|
|
Post by ann2526 on Oct 20, 2018 17:12:23 GMT
THE POWER OF MUSIC IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE conference Nottingham 12 Oct
Gareth had said in his tweets that he was doing something here but as it was not open to the public we dismissed it. It was an all day thing starting at 9am and finishing about 4.30 with several speakers and workshops in the afternoon .
The night before, Kirsty Wadd told us she was going to try and see him go in to wish him luck with the speech he was giving and she persuaded us to go as well .Peter kindly offered to take us and it's only a 25min drive so it was easy . When we arrived we saw a reserved parking place with Gareth's name on it but we had to park a little further away .
We didn't intend to go as 'fans' for photos and signings but just to say hello and wish him well. We went into the conf. centre , trying to look inconspicuous and stood waiting . Kirsty knew gareth was arriving at 12 noon and do his talk at 1pm. At nearly 12 Peter went outside and lo and behold Gareth was just then driving round to the door . He saw Peter and looked most surprised and pleased and wound down the window so Peter could speak to him .Peter showed him his parking place , and shook hands with him ,Peter saying there were only 3 of us and we'd only come to wish him well . Then Peter came in tell us he had arrived but then when Gareth came in he was met by someone immediately and whisked away before we had chance
to see him . We thought our chance had gone
We sat chatting for half an hour , feeling a bit lost , then decided to find the room where the conf. was going to be and then we heard Gareth singing in there ,obviously warming up his voice . This made us really excited. We asked an official if we could go in and stand at the back but she no ,but we could sit on the seats outside and wait for him to come out later .
At 10 mins to 1 lots of people began to file in , they all had name tags on and were ticked off as they went in , and suddenly a woman who was obviously in charge said to us ' aren't you going in?' so we told her we weren't allowed but she smilled and said ' it's ok you can go in ' and we were thrilled , we just couldn't believe it !
....................TO BE CONTINUED SOON
|
|
|
|
Post by carol on Oct 20, 2018 19:21:20 GMT
What a fascinating report Ann, I am looking forward to the next instalment. xx
|
|
|
|
Post by ann2526 on Oct 20, 2018 20:05:05 GMT
Report continued :
The seating was steeply tiered and we sat ourselves halfway up to get a very good view of the stage . At 1pm Gareth was introduced and he spoke for about 15 min. and it was the best i have ever heard him speak . He told of the troubles he had in his childhood due his stammer and how he found music a release and a way to express himself ,learning to play classic guitar at 8 and passing all grades at 15 , learning the piano at 10 and again passing all grades. He went into much more depth than i ever expected . It was so emotional that both Kirsty and i were welling up with tears.
At the end of his speech he asked if anyone had any question , and he admitted that this would be daunting for him to try and answer them, and several people asked questions which related to the subject he had spoke about and Gareth got through it very well . I was so proud of him . And then , joy of joy, he began playing the piano and singing , then left the piano and did quite a gig , singing 6 or 7 songs and ending with SITS , and all sorts of people went down and began dancing next the stage and on the steep isles. One very elderly couple were doing a kind of fast waltz and others were rockin &rollin . It was incredible .
Afterwards Gareth announced he would be there for about 20 min if anyone wanted to say hello to him and a long queue developed to meet him and have photos with him , so we got our chance with him in the end and i said to him what a good speech he had written and how well he delivered it , and he thanked us very much for coming .
I still haven't come down to earth yet , neither has Peter . What had happened this day was so totally unexpected and special i will never forget it . Being allowed in to that was such a privilege
( Written by Peter told by Ann )
|
|
|
|
Post by carol on Oct 22, 2018 11:34:05 GMT
How wonderful that you were able to share in Gareth's speech, I am sure the presence of diehard fans must have boosted his confidence. Its great they allowed you in, and also that you got to see him afterwards and tell him how great he had been.
Thanks so much for sharing that amazing experience with us! xxx
|
|
