{"id":1,"date":"2015-10-30T20:24:25","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T20:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp431m.a10-52-158-154.qa.plesk.ru\/wordpress\/?p=1"},"modified":"2024-02-27T12:49:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:49:35","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runspoonsrun.co.uk\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"30\/10\/15 – Absolute Beginner"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was out on a run when the call came. A quick glance at the phone and it was not a number I knew. They can leave a message then. Ten minutes later, panting like the overweight, middle-aged jogger that I am, I listened a cheerful message from Lizzi at Independent Age<\/a> asking me to call her. Uh-oh.<\/p>\n

Independent Age (IA) is one of the charities that I\u2019d appied for a 2016 London Marathon place. I\u2019d already had knockbacks from the rest, so IA was my last, umm, hope. Surely, they wouldn\u2019t call to tell you you\u2019d been unsuccessful? The others had emailed. I rang straight back, but being lunchtime, it was my turn to leave a rather breathless message, which halfway through I thought it best to point out that this wasn\u2019t a dirty phone call and that I had just been running.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d mentioned to Sue, my missus, that I\u2019d had a call. I didn\u2019t however admit I knew which Lizzi it was, saying only it was West London number and that it was probably one of my clients out that way, who I just emailed that morning over non-payment of an Invoice. The reason for this obfuscation was that Sue was absolutely convinced when she read my entry, that it would earn me a place and I\u2019m never allowed to forget it when she is right. (Sorry dear, but you know it\u2019s true!)<\/p>\n

Filling out an application for a charity place is like applying for a job, only more in depth. I\u2019d already filled in a few and had always maintained a straightforward approach. The IA application was different for a number of reasons which nearly all can be traced back to my mate Jim a.k.a. Jim-Bob<\/a> (the singer from indie superstars Carter USM) and now a.k.a. J.B. Morrison (the acclaimed author).<\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Spoons\u2019, as I became known, has been part of the \u2018Crazy Carter Crew\u2019 for a good few years now and amongst the wide variety of jobs I\u2019ve done for them, was writing some sleeve notes from a roadie\u2019s perspective for a new release. These were my first stab at creative writing for a while and I was nervous that my writing muscles had wasted away. I was delighted when the piece was so warmly received. It so happened that the very next thing I sat down to write was the IA application. Emboldened by my perceived success, the straightforward (i.e. dull) was ditched in favour of frisky and frivolous.<\/p>\n

It was Jim that put me onto Independent Age in the first place, a while ago when I needed some guidance\u00a0about a older relative’s care arrangements. A couple of weeks later, he was up\u00a0for an award. The lead character in his latest novels – Frank Derrick \u2013 had been nominated for an\u00a0Older People in the Media Award, <\/strong>run by IA in associated with Gransnet, for the\u00a0Best older person\u2019s character in a book, film, TV or radio drama<\/strong>. As a consequence he\u2019d got to know people at the Charity, some of whom even confessed to being Carter fans. So I thought I\u2019d do a bit of name-dropping and allied to that I had a secret weapon in my armoury, which until now it hadn\u2019t occurred to me to use.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this…<\/p>\n