23.3.18

Just sometimes the world is a lovely place

On Thursday my lovely daughter, Rafaela, was excited to be heading up to London after college to see one of her favourite singers, Anne-Marie.


Rafaela was travelling alone and like many of us, was slightly panicked about the thought. She had bought her train ticket in advance, had planned her travel across London, had both phone and mental maps of the tube trains she needed to get etc etc.

What she hadn't counted on was her shoe falling apart just as she arrived at the station. And not just a tiny crack in the sole or a loose aglet either! Her entire sole ripped off the shoe. Leaving her in tears. But after a bit of deep breathing, thinking, looking at timing, (could she make it to a shop and still make the concert? no. Get home and still make the concert? no) she decided the only thing to do was to ask for help from the people that would understand. Anne Marie fans. And the best place to get in touch with them was via Twitter.

colourful boots with sole ripped off


What happened next became a Twitter Moment.

First an urgent request to anyone that was attending the concert, I imagine she hoped maybe someone could bung a pair of spare trainers in their bag to give to her at the gig, or would be able to get some to give her at Victoria station, because by the time she arrived in London the shops would be closing and she had a concert to get to.

But it was Anne-Marie herself that saw the tweet and said she'd sort it out. Even then Rafaela assumed she meant that she would tweet about it, boosting the post. When Anne-Marie asked what size shoes Rafaela wore, she again thought it would be about sharing the problem, but a DM (private twitter message) from Anne-Marie explained more. Anne-Marie planned to get some shoes to Raffy herself.

A thrilled and now relieved Raffy continued her journey to London. But she still had some travelling to do before collecting her shoes. Cinderella-like she wandered in her socks down to the tube and onward across the city, trying to ignore the odd stares of other travellers. Her feet became increasingly cold, but finally she arrived.

Once at the concert venue she joined a queue of fans already there. Now, mildly famous, people in the queue were laughing and chatting with her. She messaged Anne-Marie and was overjoyed when someone from Anne-Marie's team came out to give her some new shoes. A JD Sports bag was handed over.

Raffy was stunned to find inside, a pair of new black Nike AirMax in her size. And just like in the fairy tale they fitted perfectly, and Rafaela did go to the ball. What a fabulously generous act by Anne-Marie.

Anne-Marie wasn't only generous to Raffy either, she sent pizza out to her fans that had been queuing for a long time in the cold.

And there is another thing about this story that I really loved; twitter Anne-Marie's fans did see the initial tweet, and they did respond, with ideas, love and sympathy. And once Anne-Marie stepped in to solve the problem, and after Raffy shared a picture of the shoes, they continued to be lovely, sending supportive tweets and friendly messages. It's really lovely to see a group of people brought together by an artist who go on to really become like a family. I know that sounds gushy and soft, but really it was so nice to see.

Just pop over to twitter and look at the sweet replies to this tweet


So thank you Anne-Marie for saving my daughter's day, making her evening and turning a disaster into a really special memory. And thank you to Anne-Marie's fans for being so lovely too.


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