I spent Monday to Wednesday this week traveling to, working in and travelling home from London. It was my second time working with Cancer Research on one of their projects as I also helped them out with their Race for Life clothing Photoshoot last month.
This time the Photoshoot was for an advertising campaign aimed at selling their new brand of merchandise to help those going through cancer treatment. A few items include cooling gels, bath soaks, pashminas and even a travel mug that you can’t knock over. I tried this when I was there and was amazed at how it worked!
So Monday morning I packed my cases, made myself a packed lunch and coffee for the train and headed to the train station. I wanted to get a lunchtime train which meant I’d hopefully get to by hotel before 5pm. I wanted to have enough time to settle in and unpack and also didn’t want to be walking through London after dark.
The hotel I stayed in, thanks to Lexi from CRUK, was Tulse Hill Hotel. It was beautiful. It’s a boutique hotel and restaurant which offers bed and breakfast in one of their 9 well decorated and terribly cosy rooms. I was initially staying in one of their ‘standard double’ rooms, pictured above, but after a bit of an issue (on their part, not mine) I was upgraded to a ‘family suite’! It was huge and I was in heaven. I’m used to staying away in army barracks where the beds are either tiny and uncomfortable or they are make shift camp beds which are as stiff as sleeping on the floor. My room is usually a closet or container of some sort and I have to share showers & toilets with a lot of other people... So it’s safe to say that this was a definite upgrade and I was winning! I could probably have fit 4 of me in the bed comfortably.
Tuesday morning I was picked up in a taxi and taken to the location of the shoot. I set up my makeup and took some time to get to know everyone who was helping out that day.
The first shot was of Amy and her brother James, opening gifts in heir living room. As I was halfway through doing Amy’s makeup, one of the ladies running the shoot asked me if I would step in and be a part of one of the images. They needed a third person for the shot, so I was happy to help out.
After the first shot we headed out for some lunch. We all walked to the nearest park and had a little picnic.
After lunch we headed back to set up for shot number 2. For the second image I worked on a lovely lady called Dianne. The scene was of her having a cup of tea in her kitchen wearing one of the beautiful pashminas. She had traveled up from near Pontypool with her husband Bob.
Both Dianne and Amy are cancer survivors and it was very emotional hearing their stories. Cancer is something that has touched the lives of everyone, whether you’ve had it yourself or you know someone who has. The little gifts and items on offer from Cancer Research are invaluable. They help those going through treatment in all sorts of ways by keeping them warm, helping them relax and even allowing them to maintain their livelihood by doing the things they love.
At the end of the day I went back to my hotel and revelled in what a great day it had been. The whole team were amazing. Everyone was so wonderful to work with and very very friendly. It had been a huge pleasure!
Wednesday morning I packed up my belongings and headed down for breakfast, before I set off to catch my 3 trains home, and who did I bump into... Dianne and Bob. I joined them for breakfast and they enjoyed asking about my work and loved me showing them a few pictures of the crazy makeups I’ve done in the past. It was a perfect ending to a perfect working trip.
As soon as the images are released I will post them for you to see. In the mean time head on over to https://raceforlifeshop.cancerresearchuk.org for any Race for Life clothing you may need and to see some of the images from my previous shoot with Cancer Research!
Jess x