Zaynah, Me and Ataxia x

Zaynah started at TNA, under the principal Miss Tia, towards the end of 2020. They were based in Digbeth which was ideal because it was local to me. So we used to walk it there and then I used to go up the road to moms studio and wait for her to finish.  At this time I was walking unaided but still a little wobbly so this was a perfect location. Zaynah enjoyed commercial dance which was probably because she had attended Sticky Toffee street dance classes before TNA, for about a year from the age of four. First TNA Dance. Towards the end of the year Miss Tia saw the temporary closure of the dance studio due to COVID.  The lockdown wasn't in affect yet, but there was no mingling, so they couldn't have an audience for the Christmas show. Classes still went ahead via zoom, which was good and bad for various reasons. They had worked so hard for the show and we were sad nobody could go a see it. They did however broadcast it via zoom but like with the classes it had some down points...

The last time is saw my neurologist was 2018 and I was supposed to have annual appointments so he could monitor how my symptoms have developed. However due to COVID seeing DR's was getting very difficult, so after constantly leaving requests for appointments with Dr Hayton's secretary and getting nowhere, I went to my GP in November 2021 and got them to refer me. I wasn't expecting an appointment straight away but defiantly within 3 months. No, when it finally came through in August 2022 it was for the 13/01/23 so it would have been 5 years since I was last seen. Since then I had started using a walking stick daily, due to may small falls or twists to my knee I had developed a bakers cyst behind my right knee and I needed to chase up my speech therapist referral. I continued to wait for my appointment but then on 28th December 2022 I received a letter advising it had been change from 13/01/23 to 13/12/23. I think it was the fact I had waited so long, my bakers cyst had rupt...

For Zaynah's 1st concert I though I would ease her in gently and I booked tickets for us to see Kidz Bop at the Symphony Hall. They are kids that sing child friendly versions of current chart music so very PG.  We were due to go on the 11th April 2020 but due to the global pandemic it was cancelled. Not to let a little thing like that stop us we put on a concert at home and partied the night away. I really wanted to experience Zaynah's first concert, just me and her before I became reliant on walking aids. So I though what the heck and got us Tickets to the Little Mix Confetti tour as her Christmas present. Not as PG but she already knew all their songs and I must admit I was also a mini fan. The original date was the 21st May 2021 but it was postponed due to COVID and Jesy left the group so we finally went on the 22nd April 2020. I think the group had simply grown up and maybe wanted to experience other things, like parenthood or simply staying in bed past noon because it chan...

The schools had just broken up for Christmas break and I had arranged to take Zaynah and some friends to the cinema. I was up early because I was taking Zaynah to her first acting LAMDA exam that morning. There I was downstairs, watching breakfast T.V. minding my own business, then the post came and it all went to pot. As I bent down to collect the post, I'm still not 100% sure what happened, but I lost my balance and came down on my right knee. At first I just got up, post in hand and headed back to the front room. It's not the first time I had fallen and my knees had taken the brunt without obvious injury, so I thought everything was fine.   I was limping a bit, but then I noticed that my lose fitting tracksuit bottoms were suddenly tight around one knee. I had a look and I couldn't believe how much it had swollen and it was getting tighter by the second. I called my mom who suggested going to hospital but I didn't hear or feel anything pop or crack so didn't thin...

This was the final day of filming and because of a delay with the chaperones COVID test results we had to be on set with the kids. As it was an early morning call and we had time before Zaynah needed to get ready we got to have breakfast, result. First stop after Zaynah had got changed was hair and make-up where we met Marcia Blackwood to tame her mane.   Then it was off to the location where we waited ages for the shoot time but at least we had lunch 😋 After we wrapped Zaynah and Gabriel were given Christmas selection boxes and a Thank you card signed by cast and crew. It was nice to see tat they were still treated as children not just as little cast members.   In hair and Make-up     Us with Gabriel and his mom With writer and actress Maya Sondhi who is also a former student of Bellford Stage School.

The night before filming my mom asked if ITV were sending a car to pick us up and I thought she was bonkers for even considering it. Naturally I told her that was never going to happen and we were going to just get a taxi. Imagine my surprise when I was getting ready for bed and I received a call from Matt who apologized for calling so late but he was checking details for the shoot tomorrow and he realised he hadn't arranged transport for us. It must have been late because even my mom was in bed but I went and told her the news anyway.  In the morning we got picked up by Rob, our driver, and he took us to the ITV lot where we were shown to Zaynah's trailer, they also gave her a personalised chocolate bar!!! It was all very exciting.     Shortly we were introduced to the Gabriel, the actor who played Zaynah's brother and the lady who would be chaperoning them on set.  So me and Gabriel's mom were relegated to out respective trailers while the ki...

Zaynah has been with Bizzy Kidz Agency since she was 3 and we have been for multiply castings in London but unfortunately she hadn't secured any work and as you come imagine it was getting a bit expensive travelling from Birmingham for a 10 min casting.   During the pandemic we saw a shift to self tapes, where casting agent's would request to see Zaynah's audition by tape. Maybe this was a thing for adult performers but not for children so it was a welcome change. I had been approached by another agency about a year ago but decided against moving at that time. When they contacted me again via Mandy.com in August 2021 asking about Zaynah's representation, I decided to checked them out and thought why not sign Zaynah up to an alternative agency.  After being with Empire Kids for only 1 month they sent a self tape request for a role in an ITV crime drama. The funny thing was Zaynah had to say her lines in a Brummie Accent which, thanks to Miss Sue and LAMDA's, is the o...

 I had been applying for jobs on Mandy.com for a while when a job came up looking for an actress to be cast in three short educational films for Network Rail.  It looked like a great opportunity for Zaynah to work with other actors so I applied.  Imagine how excited I was to receive an email from Zahrah Issacs of Topline film production confirming Zaynah had successfully secured the role.   The first day of the shoot we travelled from Birmingham by train Milton Keynes and then got a taxi a small station called Aspley Guise. They closed it for the day of shooting and from the time we were there nobody came or even enquired as to where the trains were.. We had a £10 per person budget for lunch but there were no shops to buy anything.  It was a good job I came prepared with a packed lunch with plenty of things for Zaynah to eat and drink.  I had to limit Zaynah's drinking because there were no public toilets, so no liquids for me 😢 The scenario was Ashra...

Zaynah had been with Bizzykidz agency since she was about three and we had been to quite a few castings, all in London. It was getting a bit expensive and disheartening going all that way for a 5 minute audition, never to hear about it again. Then I came across Mandy.com which is a database of industry professionals where employers list jobs and if suitable you can apply for them. The good thing about Mandy.com is you get all sorts of jobs, from big networks and brands, to film students or smaller projects. I signed Zaynah up and started applying for jobs. It was all online with no lengthy travel to casting, saving us time and money. After a while a job was posted for a child to star in a social media Christmas chiropractor advert, giving the gift of health and it was filming in Coventry. We applied and Zaynah was given her first acting roll, it was very exciting. I was still quite able too get around on public transport without walking aids so I was confident we could get to set on th...