Filming Of The Lifeline Appeal Programme For Changing Faces

Last year Heacham On Line received a phone call from David Bird of Heacham, asking if we would do a feature to help promote 'Changing Faces' of course we agreed and did the feature which can still be viewed on our 'Heacham On Line Archives-1'
We have just received another phone call from David telling us about his part in the filming of
The Lifeline Appeal

The programme, Lifeline Appeal is due to be shown on BBC1
Sunday 8th February at 5.00pm
and again on BBC2
Wednesday 11th February at 1.00pm


David being filmed in front of  his
poster down the Euston Road
London		 Changing Faces
1 & 2 Junction Mews
London
W2 1PN
Tel:  020 7706 4232

Website
www.changingfaces.org.uk

Email:
[email protected] 
James Partridge
(Executive Director Of Changing Faces),
David Bird & Nick Berry

 Below is David's account of what happened.

I had a phone call from Changing Faces back in late August 2003 to ask if I would be interested in helping in a program that was going to be filmed by BBC1's Lifeline Appeal for Changing Faces. If I liked the idea of taking part in this awareness programme I was to get back to Changing Faces to let them know if I would be interested or not.  I of course agreed to this.  I was told that Amanda Lyon the Director of the programme would be getting in touch with me.

A couple of days went by and I received an email from Amanda to ask if she could come and visit me here in Heacham as she would be in the area on the weekend of 20th and 21st September.  We made our arrangements and Amanda set a date to see me on the Sunday 21st.

The Sunday soon came around and Amanda arrived with her husband Richard who also happens to be the sound recordist for the programme.  We made our introductions and soon we were talking as if we had known each other for years.  Amanda suggested that we should take a walk around the village and talk a little about my life and how I had become involved with the charity "Changing Faces".

Amanda was quite interested by my story and said that she would be really interested by using me in her film but she had to see other people first before she could definitely agree to me helping her in this project. Before Amanda and Richard left she said that she would be in touch within the next couple of weeks to let me know of her decision.

On the 13th October I got the call to say that the BBC would be using me in their film, I was really thrilled to think that I had been chosen.  Arrangements were made over the next couple of weeks and I was sent tickets for the train by the BBC to meet at Kings Cross station on Friday 21st November.

 I arrived at Kings cross on the Friday and was met by Paula Trustram co-ordinator of Documentaries from the BBC who took me off to meet the film crew.  We then went off to Euston Road where a couple of the advertising posters were situated.  The film crew set up and I was then asked to walk up and down this particular road with my poster in the background.  Several takes later we were finished and I was then taken off for a pub lunch.

We then went to the Changing Faces office where I was met by Nick Berry of Eastenders and Heartbeat fame. He was a really nice chap who wanted to know more about me and my story and we sat talking until the film crew set up.  Nick then was filmed for the Introduction for the programme which took about half an hour or so then I had to do my bit once again.  I had to speak about some of the problems that had cropped up through my life with things that had been said and done to me and then my part was just about over.

Paula Trustram then told me that my taxi would be there in a short while to take me back to the station and that she had to take her leave as she was going to pick up Sir Cliff Richard to take part in the Children In Need programme that was taking place on that evening.

My taxi arrived and off I went back to the station where I caught my train back to Kings Lynn and back to reality once again. 

I really feel honoured to have been able to take part in this programme and would like to thank everybody who was involved in letting me do this (all at Changing Faces,  James Partridge (Executive Director), Winnie Coutinho (Head Of Communications) and others, the BBC, Amanda Lyon (Director), Michael Sanders (Cameraman), Richard Meredith (Sound) Paula Trustram (Co-Coordinator of Documentaries) and of course not forgetting, Nick Berry for giving his valuable time for the charity.

David Bird

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