Type of CP: 

I have Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy with ataxic/dystonic features. I was diagnosed at 18 months old. 

Early years:

As a child the house was full of toys, but little did, I know that my parents use to buy toys purposely to improve my fine and gross motor skills... I thought it was just a coincidence when I played with a toy during therapy and then I'd magically get a new toy a few days later! When I was younger, I didn’t really acknowledge my disability my earliest memory of feeling different is not being able to run around at nursery but apart from that I never had any worries.

School:

Well on an embarrassing note I was never not confident I got up and danced a solo contemporary dance even though I couldn’t dance because that didn’t matter what mattered was that I enjoyed it! The gap between myself and my peers got bigger at school for example when I was a teenager, I didn’t want to accept that I couldn’t go ice skating on Friday nights just like my friends. I’d say my teenage years were the hardest as I understood the challenges, I’d face more but then that’s what made me realise that I wanted to turn these challenges into something. 

16-18:

This is the stage that I started to feel more confident about my disability, I started talking to other disabled people and connecting with people via online communities. I was actively speaking about my disability on social media, which is something that I’d never done, and I started to view my disability as a strength.

Going into adulthood:
Going into adulthood is scary as I know that I’m not going to be as independent as I want to but I know that I am going into a career I love and that I’m very passionate about so I’m ready to see what is in store. Yes, they’ll be challenges and tough times, but it only makes it more worthwhile. 

Hello, it’s so good to be back blogging for CP Teens! 

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A few weeks ago, I made a video for CP Teens about meaningful occupation and occupational balance as it is so important during this time. 

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Yes, things are slowly getting back to normal, but some people are still shielding or too anxious and I just wanted to remind you that it’s completely normal to feel that way. 

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To help you see this I am going to use a model commonly used in occupational therapy called The- Person – Environment – Occupational Performance Model and remind you why charities such as CP Teens UK are so important during this time.   

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We interact with the environment by carrying out tasks and activities for example you interact with a racetrack by running, this interaction then improves our well-being and quality of life. However, over the past few months these interactions have gone. Meaning that this can impact our wellbeing as by you not going to the racetrack, you’re not interacting with particular environment and therefore that has an impact on your occupational performance. Yes, you can work out in the home environment and some may go for a run into the park, but your occupational performance won’t be the same.

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Another example closer to home is me, I sit here writing the blog and the deadline is quite a while away but I’m writing because my studies have stopped for the summer,  I’m bored because I don’t have that meaningful occupation to keep me going. Alright I can now go out to my local shopping centre and to a restaurant if I want to but as someone who’s more vulnerable, I don’t feel ready. 

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My point is, it’s completely normal to feel down during these times, however there are ways to manage this and factors that you can control!

For example, an extrinsic factor is something outside ourselves like social support and relationships. I get that you’re not seeing your friends and that being alone is hard, as well as everything else but there are alternatives!

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The CP Teens UK and CP Sport Virtual Coffee & Chat is on Thursday Mornings at 11:00 am. I know it’s not the same as physically seeing your friends but I guarantee it’s better than not seeing your friends at all. 

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An intrinsic factor (so something internal) is sleep. It so easy to mess up your body clock in lockdown and don’t get me wrong I haven’t missed the 6:30am starts but I’ve still tried to maintain a routine and make sure I get the sleep I need to function! 

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Most people’s occupation performance will have changed and that’s completely understandable and not necessarily a bad thing if you’re still being productive and having occupational balance but it’s important to make sure you carry out occupations and maintain a level of performance. 

I know it’s hard as I say this it is the first week of the Summer holiday, and I’ve not been too busy and I’m already feeling it. But it’s really to maintain a routine and motivate yourself by a reward i.e. watching a film, ordering a takeaway or going for a walk as then you will feel a lot better.  I know now that I’ve wrote this blog, I feel a lot better about myself.

I hope this was useful?  

Please let me know how lockdown has impacted on you and what you did about it.

Thank you for reading,

Georgia x

References: 

Duncan, E. (2011). Foundation for practice in occupational therapy. (5th ed.). [Online.] Retrieved from https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780702046612

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well!

It seems like a lifetime since my last blog, given the current situation with Covid 19. I have not been enjoying the last three months because of lockdown, feeling isolated and not being able to see anyone and go anywhere which I was used to doing on a regular basis. I normally have PA's supporting but we decided to shield with just my parents looking after my needs for four weeks, which was enough for me!

We phased the PA's coming back with PPE and although not quite the same I did have more independence back.

I used the time to sort my house out like going through all my cupboards to see whether I needed to recycle stuff that I haven’t used for a while. I like everything in order neat and tidy, I am a bit OCD about this sort of stuff and like it all organised, so used the time well. 

We also decided to change the way I had my PA's work and how the house was set up for them to support me.  I moved their workstation out into my Art Studio, so that they can catch up on paperwork and stuff away from my space, and I now have my dining area back.  We invested time in technology and moved all of the PA task list and reminders into an app based system, which has worked really well, and my calendar that was a large visual monthly calendar again into an app.  This together with some other stuff we moved to Apps has meant my home feels much more like a home and I can manage my staff better with the help of my parents remotely.

