Dundee & Perth today!

Hiya everyone!

Another great day yesterday. I was at the dementia drop-in at St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen and I met some amazing people. I also heard some truly awe-inspiring stories: loads of folks coping with some really difficult stuff on a daily basis. I take my hat off to them, I really do. They've promised to send me some letters. I hope they do - those are the sorts of stories that our leaders need to read.

Later in the day I was off to Dundee and I got caught in the lovely 'summer' weather. Just as well I've got my 'Tommy on Tour' waterproof!

Me outside Dundee train station.

I was heading over to the dementia lecture at Ninewells. Some lovely ladies there recognised me off the TV and said I had to say something at the lecture. Not used to being a celebrity! Still I said a few words (I was really nervous!) and lots more people took my flyers, which was great. The more letters the better.

Did a quick interview on Radio Tay this morning, before heading over to the Dementia Resource Centre on Morgan Street. The Alzheimer Scotland Memory Bus will be there too. Then it's off to Perth this afternoon. Busy times!

Cheers,

Tommy

Heading north...

Hiya everyone,

Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, but in a good way. It was great to have so much support for 'Tommy on Tour' and to meet so many people on my first day. There's some footage of me up on the STV website - you can see it here - Dementia carer in one-man roadshow to raise awareness.

Off to Aberdeen this morning. If you see me up there, give me a wave!

All the best,

Tommy

Quick update and a few photos

Hiya folks!


Wow, what a day! It's been absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much to everyone who came along today or helped to make it happen (or both). There's been lots of new emails to 'tommy on tour' after the TV and radio coverage yesterday and today. It's great to see dementia getting so much time on the news and I hope it gets lots of people talking about the illness. Anyway, I've got some photos from today and you can take a look at them here - my first day.

Plus my visit to Hampden!

Tomorrow I'm in Aberdeen, at the dementia drop-in in St Mary's Cathedral on Huntly Street. Really looking forward to meeting people there and collecting more letters. The Alzheimer Scotland Memory Bus will be at the Morrisons supermarket on King Street: you can get information and advice from that too.

Best get an early night tonight - I've still got a lot of travelling to do.

Cheers,

Tommy

Itinerary update and a bit more besides

Hi again, folks!

Just a couple of days to go and I have to tell you - I'm feeling a bit nervous! I can't wait to meet everyone and collect lots of letters. It's just that it's been a long time since I went touring and life's a lot different now than it was back then. Still, I've had so much encouragement from so many people, that I know I must be doing something right.

I seemed to be in front of a camera or behind a microphone for most of today - just hope I said all the right things. I'll be on Radio Scotland this Sunday morning at 7.05am (so set your alarm clock), talking to Sally Magnusson. Then I'll be Radio Scotland again on Monday morning for Good Morning Scotland. Then I'll be on BBC's  Reporting Scotland and STV's Scotland Today on Monday night. You'll not miss me on Monday, that's for sure!

Anyway, here's a quick update of where I'll be and what I'll be doing 6-10 June.

Monday 06/06 (my busiest day!): Glasgow, Hamilton & Motherwell
See the post below! I'm going to loads and loads of places.

Tuesday 07/06: Aberdeen
10.30am - 2pm Meeting with carers at St Mary's Cathedral drop-in dementia cafe.
Alzheimer Scotland's Memory Bus will be at the Morrisons supermarket on 215 King Street from 11am to 3pm if you want to pop in for a chat, to get some information or to hand in a letter for 'Tommy on Tour'
4pm onwards - heading through to Dundee for the big dementia lecture at Ninewells Hospital. Just sitting in the audience - not going on stage!

Wednesday 08/06: Dundee & Perth
10.30am to 12.30pm meeting with carers at Dementia Resource Centre on 9 Morgan Street. The Memory Bus will be there too.
2-4pm meeting with carers at opening of new Alzheimer Scotland service in Perth (St Paul's Centre, 14 New Row). The Memory Bus will be at the A K Bell Library just along the road.

Thursday 09/06:  Falkirk & Stenhousemuir
11am - I'll be meeting Neil Sowerby from the Falkirk and District Association for Mental Health.
3pm - Meeting with June Andrews at the Dementia Services Development Centre in Stirling
The Memory Bus will be at St Francis Xavier church in Hope Street, Falkirk, 12-4pm.
In the evening, I'm heading along to a local carers' group in Stenhousemuir.

Friday 10/06: Edinburgh
Meeting with Lothian Early Onset Support Service at Alzheimer Scotland's office in Edinburgh.

Hope the weather stays good for next week!

Tommy

Busiest day ever?

Hiya,

Well, I was a busy man before I started caring for my mum and I've definitely been kept busy as a carer, but I think Monday may be just about the busiest day of my life! So many people have got involved and so many places want to support 'Tommy on Tour' - it's absolutely incredible. So I'm putting it all down here in the hope that my blog readers can help keep me to time.

9am - Go to Hampden to meet the Chief Exec of the SFA, Stewart Regan, and collect some letters. I used to spend a lot of time in Hampden when I did the music gigs and it'll be great to see it again. Big thanks to AnneMarie Arthur for making this happen.

9.30am until 10.am - Bellahouston Sports Centre for the start of my walk. If everyone turns up that says they're going to turn up, then it's going to be really busy here! Some people have said they want to walk with me for the first mile. That's great, but please be careful. No walking on the road and no disrupting the traffic, or I'll get into bother at the next stop, which is...

