On the 30th of April at 10 o'clock in the evening, I arrived back from Sarajevo in Bosnia after what I can only describe as an amazing trip visiting the wonderful Saving Strays shelter there alongside Rachel, who is also a patron, and the wonderful Peter Egan and Maria who is the co-chair and powerhouse behind the charity.
The shelter is a very happy place and currently we have 82 dogs there all in varying stages of being ready for their forever homes although sadly, some will not get that opportunity and will live their lives out there, safe, well fed and loved by the wonderful family team there headed up by Mersad and Melissa who are simply amazing. Mersad is truly a dog whisperer...
The shelter is constantly being improved whenever we have the funding to do whatever we can and we have some wonderful volunteers as well and we all spent many wonderful hours playing with the dogs of all shapes and sizes and it was interesting to note that there was no sign of any aggression, just lots of waggy tales! Not every dog is brave enough to come up to us to be stroked or tickled but many are and they are all getting used to people more and more by the day. All the dogs are thoroughly checked over and vaccinated before they start their journey to whatever country for their forever homes are and it was great to meet with some who in fact are leaving next week for their new homes in England.
Whilst in Sarajevo I also met up with Vlado Podeny who is a tremendous keyboard player from Bosnia and is also a supporter of Saving Strays having saved a wonderful dog who had been run over and is called Daphne. We visited the beautiful theatre in Sarajevo and put some initial plans into place for a concert there in either May or June of 2027. We would make this a very special event and I would love it if people were able to travel to see the event in aid of Saving Strays and also see the beautiful city.
Quick health report… I went to see the brain surgeon who opened me up and actually found my brain and he was very pleased with the recovery, and I don't have to see him again until early next year. I can't thank him enough. Being able to walk again, get out of a chair unaided and to walk up stairs… just wonderful.
It's a real mixed bag this month. On the 4th I am attending the Blue Cross open day at Wherstead in Suffolk for their 10th anniversary. The Blue Cross do fantastic work for dogs and cats in particular so I'm looking forward to visiting.
Now here's an interesting one… I am putting three cars into the Bangers and Cash auction in June and they are being collected this month. Going under the hammer are The Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, my XJS V12 convertible and the wonderful Dodge RAM that I drove all around America on the Union tour. More details on the website at a later date.
Now here's a cracker. A very close friend of mine has donated 2 cup final tickets for Man City v Chelsea on Saturday 16th May… and so we are hoping for some really high bids for these with all the money going to Saving Strays. If you are at all interested, please keep your eye out for how to bid…
I'm also going to see a wonderful team called Level 2 who are based in Felixstowe as they are going to be a part of a big Suffolk Celebration spearheaded by Oliver Paul the new Sheriff of Suffolk and it is hoped we can combine with a musical contribution.
Just a couple more meetings now with Ian Gittens who is putting the new book together for Random on House. I think it's going to be rather long… but I guess that's because I'm rather old!
I also have a lot of music to sort out for numerous projects plus Return to the Red Planet is due for release very soon and I have to admit I'm pretty excited to see the finished package.
Well that's it for now although I know they'll be lots of updates as the month progresses. Enjoy the month wherever you are in the world and stay positive…
Cheers Rick