And They're Off!
Guest editor: Alex Ourris (aka 'mum')
I’m Alex, Jonathan’s mum. He’s asked me to do today’s update as today was just too emotionally draining for him.
While it is extremely tempting to post some embarrassing toddler pics of J (you would love the crocodile onesie one!), I will behave and stick to the facts...
Name-dropping opens many doors and gates.
We arrived at Ealing Broadway station to catch a train to Paddington in the morning (as planned) only to be informed that non-folding bikes are not allowed on trains till 09.30am. Not the info we got from BikePlus but that’s by-the-by. 09.30am was exactly the time when J & Brett were due to log in to a Zoom call with the BBC. Not forgetting that their train to Penzance was due to leave Paddington at 10.04am. So we (I) pleaded with the lovely man on the gate, and he was v understanding and used his discretion to let us through. (OK, so this is a v short version and I may have said something along the lines of ‘do you really want BBC saying that you prevented a local lad from doing the charity ride he’s been looking forward to for a whole year?’ Not my proudest moment but needs must.)
You’re on air!
Once at Paddington Station, we found a quiet spot near the taxi rank and 10 mins later dialled into the Zoom interview.
And that’s when it all started. Not the interview. The taxis. The articulated lorries delivering god only knows what to a site nearby. And the people. Hoards of people doing what seemed like a coordinated walk with their click-clacking suitcases around Brett & J, who by now were LIVE on BBC. Honestly, the hardest shoot I’ve done in my 20-year marketing career. I was standing forward of J & Brett with my arms outstretched to prevent people walking too close and making extra noise. All the time smiling and saying ‘ they are being interviewed LIVE by the BBC’ while simultaneously reminding the boys to remember to mention the blog.
He’s 14 and he’s writing a book?
The noise was bad. So bad that Brett misheard the presenter’s question about the blog and thought they said ‘so, Jonathan is going to write a book?’ when in fact the presenter said: ‘so, Jonathan is writing a blog’ - cueing them in to do the blog plug. Full credit to Brett who took it in his stride, looking just mildly bemused and answering ‘ah yes, I’m sure he will’. For the record: Jonathan is not writing a book, neither is he planning to write one.
And then they were off…
Finally, thank you all for your generous donations an the AMAZING messages of support. So much kindness, empathy and compassion from, at times, complete strangers, moved by Jonathan’s story and what he’s trying to achieve. I was choking back the tears reading them on JustGiving. And I’m not a crying type…
More updates to follow from Jonathan soon so please subscribe :-)