We need your help on a very big but worthwhile ask! We are aiming for the stars here to help make some dreams come true…

This is the story of a very brave and positive young man called Pete Twist who is 30 years old - along with a battered but cuddly toy Monkey called Mac – and the probable overseeing presence of a Doggy Angel - in the shape of my beloved Rosie Doodle.

I met Pete back in November 2022 through the wonderful Gavin Greenaway. I was instantly impressed by the fact that Pete had travelled all the way down from Manchester just on the off chance that Gavin might have time to go out for supper with him after a day of sessions at Air Studios so he could learn more about the film music recording business. He was so eager and keen and up for everything that the next day he came into Air with me for a bit of work experience, then helped my friend and colleague Ann Barnard up in Manchester on a show. He was gradually finding his feet - helping on some other shows and a couple of films and proving to have a real aptitude for our field of music preparation, as well as working on his own dreams of composing an Oscar winning score and honing his orchestration skills.

Then suddenly last Autumn we received the dreadful news that Pete had been rushed to hospital with a perforated bowel - which set off a veritable s*$t storm of health issues … and ended with a totally unexpected cancer diagnosis. The cancer is so rare it only has numbers rather than a name – but it’s vicious. This last year Pete has undergone huge amounts of treatment with massive chemo treatments – triple doses for a while and other horrible procedures - but he has remained utterly positive through it all. However the cancers have spread and are now in most of his lower torso – it is quite a list: cancer is in his large and small colon, bladder, pelvis/spine, right leg, peritoneum and abdominal lymph nodes. The medical profession have run out of ideas - it’s too risky to do the huge operation they had in mind and the only option to delay it spreading is with yet more chemo.

BUT - Pete still remains positive and still has his dreams which he is desperate to fulfil. One of them is to raise a large amount for Macmillan Cancer Support who have been fantastically helpful throughout.

The question was – how to do it? Pete is spending a lot of time in hospital and it’s hard to get around – one of the bigger tumours is on his spine and making things really uncomfortable.

So - onto Monkey…I’m sure you are wondering where this is leading and what the link is!

Pete met my doggy Rosie Doodle last summer. We very sadly lost Rosie this last April. Her absolute favourite cuddly toy was a battered Monkey. After she died I cleaned him up and kept him in my office in her memory. Then by chance Monkey ended up at Air Studios – having been added to a box of music to pad it out! I took some photos of him having adventures there and then it occurred to me that Monkey could be the link between Pete and meeting the wondrous musicians and artistes he would want to meet and doing the things he so wants to do, and by getting lots of photos we can raise awareness and raise oodles of money for Macmillan…

We all, worldwide, know many people who have found solace and help from cancer support charities and we are truly hoping we can make a big difference here.

So far Monkey has had adventures on Pete’s behalf at Air Studios and Abbey Road Studios; he is now up in Manchester meeting Pete’s family and friends. But – he’s up for more!

Is there a way he can get to some other music events around the country , or Europe (specifically MONTE CARLO, which is a place on Pete’s wish list) – or even the USA, which is one of his huge dreams…?? I’m sure there is!

In the meantime – we are setting a BIG target to get things rolling and let’s see if Monkey - now called MAC the Monkey since he’s helping Pete raise money for Macmillan… can have some BIG adventures and help Pete make a BIG difference! xxx