Conquering the O2 Arena!

After months of annoying everyone with posts about my fundraising (sorry guys!), on Saturday it was finally time for me to climb the O2 Arena in London.

In case you've missed my spam haha, here's a post I wrote in July about why I decided to climb the O2. In brief, 2015 marked the tenth anniversary of my grandad's passing so I wanted to do a fundraising event in his memory, raising money for Ty Bryngwyn Hospice and Pancreatic Cancer UK. I have a fear of heights so with my common sense out the window, I decided that climbing the O2 would be the perfect fundraising activity!!

Leading up to the day, I kept reading up on reviews, people's experiences and general facts about the climb.  I completely stressed myself out knowing that the climb surface felt like a bouncy castle, that a lot of people found it strenuous and that going down on the other side would be far worse than climbing up!!! (Note to self: it's good to be prepared but some things just don't need to be read beforehand).

Saturday came and I was an actual mess in the morning.  There were some tears in the hotel, I couldn't eat my breakfast and mum said that my face was so white that I resembled the dead (cheers mum!!). Luckily we had to move hotels in the morning and there were gig tickets to be bought so I had a few things to take my mind off the climb.

We arrived at the O2 well in advance and just looking at the building made me feel physically sick. It really isn't that high at all, mum kept reminding me that it wasn't Mount Everest but at the time it felt like it was. Soon after, Mim arrived with her sister and I felt a bit more at ease. She is the adrenaline junkie/daredevil in our friendship so it gave me the motivation to toughen up. It was also lovely to have Nicole and Laura there to cheer us on.

before the climb!

Fifteen minutes before the climb, we headed over to 'base camp' to check in. We were handed waiver forms to fill in (which I probably should have read but I didn't need an excuse to run away there and then) and at 11:30 we were ushered into the briefing room.  We were introduced to our guide (I cannot for the life of me tell you what her name was as my mind was running riot, but she was female) and were made to watch a safety video.  The video was hysterical, a man communicating with us from the 'north camp' who made the expedition feel just as big a deal as it was in my head! We were then shown how to wear the safety gear before moving into the next room to get ready.

We were given climb shoes, a harness and a jacket (I was grateful for the sunny weather which meant that we didn't have to wear a full space suit!) and a last minute chance to empty our bladders.  Once everyone was equipped, we headed out to begin our climb.  We had our picture taken by an official photographer then I looked over the edge to see mum and to my surprise, she was stood with Kais and Mazin! I was so shocked to see them but I just waved at them as I was so nervous, I couldn't comprehend what was happening!! After everyone had been papped, it was time to begin.

happy face to mask the fear !!!

Coming from the biggest scaredy cat/most unfit person ever, the climb was actually fine! The beginning of the climb was fairly steep, and the surface felt odd as it was bouncy.  I was super grateful that it was a dry day as the grip on the blue walkway was questionable in parts, so it would have been much tougher in rain! To be honest, one of the worst things about the climb was trying to align the latch along certain points of the wire! I found that difficult at times, but never needed to rush as the people behind us were much slower. The higher we climbed, the flatter the walkway became and within no time, we'd made it to the top.  

At the top, we were unclipped and allowed to roam the platform and look at the incredible views of London.  It was great to be able to see my favourite city from this height, it looked even more amazing than usual. Mim and I took plenty of selfies to mark the momentous occasion and our guide took a picture of us too.  I didn't find our guide particularly informative, however I was so overwhelmed at having made it to the top, that I probably wouldn't have registered any facts anyway.

made it!!

hold the front page, MBKR actually taking selfies haha!

on top of the woooooorld!

the picture doesn't do the view justice!

Soon enough it was time to come back down, the bit I was most dreading to be honest! It was definitely more steep than the upward climb and I was constantly worried about slipping or falling over, even though I was perfectly safe in the harness.  Mim and I were third and fourth to go down and we reached the bottom very quickly. It was only then that I could laugh at myself for being so scared beforehand.  It was actually really fun and I would most definitely do the climb again. I also felt a sense of pride for facing my fear and doing something worthwhile for charity.

we climbed, we conquered!

It was all over far too quickly but it was amazing to be able to do something different to fundraise. As it stands, I have raised £553.12 (£640 when you include Gift Aid) which is absolutely crazy!! I set an initial target of £250 which I thought I would struggle to reach - never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that people would be so kind.

I must give the biggest thank you's to the following: Mam, Emma, Rach, Paige, Caroline, Robert, Laura, Summer, Julia, Sam, Nat, Lynn, Justine, Liz, Kais and Mazin, Lisa, J.R & Min, Craig, Chuns, Dearbhla, Sarah, Helen and Rhiannon, Sheila, Shelby, Ceri, Jalisa, Lyn, Mr/Mrs Anonymous (it will forever bug me not knowing who you are!!!), Jo, Laura, Nic, Caryl, Liann, Charlotte, Dannii and Rachel. You are the reason why both charities are going to benefit as without you, there would be no donations. I will never forget your incredible generosity - not only have you helped to support two incredibly worthy charities, but you've helped me to do something amazing in memory of my grandad so THANK YOU xxx

Also I would like to thank every single person who sent me a good luck message.  Not everyone can/wants to donate money and I fully understand that, which is why the fact that so many people went to the effort of wishing me well meant just as much. The love I felt building up to the climb was just insane. I'm so fortunate to have the best group of friends in my life and I am so thankful for all the support as it gave me the determination to face my fear. I must once again thank Mam, Laura, Nic, Malika, Kais and Mazin for being cheerleaders on the day and also Mim for climbing with me and getting me through it. Without you, I would have struggled so much more - I didn't have time to dwell on the daunting prospect ahead of me as I needed to keep up with you haha!!!

