Actor and Anthony Nolan Patron, Olivia Colman CBE, has revealed a belief she is ‘a terrible teacher’ as she adapts to lockdown.
Speaking on the blood cancer charity’s Instagram (@anthonynolancharity) with one of Anthony Nolan’s Ambassadors, journalist and TV presenter, Joe Crowley, the Oscar winning actor said she had been teaching her youngest child.
Joe admitted that he had also struggled and in a hilarious exchange the pair talked about teaching subjects they hadn’t studied at school. Olivia said: ‘My youngest child has a timetable of work to do – but I’m just not very good, I’m a terrible teacher. I can’t teach phonics!’
Joe said: ‘I can’t teach phonics either! I have a five-year-old and he knows words I don’t know.’
Olivia responded: ‘We are being schooled by our children!’
The pair teamed up on Instagram to discuss why they support Anthony Nolan in their roles of Patron (Olivia) and Ambassador (Joe). Olivia shared the reason for supporting the charity, which started after the charity found a stem cell donor for one of her close friends, named Pip.
Olivia said: ‘A dear friend of mine from school, Pip, had been married for two years when she found out that she had leukaemia. Anthony Nolan found her a stem cell donor in Australia. After her transplant she very sadly got pneumonia and died. Pip wanted me to do everything I could to raise awareness so that’s how my relationship with Anthony Nolan started.’
Joe also shared his reason for supporting Anthony Nolan, after losing his father to multiple myeloma.
Joe said: ‘My dad sadly died from blood cancer when I was a teenager, but it was through working on a piece for the One Show that I really discovered what Anthony Nolan do. I met a young girl, who was probably about three who was about to meet her stem cell donor. I was there for this incredible meeting. It’s just a no brainer to think we are potentially the cure for someone with blood cancer.’
In response to Joe’s revelation, Olivia said: ‘As you say, it means everyone can be a hero. The fact that you can save someone you’ve never met is a beautiful thing.’
The live broadcast provided lots of fun for viewers as a power cut and connection problems meant that Joe was cut off a number of times, leaving Olivia to navigate things alone.
Olivia said: ‘This is very stressful! I’ve got really sweaty, it’s very stressful! I’m not going on Instagram after this. When it goes wrong it’s horrible!’
Anthony Nolan’s Chief Executive, Henny Braund, says: 'It’s wonderful to have Olivia’s support, as Patron, and we are incredibly thankful to her for coming on to social media – for one night only – to battle technical problems for our Coronavirus Emergency Appeal.
‘We’re also very lucky to have Joe, a passionate Ambassador who has championed Anthony Nolan’s work for many years. He tapped into all his talent and live TV experience to inspire people to join our lifesaving community!
‘The coronavirus pandemic means blood cancer patients in need of a stem cell transplant are now more vulnerable than ever. We always need financial support to make vital transplants happen – but never more urgently than now.
‘We hope that this glimpse into their worlds, and understanding of why Olivia and Joe support Anthony Nolan, will help increase public awareness of how people can continue to support the vital work of our charity during lockdown.’
For someone with blood cancer, a stem cell transplant could be their last chance of survival. Anthony Nolan is the charity that makes lifesaving connections between people with blood cancer and incredible strangers who donate their stem cells. It also carries out pioneering research to save more lives and provides information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery
Anthony Nolan’s work has been significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The charity has kept working to keep lifesaving transplants going during these unprecedented times with additional costs, including:
- Emergency Handover Hub
The emergency ‘Handover Hub’ at Heathrow Airport is open 24 hours a day. This means international couriers, who can’t go into hospitals due to quarantine rules, can handover stem cells to one of our UK volunteers for the final lifesaving leg.
- Increased health-checks for stem cell donors
To keep immunocompromised patients safe, Anthony Nolan is paying to carry out increased health checks in relation to the coronavirus for every new donor.
- Critical patient grants
Anthony Nolan’s Patient Grants are under increasing pressure to help support patients going through increasingly difficult times. Not only does the charity need to provide more support, it needs to find new solutions to help patients apply for the grants digitally.
- Vital donor search
For every international matching donor that’s found for a UK patient, Anthony Nolan is searching for potential back-up donors here in the UK and paying to prepare cord blood units from its Cord Blood Bank from donated umbilical cords as a viable alternative.
Watch ‘At Home With Olivia Colman and Joe Crowley’ on IGTV here.