Still waiting for new leads from Kent !

So the Thanet Extra Newspaper was published on the 16th, some 5 days ago, and so far I have received erm....zero (0) emails or communications from anyone who knew either of Shirley or indeed her story.
To say i am disappointed would be true, of course I do realise that these things take time to filter out of the paper and to get to someone who may be "in the know" about this subject...but as the days go by I find myself wondering if anyone does indeed still remember Shirley Nolan.

I am still waiting also for a reply from Oz in relation to my enquiry with the newspaper in Adelaide last week, and I have not heard from Ken, the fella who was involved in covering the story in the 70's but now works for the SUN newspaper.

Maybe things will pick up again soon and I will get one of my lucky breaks...i really hope so.

The article in the Thanet Extra Newspaper was published today :-)

More good news came today in my search for information about Shirley and Anthony Nolan in the form of an article that has been published today (October 16th 2009). As promised a few weeks ago by Martin, the fella to whom I spoke at some lengths about my project, the good sized article is now out and,fingers crossed, I hope to get some good feedback from anyone who may have known Shirley, her mum Rhoda or little Anthony during their time in and around Manston.

This is a link to the online version of the newspaper. Click HERE to view.

Many thanks to Martin and all at the publication for fulfilling their promise and giving me this much appreciated help.

Note* The article states that I drove to Morocco and raised £3500 for the Anthony Nolan Trust.This is not quite correct. Myself and Glen Place (from Kent!) drove ALMOST to Morocco (Gibraltar!), and raised over £5000, but this was split between 3 charities (Leukaemia Research,MacMillan Cancer Support and the Notts/Lincs Air Ambulance).I did however establish 2 Anthony Nolan Trust Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment Sessions at 2 Nottinghamshire hospitals (King's Mill and Newark Hospital) which resulted in 79 more people signing up to the register :-)......just thought that I needed to clarify that point :-). Probably my fault for rabbiting on at poor Martin until his head spun !.

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The search now moves to Manston and Thanet in Kent......

I have just finished talking to a great fella named Martin who works "Daan Saaath" in Kent at the Kent Messenger Newspaper (actually he covers the Thanet region, so that is technically probably not correct!). Anyway, after quite a long conversation, or rather a long space of time in which i rabbited on and Martin listened (anyone who has tried to speak with me will tell you that i tend to speak "at" them!...it's my biggest failing...sorry!) I explained to him about my mission to find the current holder of the copyright for Shirley's book, but also asked if he could ask, through the newspaper, if any of the local people of the Thanet area hold any memories of the story about which my search revolves.
Martin offered to run a story in the paper sometime in the next few weeks, and he is happy to include my email address for the purpose of allowing folk to contact me with any info they may have.
I can't start to tell you how important this could be in assisting my search, and would like to just pass on to Martin and his newspaper my heartfelt thanks for offering to assist me in such a fantastic way :-).

By the way, the picture at the top of the page in of the Jolly Farmer Public House which is refered to in the book when Shirley popped over to it during Anthony's second Chistmas at home....the one she feared would be his last. She bought a small bottle of sherry for heself and her mother to share on Christmas eve whilst watching over Anthony and pondering their uncertain future.

I have always said that i am a great believer in the ripples on a pond/chaos (butterfly flaps wings...etc) theory, and that i do so believe that by making these connections, these enquiries, I am certain that some day, maybe not too far away, questions will be answered, grey area's will be filled with light, and Shirley Nolan's name will once again be one that people will recognise.

It would be nice to know that by the time we reach the 21st October 2009, more people would be aware that on that day 30 years ago, a little boy named Anthony Nolan died, but it would also be good to just remind them that the legacy that his devoted mother Shirley established in an attempt to save her own precious child is still going strong today, and that the Anthony Nolan Trust is helping ordinary people to give the gift of life to thousands of other's who might otherwise die.