My Life’s Essentials

Another luxury afforded to me by the experience of lockdown was time to volunteer. I have long held a belief in the power of sport to affect positive change beyond its immediate context, and in the world of football I’ve had the privilege of working with a number of organisations proving this to be true. My housemate (pictured) works for the charity Street Soccer and facilitated my working with the team. Street Soccer started out as a charity in Scotland, using football as a vehicle to offer structure and stability to homeless people in a judgement-free, commitment-free space. The charity has expanded to London and also works with young people, offering access to football, safe spaces, and facilitating relationships with none-authority adult figures. I was able to support setting up the girls’ programme in south London, which was a thoroughly joyful experience. I have never felt more optimistic about our future generation than following our first session with those young people. The basic level of mutual respect and openness with which the girls approach relationships with one another and identity politics is inspiring, and gave me much to reflect on in my own life.

The body’s capacity to heal itself is a perpetual source of wonder to me. My most recent reminder of this came following an unfortunate incident with a faulty Airbnb shower which led to third-degree burns across my shoulder and some rather uncomfortable drumming. The Palmer’s Cocoa Butter depicted here became an obsessive daily accessory. Yet within a week, to my utter amazement, the rather grotesque blister had mellowed into fresh skin. I find great comfort in the mystery of this (clearly unmysterious) biological phenomenon, and a prompt to ensure I am taking appropriate care. Given my amateur and ill-advised approach to running, this is another arena that has offered cause for reflection. My reluctance to take rest days in my early running career led to a number of injuries and niggles that I eventually realised were best treated through prevention. I now invest equal energy in recovery as I do working.

Outside of my primary work playing the drums and touring with the band Sports Team, sport has always played an important part in my life. Through the experience of lockdown and re-evaluating my own sense of self, I came to recognise the power sport and movement can offer. Yet so often this is inaccessible for women, or worse, inextricable from toxic preconceptions of womens’ bodies. From childhood, girls are socialised to not take up space or move their bodies freely. I have become a passionate champion of the power of movement and motivated to expand access to sport and movement for all women. This year I teamed up with two close friends who share this passion for movement and have backgrounds in the world of music. We set up “In Motion”, and had the brilliant experience of running a campaign for adidas. As a result of that, we got to attend a Euros match. One of my favourite elements of running “In Motion” has been the conversations with women I’ve met from all ages who share stories with me, describing ways they have experienced the power of movement in their own life.