My fundraising page will remain open for a little while as I know that some people still want to contribute now that I have climbed - you can donate here.

The 26th of September will forever be a special day to me. I hope that I managed to make my grandad proud and that all the money raised will help to make a difference to people's lives. Once again, thank you to everyone that supported me in one way or another, you are all stars.

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

There's Only One Direction...

On Thursday I went to see One Direction in the O2 Arena, London. This was the first show of the UK arena leg of the On The Road Again (OTRA) tour and my first time seeing them perform a full set. Having seen them perform a short set at Summertime Ball earlier this year, I was really excited about watching a full show from the world's most famous boyband.

The first thing that surprised me as we sat in our seats was the variety of people in the audience. Whilst I was greeted with screaming fangirls in abundance (which was totally expected) there was also older women, couples and quite a few men!

Before 1D came on stage, we were treated to a great support act in the form of Jamie Lawson. I didn't really know who he was beforehand, I'd never heard him sing and my knowledge of him only stretched to the fact that he's signed to Ed Sheeran's record label. I was pleasantly surprised, as it turned out that he was a fantastic singer-songwriter. Jamie performed his original songs and a crowd pleasing cover of 1D's More Than This.  I can see why Ed Sheeran has signed him - he reminded me so much of the Ed Sheeran I first saw live a few years ago, and no doubt that after this tour that Jamie will grow even further in confidence.  Whilst I thought he was really good, personally I would have chosen someone livelier as a support act. I think an audience like 1D's want to be hyped at all times, yet I found Jamie's songs too mellow to get incredibly excited over. I think Jamie would have shone even more as a support act for someone else.  Nevertheless, this tour is the most incredible opportunity for him and an excellent platform to showcase his fantastic music.

After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, it was finally time for 1D who burst onto the stage to perform No Control. As one of the most popular songs amongst Directioners, the boys most definitely chose the best opening to the show and in return, the crowd showed their appreciation by screaming, singing along loudly and dancing about.  Kiss You was next, one of my favourites from their earlier days and they put on a very energetic performance!

Fireproof was one of the first ballads performed which was made even more special by fans holding signs baring the words 'Nobody saves us the way you do'. These were handed out before the show began (the first of many different projects that the boys will see during their tour) and I thought it was a really cute idea.

One of my highlights was Stockholm Syndrome.  When I first heard Four, it instantly became my favourite song and I was so excited to hear it live. Despite Zayn being the main singer on the album track, the boys did a fab job and didn't disappoint! I definitely got a bit over excited during this song, no shame haha!

One of the most eventful songs was Night Changes. The poor souls had real difficulty as they were hearing something different in their ear pieces and had to attempt the song three times! In the end, with the help of the fans they were back on track and I must applaud them on dealing with the sound problems so well. To be honest, the fans didn't mind at all as it meant getting a short acoustic snippet of Infinity which excited the crowd even further and gave them an insight to what they can expect on their new album Made in the A.M. The banter between the boys was also hilarious, Harry was trying to get people to tell jokes which was funny in itself!

There was a good mix of different album tracks and well known songs on the setlist, including Little Things, Best Song Ever, Clouds, Diana and Little White Lies. It was nice to see Niall playing the guitar on several songs. The boys spoke a lot in between songs, mainly thanking the fans for all of their support over the last five years. I must also mention Harry starting a kiss cam which was funny - an older couple kissed on camera and in return they bagged Niall's plectrum as they had a sign asking for it.  They were completely over the moon at the whole thing haha.

1D finished the set with Steal My Girl, however knowing that there were some important songs missing, we knew that there would be an encore.  Several minutes of anticipation later and they boys reappeared on stage to perform Act My Age, What Makes You Beautiful and Drag Me Down. They most definitely saved the best song until last - Drag Me Down is such an anthemic song and it's even better live (once again, no shame in losing my shhhh whilst they performed haha).

Liam kept saying how the O2 was one of his favourite venues to perform at, so I'm glad that I got to see them at such an iconic venue.  Their two hour set was the epitome of energy at all times and you could see what a great relationship they had with each other. I can finally say that I've seen a whole One Direction set and it was definitely worth the wait :-)

Here's some pictures from the night, courtesy of mum as she had a better view than I did!

Niall and his guitar

Liam

Louis

Harry entertaining the crowd

with the girls

the boys

Hwyl am y tro ✌️