10.15am - Helen Street police station. The lads at Strathclyde Police, especially Stuart Horsburgh, have been real stars in helping me get this walk off the ground.

10.40am - Rangers Charity Foundation at Ibrox. Big thanks to Gillian McKelvie for sorting this one out, putting stuff about my walk on their website and just being so helpful.

11.30am - Nicola Sturgeon MSP, contituency office on Paisley Rd West. The Deputy First Minister been keeping a close eye on my plans for my walk is really keen to read the letters you send me.

12.50pm (or thereabouts) - Lourdes Secondary School on Kirriemuir Ave. The kids here are doing a fantastic project on caring. It's great to know that the next generation are taking a real interest in dementia and I can't wait to see the sort of work they've been doing.

2pm - Celtic Park at Parkhead. Cheers again to AnneMarie Arthur for setting this one up, and so quickly too.

3pm - Strathclyde Fire & Rescue HQ in Hamilton. Big thanks to Louise Barclay for setting this one up. Meeting a couple of Chief Commissioners, collecting some letters and I've even been promised a cup of tea and a sandwich. Can't say fairer than that!

5pm - Motherwell FC at Fir Park. Hopefully meeting the Chief Exec of Alzheimer Scotland, Henry Simmons, plus Allan Burrows, Motherwell's Head of Media. Perhaps even a player too.

Phew, whit a day! If you see me out and about, say hi and give me a wave. It'll keep my energy up!

Cheers,

Tommy

A wee itinerary...

Hiya,

Sorry for going a bit quiet - it's been busy, busy, busy as we get closer to the start of Tommy on Tour! Loads of people have been asking me where I'll be over that week. I don't have all the exact details yet, but it'll go something like this...

Monday 06/06 (my busiest day!): Glasgow, Hamilton & Motherwell
9.15am - collection of letters at school assembly in Lourdes Secondary
10am - start of walk from outside Bellahouston Sports Centre
Then onto Strathclyde Police, Rangers Charity Foundation, Nicola Sturgeon's constituency office, Strathclyde Fire Service HQ and Motherwell FC.

Tuesday 07/06: Aberdeen
10.30am - 2pm Meeting with carers at St Mary's Cathedral drop-in dementia cafe.
Alzheimer Scotland's Memory Bus will be at the Morrisons supermarket on 215 King Street from 11am to 3pm if you want to pop in for a chat, to get some information or to hand in a letter for 'Tommy on Tour'

Wednesday 08/06: Dundee & Perth
10.30am to 12.30pm meeting with carers at Dementia Resource Centre on 9 Morgan Street. The Memory Bus will be there too.
2-4pm meeting with carers at opening of new Alzheimer Scotland service in Perth (St Paul's Centre, 14 New Row). The Memory Bus will be at the A K Bell Library just along the road.

Thursday 09/06:  Falkirk & Stenhousemuir
I'll be meeting Neil Sowerby from the Falkirk and District Association for Mental Health in the morning and with the Memory Bus in the afternoon. The Memory Bus will be at St Francis Xavier church in Hope Street. In the evening, I'm heading along to a local carers' group in Stenhousemuir.


Friday 10/06: Edinburgh
Meeting with Lothian Early Onset Support Service, plus more to be confirmed.

There's more being arranged all the time, so I'll update this as much as I can. All along the way I'll be happy to pick up letters and chat to people whose lives have been affected by dementia, just like me and my mum. I've got Alzheimer Scotland's Memory Bus following me on my journey (I've even heard a rumour that they've got a big red post box for the letters - that'll make for some interesting photos!).

If you see me while I'm out and about that week, be sure to say hello or give me a wave!

All the best,

Tommy
                       

Thanks and thanks and thanks again!

So many people have helped and supported me in arranging this walk. I wouldn't be able to do this without them!

Sergeant Horsburgh of Strathclyde Police
Lou Barclay from Strathclyde Fire Service
Gail Paterson from Quarriers
Jannine and Theresa from First Scotrail

Cheers,

Tommy

To everyone who has already written to me...

Hiya,

I've not had a chance to respond to all the letters and emails I've been sent, so I wanted to say a really big thank you to everyone who's written to me so far. It's not easy to tell a stranger about something really personal to you and it can be hard to talk about dementia at the best of times. So it means a lot that so many people are willing to share their experiences - good and bad - with me.

Thank you so much,

Tommy

Interview in today's Daily Record

Hiya,

Many thanks to Craig McQueen at the Daily Record for this great article about me, my mum and my walk next month. I hope it reaches lots of people who haven't heard about 'Tommy on Tour' yet and brings in lots more letters.

Tommy

A huge thank you to a true blue star

Hiya,

I just wanted to say thank you to a wonderful lady called Gillian, who works for the Rangers Charity Foundation. I've been emailing her over the past few days and she's set up some amazing stuff for me at Ibrox on the first day of my walk (Monday 6th June), including a photocall at the stadium. It makes such a difference when someone caring and dedicated gets behind your cause.

Cheers,

Tommy

My article in the Paisley Daily Express

Hiya,

I've just had an interview published in the Paisley Daily Express, you can read it here - Tommy's on tour for Alzheimer's. Big thanks to Jeff who came out to interview me. I hope it encourages lots more people to write in with their experiences of caring for someone with dementia.

Cheers,

Tommy