Wednesday 5 May 2010

Tremendous Trustees

Holly here, I am now on the Live Life Then Give Life blogging team so you will have the pleasure of my company here every so often – Ok so we’ve talked about our Amazing Advocates and now I’m going to re-introduce our Tremendous Trustees (they won’t blow their own trumpets so I am going to do it for them!)

First off Pops Barham – now where do we start with Pops!



Pops is a Student Paediatric Nurse, studying in the frozen North that is Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Her links with Organ Donation began when her younger brother Gareth received a new heart at Christmas 2004, after a six-month wait. Since this live changing event for Gareth, Pops has been a fierce promoter of Organ Donation, coming up with numerous (and often bizarre) methods of persuading people — especially students — to sign the Organ Donor Register.

In 2005, she started at University College in the University of Durham, studying English and Theology with Arabic (it seemed like a very good idea at the time!).

In Pops’ second year at Durham, she worked with the Chancellor Bill Bryson in starting his Organ Donation campaign, called 'My Friend Oli'. Bill had started the campaign after meeting Oli Lewington, who Pops finally met after his successful transplant. Targeting the student population, the campaign had great success in Durham, and will hopefully spread to universities across the country soon. For more information, check out myfriendoli.com. This is where Pop’s heart lies, promoting organ donation amongst students through her role as student outreach for LLTGL. (Keep watching this space)

Now Pops has had some strange, bizarre and downright wacky ideas but this just takes the biscuit... Pops is going to run the Manchester Bupa 10k on Sunday for us along with her brother Harry and members of Team Ethan, this would be fine but she herself admits she can’t run and only started training a couple of weeks ago!

Pops acquaints herself with her trainers

She is making progress and all jokes aside Pops is fab and even if she has to crawl across the finish line we at Live Life Then Give Life know that she will complete it as she is so passionate about raising awareness of Organ Donation and raising money for us to continue our work! To keep up to date with her training schedule and how she is getting on click here and to sponsor her visit her Just Giving page here.

Had it not been for the gift of Organ Donation, Pops would be without her brother and this is exactly why she wanted to become a trustee, to keep spreading the word. Well done Pops for your fab work! x

No comments: