The Great South Blog Run

One of the things I do away from my day job and posting on this blog is that I help run Portsmouth’s Dials Festival and am one of the bookers for the event.

The festival is a multi-venue new music event that takes place every October on one street. In previous years we’ve had artists such as The Blinders, Another Sky, Porridge Radio, Black Honey, Dream Wife, Lauran Hibberd and Fear of Men play. The 2020 festival on Oct 3rd looked like being a bumper edition with the likes of International Teachers of Pop, The Pale White, Los Bitchos, and Coach Party being just a handful of the confirmed acts as well as local favourites Fake Empire and the upwardly rising Hallan who have recently had Steve Lamacq's single of the week on BBC 6 Music.

What makes Dials different is that the organising team are all volunteers and if the show makes a profit, we give those profits to Solent Mind, a local mental health charity.

Solent Mind is a registered charity providing a wide range of high quality services to support people with mental health problems across the Southern Region.

Unfortunately, the global pandemic left the team no alternative but to cancel the festival in 2020, although we very much hope to return in 2021 if we are able to make the event work safely, financially and logistically.

This was gutting for everyone involved, but it also means that the charity we support is deprived of the fundraising that Dials enabled.

To counteract my own personal disappointment of the cancellation of Dials, on 3rd October, when the festival would have happened, I am going to do my own bit of fundraising for Solent Mind. I am calling it the Great South Blog Run.

First I will attempt to run 10 miles – the same length as the Great South Run that normally happens in October - also cancelled. Having undergone open heart surgery just over a year and a half ago I have been slowly but surely getting out and pounding the streets. 10 miles will be the furthest I have run so far.

Once I’ve completed the run I intend to sit down at my computer and write my music blog (Breaking More Waves) almost non-stop except for food and drink breaks for 24 hours. I did a similar event a number of years ago for Cancer Relief, but without the running part, so this is a step up.

You’ll find all the posts I do here from the morning of 3rd October through to the morning of 4th October, plus I’ll be regularly tweeting at @BMWavesBlog about what I’m doing.

What I would like to ask you dear lovely reader is that you consider sponsoring me (or if you are unable to afford anything spread the word about what I’m doing on social media). I’m not aiming to raise a huge amount – I’m doing this for my own personal satisfaction and to take my mind off the fact that the day would have been ‘Dials Day’ rather than raising a huge wad of cash – but anything I do raise will go towards Solent Mind and will help spur me on.

Thank you for any support you can give.

You can donate through Just Giving 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe - 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.

Wish me luck – I’ve got a fair bit of training to do in the next month or so to hit that 10 mile target and better get my typing skills back in order as well.

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