to plan!) and so the Thames river cruise had to be cancelled and 'posh' celebratory lunch was cut short. Which is a shame as it was definitely a celebratory 'look at what we have achieved' day. The change in plans was DEFINITELY worth it though!

Sally, Foggy and Rae on the London Eye

The day started with a train ride from Portsmouth to London Waterloo....Foggy LOVES trains so was wiggling with excitement the whole way. A short walk to the London Eye followed and luckily we managed to dodge the light showers of rain. The South Bank, where the London Eye is situated, was incredibly busy. It was actually quite overwhelming, I find crowds too hectic, noisy and tiring. My family and I had arranged to go for the Champagne Experience as it was a celebratory day. We headed to the, much quieter, champagne bar for a breather and much needed peace and quiet before being greeted by our 'host' Rae. She escorted our group onto our London Eye capsule and took care of us during our 'flight'. She was interested in what we were doing with Foggy and wished us luck - thanks Rae!

I had planned to do a short video clip within the capsule with the London skyline as the backdrop. Unfortunately, there were 15 of us in the capsule and it wasn't possible to get space to do it. We managed to get some good photos though, see them here in Foggy's facebook album.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1611304339130486.1073741880.100007528067190&type=1&l=c0b076fd47

Then came a quiet, very lovely, meal in Gilray's Steakhouse. 2 courses and a cocktail later and Foggy and co were happy and refreshed. Unfortunately, we then had to hot foot it back to Waterloo to get the 2.30pm train back to Portsmouth. From there we would have to drive across to Southampton for the interview. Of course, we hit every single traffic light between Portsmouth and Southampton during a very busy rush hour! Three, already tired people, were a little bit frazzled as the clock ticked past 4.50pm.....5pm.....5.10pm.... As sufferers know, stress makes symptoms worse and I was worried that such a long day and now a stressful car journey would make me unable to 'do my bit' in the

Cheers!

interview. What if I couldn't string a coherent sentence together? My throat was sore, glands swollen and brain fog was starting to creep in. I was getting stuck on the odd word and it wasn't looking good! Finally, we arrived at the Southampton studios at 5.12pm (interview was suppposed to be pre-recorded at 5.15pm!) and were rushed straight into the studio. 

Everyone at the BBC was lovely and accepted our apologies for our, more than half an hour, late arrival. I went though 'make up'; under chin blusher (hopefully to hide double chins!) and a bit of lippy applied and I was ready to go! Presenter Sally Taylor chatted to me before the interview and was genuinely interested in M.E. and Foggy's campaign. She said she wanted to help me make viewers understand what M.E. is on a human level. I hope that is what we achieved. Here is the clip extract from the programme. BBC South Today 15/7/15 - 6.30pm.
https://youtu.be/Ha-11xi8GRU

Since the programme aired last night I have received fantastic feedback for both the interview and campaign. Thank you to the BBC for giving me the opportunity to raise awareness on a wider platform. I am very grateful. So far the interview has helped to raise an additional £150 for Foggy's fund from people who didn't know Foggy existed until yesterday. Great!


Foggy's end of campaign totals are:
£5937.54 - excluding Gift Aid

£7236.23 - including Gift Aid

The Just Giving page will be kept open to mop up any additional donations and auction payments (from the sale of Big Foggy etc). So, if you haven't done so already please donate and help Foggy fund desperately needed medical research.

I had planned to stop running myself ragged with Foggy work with effect from last night. However, it is becoming obvious that this campaign is not going to finish overnight. So, I will be occasionally uploading a few bits and bobs over the next month or so. 

Foggy will be back!! I am going to give myself 6 months off concentrated campaigning. It has been a wonderful, life changing and rewarding year but my body has paid the price. So, I need time to recharge, get back to normal (whatever that is!) and sort out a few aspects of my own life that have been neglected because of Foggy's adventures. I have a few ideas for the next campaign already and I am going to have to work hard at reining myself in! I need 6 months of enforced rest to prevent making my health worse. I know it's for the best but it is a little bit frustrating! That said, the books are still coming soon. The children's books are written, I am just waiting for the illustrations to be sorted and the blog books will be done in slow time over the next couple of months.

It will be weird not logging in the second I wake up to see what Foggy stuff has happened overnight; yes, I will miss it. Thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign financially, practically and emotionally. I have made some very good friends since last July. Some of whom I will probably never meet but will keep in touch with even now the campaign is over. 

I am, and will always be, an M.E. advocate and campaigner. Even if a miracle happens and I eventually find myself free from M.E.

Love and doggy snogs,

Sally and Foggy xxx