It's with real sadness and frustration - though it's totally unavoidable - that I've had to cancel my Edinburgh Fringe run.
As I've intimated on social media and on my blog, I'm in a punishing situation involving long-standing issues, which have proved too much to work around. Add to this the loss of my dad, the fight to get my PIP reinstated, plus my poor mental health and this final twist was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Firstly, I can't thank everyone enough for the ridiculously high level of support I've had to raise the money I couldn't get to due to my dad's assets being frozen after his death. My JustGiving page raised £3120 of the approximate £6500 grand total, which was bloody incredible.
I hope no-one thinks the money was pocketed & not used for the cause (said while wearing my gold lamé jacket). While it's true some was spent on things I wouldn't need if I'd known I'd be cancelling - train tickets, flyers, £2500 on digs - most bills had to be covered either way. For example, I still have to pay over a grand toward the cost of venue hire, though I should have nearly enough for this thanks to everyone's generosity)
I'll explain more about my reason for pulling the run in time if I can, but one thing's for certain: I wouldn't have reached this decision if I felt I had a choice; an EdFringe show is a year-in-the-making, so it's a lot of work to go back on, plus I wanted to do it for my dad.
Thanks to everyone who put time and energy into supporting my predicament (with special mention to Gemma Poole, Glyn Doggett, Emma McKenzie & Lucy Ralph, Claire Saddler, Norman Lovett, Paul Sullivan, Richard Perry, Philippa Collins, Alex Pope Nick Gill and Georgia Barrow, though I've probably missed someone important out).
I also want to thank Darrell Martin at Just the Tonic and all at At Home in Edinburgh for being super-understanding when I broke the news that I was doing a metaphorical runner at such short notice.
Finally, I'm ramping my thanks up-to-eleven in the case of Katie Poole, Ian Tivey, Mike Mackenzie and Lucy Porter, all of whom went above the call-of-duty and offered to lend me the rest of the money; sorry to embarrass you by outing you, but you were so generous.
As to all my friends on their way up to Scotland: best of luck, don't overdo it...and keep my seat warm until I'm back next year (with a show almost certainly about the infamous Barry Ephgrave.)
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