Tom Appleton won the Freelance of the Year Award at the Bury Free Press West Suffolk Business Awards 2023
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Joining me now is Tom Appleton,
00:04 winner of the Baytree VA Freelancer of the Year Award.
00:08 Congratulations.
00:10 How humbling is it to win this award tonight?
00:12 - Extraordinary.
00:13 I mean, frankly, as a freelancer,
00:15 I'm very rarely out of my own spare bedroom.
00:17 So to be here tonight amongst incredibly talented people
00:20 doing amazing things, it's really inspiring to see,
00:23 I guess, the network that is going on here in West Suffolk
00:27 and how privileged I am to accept this award.
00:32 Just amazed.
00:32 - Chorister, presenter, arts consultant,
00:36 I'm a triple threat there.
00:37 I mean, what don't you do, Tom?
00:39 - I'm very fortunate.
00:41 I've had some amazing opportunities.
00:43 I've got, as I say, an amazing network of support,
00:46 both at home and professionally.
00:48 And I just love East Anglia.
00:51 I love West Suffolk.
00:52 I love being here and I wouldn't be anywhere else
00:54 in the world.
00:55 - So you've had a really busy year,
00:57 but what next for you?
00:58 - I'm currently working on a project with 13 schools
01:01 who are all writing their own school anthems
01:04 based on sort of school history
01:06 and their local community history.
01:09 And we're performing those at Snape Maltings
01:11 later on in November.
01:13 I'm really interested going forward about the freelancer
01:17 and what we can offer creative arts organizations
01:21 and trying to make us perhaps more of a cohesive unit
01:24 than individuals spread out in spare bedrooms
01:26 around the world.
01:27 But what can we as freelancers do when we combine
01:29 that might be quite powerful.
01:30 - And we're here at the Apex in Bury St. Edmunds.
01:32 I mean, it's not St. Paul's Cathedral
01:34 where you've performed, but it's still a great venue.
01:37 What have you made of tonight?
01:38 - Just mind blowing.
01:40 We've had some brilliant singing entertainment
01:41 who they should be commended as well.
01:45 It's just lovely to be in any group of people
01:49 who are celebrating, who are resilient,
01:52 who are putting glad rags on and going,
01:55 you know what, we've done really well.
01:56 And everybody here this evening
01:58 is celebrating their achievements of the last year.
02:00 And that's such a great joy to be a part of.
02:02 - Go enjoy the rest of your evening.
02:03 Congratulations to you.
02:04 - Thank you so much.
02:05 (upbeat music)
02:08 you