The Cancer Survivors Club Book Launch

It was an early start for me as I had been asked by Chris Geiger (author of the Cancer Survivors Club) to join him for a radio interview on BBC Radio Bristol’s morning show with Steve Le Fevre.

I met Chris as agreed at the studio on Whiteladies road and Chris who knew the site well led the way. As a regular listener to the show whilst commuting to and from work it was interesting to see how it was all done. We waited outside the main studio in a large office filled with banks of computers used by the reporting staff. Directly outside the studio sat Jemma Cooper who presents the weather updates on both the radio and local BBC news so we passed the time of day with her. Chris and Jemma knew each other and they talked about the various things they had going on.

 We were soon ushered into the studio. There was a main room with a large desk in the middle I guess where the producing staff sat and immediately to the left was a sound proofed room from which the show was being broadcast. We were briefed by the producer as to what would happen and that we needed to enter and leave the room as quietly as possible. Very quickly we were ushered in and waited quietly whilst the guest in front of us did the “Thought for the Day” slot.

 Then it was our turn. Steve sat at a large table with loads of radio equipment on and a microphone on an arm in the middle. We sat on the end of the table on two office chairs with desk mounted microphones. The interview was fairly brief but I believe we got our point across well discussing both my story with Psuedomyxoma and also the Cancer Survivors book.

You can hear the clip by clicking the link below and forwarding the slide bar to the 2hrs 20min position.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01063c2

It was soon all over and job done. I briefly chatted with Chris and Jemma again before saying goodbye and agreeing to see each other later that night for the book launch at Foyles book shop.

The rest of the day was busy as we did the usual running around. I collected the girls from school and they quickly got changed before we all jumped into the car and headed into Bristol. The plan was to get the girls a dress each ready for the upcoming Christmas parties and then get some dinner before heading to the book launch.

 We met mum and Dad quite by chance on our way to the bookshop and were joined by a close family friend Kevin. We headed upstairs and at the rear of the room was an area lined with seats and already quite busy. I said hello to both Chris and Catherine who were greeting people on their way in and introduced them to the family. Catherine remarked that it was great to finally meet them as she had  read so much about them!

 Everyone was soon seated and Chris took to the stage to talk about the book. In total there were nine of the twenty three people featured in the book at the launch as they all lived in the Bristol area. It was clear from Chris’s speech that he was very passionate about the book and his cause; trying to help people and give them hope by gathering and producing the inspirational stories inside. His speech was touching, reducing some listeners to tears, inspirational and funny and he really got his message across well. Its Chris’s dream that he can help others by sharing inspirational stories and that this is just the start of something bigger and that the “ambassadors” featured in the book as he calls us can help him create a butterfly effect that start as a small beating of our wings to create a big positive effect elsewhere in the world.

The Cancer Survivors Club Book.

Chris Geiger and nine of the Cancer Survivors Club Ambassadors.

Chris presenting me with my copy of The Cancer Survivors Club book.

 He presented each of the nine ambassadors with a signed copy of the book marked with an inscription and numbered with our membership number to the Cancer Survivors Club. I’m number 17, hopefully many more will join us in the years that follow.

 The proceeds from the book are donated to cancer charities across the country to help them help people like me. The book is truly inspirational with amazing stories which are sometimes sad but also with their comedy moments and is a great read. They would make the perfect Christmas gift for someone, so go on, buy one, be inspired and help raise funds for cancer charities.

The Cancer Survivors Club Website