Pencil it in

As is seemingly the case with many of my posts, this one is a huge thank you to the Teenage Cancer Trust. I was asked last week if I would like to be entered into a prize draw to win the chance to watch a celebrity football match organised by Nick Grimshaw and BBC Radio 1. Incredibly, I won the tickets and so on Monday I took a train up to London with a friend and stayed the night in a hotel near Wembley, ready for an early rise.

We had to be at the stadium at 7:45am, but thankfully were greeted with bacon sandwiches as well as an assortment of continental breakfasts. While food is very important to me, it was still way too early to be arriving anywhere! The match was an exclusive event, with around 50 people in the stands, all of whom were guests of either Radio 1, Olly Murs or the Teenage Cancer Trust. After a dramatic encounter, which required a penalty shoot out to decide the fate of the game, the celebrities took pictures with us and chatted for about half an hour. I recognised and took photographs with many famous faces including, Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff, Rizzle Kicks, John Bishop, Olly Murs, Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing and of course Nick Grimshaw himself!

The whole trip, from the hectic train journeys to the early Tuesday morning get up, was fantastic. I need to say a huge thank you once more to the Teenage Cancer Trust who offer these days of respite amid long treatments to teenagers all over the country. They are a real help and provide opportunities of independence as well as the obvious enjoyment that events such as this give.

However, none of this might even have been possible. I was scheduled to receive a Lumbar Puncture on the Tuesday of the football match and so at the time I was crushingly disappointed that I couldn't even apply for the tickets. However, my LP was rescheduled due to circumstances out of my control and in doing so, meant that I was available to visit Wembley and have an incredible time. I'm trying to show how no plans can ever be set in stone due to various treatments and the ever changing nature of them. However, it cannot be overestimated just how much the respites organised by the Teenage Cancer Trust are valued and how important they are in providing pick me ups especially when it feels that treatment is beginning to get on top of you.