So with little else to do apart from my normal training programme, despite Tokyo being moved to next year, I thought it would be good to get through some box sets.  Whilst my mum and dad looked after my needs we watched Game of Thrones which was epic and amazing ..really enjoyed it.. and passed the weeks of lockdown.

I have been watching a lot of Disney Movies starting from movie number one and am now on number 30. I have also been watching Netflix House of Cards, Our Girl, Breaking Bad, Chernobyl and Spooks. I highly recommend watching any of these.

I have really missed watching all the soaps - Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Holby and especially Casualty as that was the highlight of my Saturday evening, I am also waiting for Britain’s Got Talent to return so I can see who is going to win. As you can see I am a big soap fan!

With all the new apps and technology we made the decision to upgrade things and I got a new I Pad Pro and the up to date I Phone which was well overdue.

In April I did a marathon ( 26.2 miles in 4 days) on my rowing machine in my gym singing along to ABBA  and other stuff like captain Tom, and this was for the Dame Vera Lynn Charity which I am and ambassador for.  I raised over £1700 which I was really proud of, it took a few weeks for the blisters to heal but it was worth it.

As you probably know Dame Vera passed away during the lockdown which was a sad day for the country.  As I am an ambassador for her charity I had a TV interview with the BBC Breakfast and ITV National News about the support the charity provided me with when I was young.  They came to my house and filmed me and my dad (Pa) asking questions about the charity, you may have seen me on TV.

It's nice to be able to start seeing a few friends and my boyfriend after weeks of shielding, lets hope we are over the worse and we can start to get back to the new normal and enjoy the summer.

Abbie Hunnisett

Well, I think we can all agree, the past 3-4 months have been very strange (to say the least!). I can honestly say I’ve gone through a rollercoaster of emotions, and I have to be honest, not all of them have been positive ones. Alongside CP, anxiety and depression are whether I like it or not, are big factors in my life. So sadly, I began to “go a little bit into myself” and did not feel like my usual self.

Over the past couple of years, I had really built myself up confidence wise and effectively had it all taken away in an instant. I know lockdown is a necessary evil to fight a pandemic, but I think most people would somewhat agree that lives have been put on hold.

I’ve also been without physiotherapy since a little before lockdown “officially started”. Most that know me would probably (wrongly) assume that I might not need as much physio as I do but I can safely say that these past months have proven that I definitely cannot manage without. Although my mum and I have been trying our best ourselves at home, it is just not the same. Pain levels have been significantly higher as has my fatigue.

One positive that came from lockdown was the time I spent decluttering my room and making it a happier place for me to be. Long before lockdown my mum thought I would really benefit from the companionship of a dog, mainly due to the element of responsibility ad exercise it would bring me. However the caveat of me being permitted a dog was that my room was clean and tidy. I’m happy to say that after a lot of tooing and froing between breeds and whether to adopt from a rescue or get a puppy from a breeder, my friend and I found a happy medium when she came across three long haired Chihuahuas that were in need of rehoming, we jumped at the chance as we already wanted sibling and 2 of them were half siblings! My best friend discussed with the lady and they determined that Beau (my dog) was the most suited for me, with temperament and personality being exactly

what I could handle as a first time dog owner and someone with a disability. My fried opted to take the other two Chihuahua’s, meaning they’ll all still get to see one another!

I’ve had Beau since the 16th June, and she’s been adjusting quite well and I’m glad she was already house trained at 1 year 9 months. She is beginning to play with me, and I aim to walk her twice a day. It’s already pretty clear she has adapted to my disability, for example, not passing me on the stairs and walking with me when I’m feeling slow (though I’m never sure if she’s just tired too)

My cat Cassie, at 18 years old currently tolerates her whilst Beau appears desperate to be his best friend. I’m also already finding myself better off with a routine and regular exercise. Having Beau to focus on has really given me motivation to “get up and go”.

I’m also back at my retail job as a supervisor. I am not entirely happy about it, but I really need the money. My modelling jobs got put on hold too so that was a huge let down for me as I really miss my creative outlet. Hopefully, I can get back to modelling soon as I really, really miss my friends.

Keep safe everyone.

Love,

Cat =^-^=

Hi everyone,

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I hope you are all well and staying safe. I know many of you will be shielding and self isolating during this period so I just want you to know that I am thinking of you. CP Teens UK are running weekly catch-ups (in partnership with CP Sport) and running a number of virtual events - details can be found on social media. Please feel free to join in and spread the word to other service users who may be interested in participating. It's more important than ever that we stay connected with one another and help each other through this difficult time.

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When I was thinking about what to write about for this blog, I was keen to share something which hopefully will be useful to you during this time particularly if you are student and wondering how your study might look like in the future...

