When the Freddie For A Day event was announced I had a feeling deep inside that I
wanted to take part in this. It gave me an opportunity to raise some funds for the
Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity to which I have donated in the past and one which
is very close to my heart. Being a fan of Queen and idolising Freddie Mercury for what seems nearly a lifetime I wanted to join many many others around our world
in spending this day dressed as Freddie, something which I have never done before
in public.
I chose to go with the red & white jacket and white trousers with red & yellow stripes, while also wearing my Freddie for a day t-shirt with pride. Most of the day too I had a moustache to complete my transformation.
I set off to work as usual at around 7am and I was very nervous as I left my home in Portsmouth alone with some strange looks from my neighbours and passers by wondering what I was doing dressed like this. I headed first to my local newsagents to pick up my daily paper and once again I could feel eyes on me from the people in the queue. The shop assistants were great and asked me why I was like this and started taking a big interest in Freddie For A Day after my explanation and wished me good luck for the rest of the day and hoped I raised a lot of money.
When I got back in my van and headed for the A3 I started to feel a lot more confident and it was sometimes hilarious while driving, got some thumbs up from strangers and others just staring at me while I drove along, I am sure at one stage I was nearly very close to causing an accident as one fellow nearly went up the rear of someone as he was looking over at me. When I arrived at my destination which was Haselmere I needed to get some fuel, I was going to fill up on my way home but I wasn’t sure how dirty or how my outfit would end up after a days work fitting an oak floor, so I decided to get fuel at a garage in the centre of Haselmere. When I pulled in I could see it was very busy and I was going to abort but I thought no, I am proud of what I am wearing and after all I am doing this for charity. As I filled up an older guy was walking towards me and I kindly asked if he could take a photo of me, he said sure but by the look on his face he wasn’t sure if this was real or not, I briefly explained to him I am like this for a charity event and yet he still wasn’t sure, I smiled at him and said thank you. Next was the most nerve wracking experience of my day.
I went into the garage to pay for my fuel and the queue was very long and also the shop was very busy with builders getting their morning coffee, I could feel so many people staring at me and just looking and maybe thinking, what the heck. I am stood in this queue for ten minutes dressed as Freddie with a fake moustache but it felt like hours, but I can remember saying to myself ‘be proud of what you are wearing and this is for Freddie’ it helped steady my nerves and I held my head up high while heading back to my van. Not one person in the shop though inquired why I was like this and not even the cashier who did smile at me with a weird look. After this my initial thought was phew, the day must get easier now.
When I arrived at work I was greeted by my work colleagues with smiles, cheers and some banter. They knew I was going to be doing this and they all generously sponsored me and helped get some photos of my day. This was great. It was touch and go whether I would be able to still work on this refurbishment cottage while dressed as Freddie due to the heath and safety requirements but after some discussion with the owner of the property they kindly let it go ahead, for which I was very grateful. They too also sponsored me and wished me well. While at work I spent the whole day in my costume fitting an oak floor and was so glad I didn’t have to do a job that was too messy as I was very wary of getting my trousers and jacket ruined. During the day my work mates were great and even put up with my antics as Freddie, it was fun and I felt so confident now and worked as usual with not a care in the world to get my days work done. I accompanied to work with me about 15 Queen albums which I played throughout my working day, and I am sure I have converted some of them to Queen fans ha-ha even though they think I am mad.
When I left work and headed back to Portsmouth my feeling was of happiness, I was so happy that I achieved my goal of doing this during my normal day it was just unreal the amount of support I got.
Before I got home, I had a totally different feeling inside me now, so I headed to the shops with much confidence and also stopped into my local pet shop to pick up some treats for my bulldog Freddie. I know the staff in there and once again they were great and said to me “well done for doing this, you look brilliant”, but still had many strange looks from passers by as I went back to my van and my feeling was of pride.
On my arrival back to my home at around 5pm I was greeted by my wife Claire with whom I chatted and laughed about my day, she told me how proud she was of me for doing this, she knew how nervous I was at 6.30am that morning and commented on how confident I was now. She is very supportive of my Queen passion.
Well I had one more deed to do before I could relieve myself of the costume, and that was take my bulldog Freddie out for a walk. We went once again back to the local newsagents to pick up our local paper and then off to our local park with Freddie dressed as Freddie. The locals who we bumped into were great and smiled, none really asked why I was like this and the two kids who passed us gave me strange look as I let out a de oh while walking down the street. I had a good feeling inside.
I went into my Queen Room where I have a shrine to Freddie Mercury and raised my glass of vodka to him and said “cheers Freddie I done it for you” and had a moment of thought for this wonderfully talented man who has brought me so much joy into my life with his music.
The deed was done and I felt proud to be part of Freddie For A Day.
I had my Freddie Mercury costume on for nearly 12 hours and went about my normal working day to raise money for the Mercury Phoenix Trust. I raised £260 and would like to thank everyone who sponsored me to take part in this event. It was a very adventurous, fun filled if somewhat nervy day for me but deep down I loved every minute of it. It was a great day and one I won’t forget.
Thank you to all the team at the Mercury Phoenix Trust and for all the great hard work you do. And many thanks for the initiative and idea in bringing this event to the many Queen fans around the world in raising funds for this worthy cause.
Thank you all.
Andy’s day was featured in an article in ‘The News’ of Portsmouth.
