COMMUNITY Tom Henshaw, Julie Battersby, Steven Sutton and Phil Harding at a charity ball.
The outstanding generosity of the community is now being matched by a private individual and the Luz Foundation who are contributing to TACT´s charity funds to ensure targets are met to improve people’s lives. Louise and Tony Gallagher run the Ray Of Light trust and generously worked with TACT and personally donated much of the money to refurb CASLAS. Every star needs a leading Lady and Tom has his glamorous partner Julie, helping him with accounts and as she says, "propping him up and keeping him alive!" He tells me that he will die selling adverts and still gets such a thrill out of seeing the magazine printed each month.
Steven doing a tandem skydive for TACT
He had a background in the luxury retail market having worked in Harrods. He originally contacted Tom as the person to go to if you needed info in Lagos. He chatted to Tom about starting up a business for deep-cleaning villas. Tom laughs as he recalls that originally he put his contact in his phone under "The Unlikely Lad". It was Steven who came up with the idea of the charity ball, and Tom confessed that with the first masquerade event they let him exercise his creative freedom a bit too freely. "We arrived, and the tables looked amazing with huge flower displays in the centre. We were all impressed until we sat down and realised they were taller than any of us so no one could talk to each other. We had ballerinas, singers, a band and an orchestra, so we did scale it back a bit at the next event".
The team that drove to Algoz to get the magazines
Steven has been the driving force behind establishing the registered Tomorrow charity TACT. His tenacity solution-orientated attitude has made a success of Tom’s original vision. This, says Tom, has been his greatest achievement. "I always wanted to be superman when I was a kid. He was always there to help when people needed him! Now when I see TACT giving a car to the children’s home or the Sensory Room we have just helped to fund, then I feel in some small way I have achieved my childhood dream, thankfully not the red pants though". TACT has been the culmination of Tom’s original dream of helping the community. Over the years there have been many schemes such as the Business Network, Dementia and Cancer Support networks, The Supper Club, At a Loose End and the infamous Lagos Lights initiative. Some have fallen by the wayside but undoubtedly they all were a step on the ladder towards Tom’s crowning glory, the charity that gives a voice to the underprivileged in the community.
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There have been cliffhangers along the way, like Helen Daniel who had a car accident while delivering the magazines and broke her neck, which left everyone shocked. We are glad to say she has just returned to work this month, and has not been put off but is once more delivering her lines to the public with great dedication. It is always good publicity for a Soap, when one of its stars has musical talent and releases a single. Enter Elizabeth Roberts. She met Tom and one of his networking events in 2013 before she moved to the area. She had a background in music and drama and was also a music teacher. Tom immediately spotted an opportunity and told her that he thought she should set up a local choir. An advert was placed in the magazine and in the first week they received 12 eager vocalists and in the second it grew to 24. Now from the dizzying heights of 75 members, Liz observes, "From what Tom envisaged it has surpassed all expectations. From a community perspective, it hits the spot. We have been though losses and personal tragedies but it is difficult to feel lonely or sad when you are singing. There are also health benefits associated with filling your lungs and being active". There are two Awards for best-supporting actresses. Firstly Layinka, who gives Tom invaluable support with the accounts, manages the events page and proofreads the magazine. Second is to Rebeca Silva, Phil’s right-hand woman, whose creativity can be seen in the layouts of the pages. Dramatic plot twists involving extras have provided suspense. Tom and Julie were having coffee with friends one Saturday when they got a call that the magazines were in Algoz and would not be delivered until the following week. All of their friends piled into their cars and drove to Algoz, they filled their cars from floor to ceiling with boxes, to make the next instalment hit the airwaves on time. So as we play the theme tune and the credits roll on the 100th episode, we can only reflect on our gratitude. Such a large audience enjoys a project that we all feel so passionate about and love producing. Thank you to everyone who supports the magazine either by advertising or reading it, and we look forward to filming the next 100 episodes.