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It was this time last year when I wrote a blogged about finishing school. While the prospect of moving on to a new chapter in my life seemed exciting, I remember being unsure about what exactly would come next especially as I didn't really know what I wanted to do. This was why I decided to take a gap year to give myself time to explore the options available and also I had the World Championships in Dubai to train for - that had a pretty big influence!

Fast forward 12 months, I feel more assured about my plans for the future. I have recently decided to start my undergraduate degree with the online learning platform Open University this coming October. I have opted for the Open degree which allows you to personalise your degree by selecting various modules across the 3 years to suit your interests and needs.

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At the start of my gap year, I wasn't considering doing my university degree with the Open University. I was very much focused on still going to a physical university, something that I had always wanted to do. Last September I had applied to a handful of physical universities to do International Relations. Despite being successful in receiving a couple of unconditional offers, I eventually reached the decision that attending a university campus wasn't going to fit in with my current lifestyle as I would have likely needed to move away from home, which I wasn't keen on doing, and I also had concerns about how this would impact on my training. As hard as it was to make this decision - walking away from something is never easy - I knew it was the right decision to make.

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After deciding not to go to a physical university, I knew I still wanted to have the opportunity to complete a undergraduate degree and the Open University appealed as a great alternative. I have studied with them before when I was given the opportunity to enrol in a finance module as part of my sixth year studies. I really enjoyed being introduced to online learning and found it a refreshing change from the pressures of the classroom. What I like so much about the institution is the flexibility offered. Although an undergraduate degree is usually 3 years, you can take longer (up to 16 years) if required to enable study to fit into your schedule.

Recently, I have started a part-time job as a Sports Development Assistant with my local council so the flexibility the Open University will allow me to continue to work whilst starting my degree. As they often say, as one door closes, another one opens.

I would definitely recommend checking out the Open University to any student. It's not really an university option discussed in schools which is a shame because I think many people could benefit from this way of learning. I feel it's even more important especially during this time to make students aware that there's more than one way to gain a university degree.

Gavin

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone is still keeping well and safe. I'm sure lots of new hobbies have been discovered during this lockdown. I've embarked on a couple of courses - photography and digital marketing - so I've been keeping busy.

I’ve also had a busy few months with preparing virtual speeches and job interviews. Currently, I was supposed to be in America as I had been offered a job as a Diving Coach in San Diego – when we were out there last summer, we met up with the diving coaches and they were very keen to have me go out and work with them. Sadly, this hasn’t happened but I am hoping I will be able to do it next year.

Speaking of last year…I can’t believe it has been a year since I finished University! Wow it has gone so quick!

I hope everyone is coping with restrictions having been lifted. We live in a very popular area on Dartmoor and at the beginning of lockdown it was peaceful and quiet, which meant I could go out for a walk every day without having loads of people and cars about. Since the lockdown got lifted a little bit, people have flocking in their thousands (no joke!) and disturbing us and the beautiful wildlife that have homes here. We have been in contact with the police so many times but they don’t care and won’t do anything. We are just left on our own and have to put up with the abuse we get if we see people parked on double yellow lines or moving cones out the way so they park in a space they are not allowed to park in!

It has been so dry on the moors without rain and people have been asked not to light BBQ's but the requests are ignored and we've had BBQ's lit and people swimming in the reservoir, which is actually for drinking water (yuk!). I cannot believe there are so many ignorant people about and social distancing is certainly not something they take any notice of as there have been so many parties around our beautiful reservoir and loads of rubbish left behind.

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It hasn't been a great few days either as one of my Labradors passed away on Monday. It was all quite sudden but she died peacefully. It has come as such a shock to us as although she was 12, she seemed very fit and healthy. We are all heartbroken and her daughter, Roxy, who is 6 is missing her so much.

Maddy xx

Hi everyone,

I can’t believe we’re on the 4th month of 2020! This year is going quite quickly. Christmas seems ages ago but we had a lovely time with friends and family.

At the end of January, I was back and forth to Birmingham for 2 weeks – I had adaptive ski lessons and I was so excited! As you have seen in previous blogs, I go skiing every year with my parents and a group of our friends and this year I wanted to try something a bit different. I’d come across Sit-Skiing when researching for my Dissertation at University last year and at the start of this year, we found that the Snowdome in Tamworth offered these lessons with Disability Snowsport UK. 

My first and second lessons was in a Sit-Ski, it took me a while to get used to it as I wasn’t used to the feeling and it felt very weird going down a slope sitting down. I was first being ‘bucketing’ down the slope – this meant that my instructor Liz was standing right behind the sit-ski and steering the Sit-Ski down the slope whilst I indicated the turns by leaning to the side. After a few runs of this, Liz attached a tether so that she wasn’t directly behind me and that it was up to me to create the turns, but she still had some control. This is found rather difficult as I could create small turns but when I created a bigger one, I would topple over as I didn’t have enough core strength to get myself back in the middle – the second lesson was better than the first as I didn’t topple over as much. 

For my third lesson, Liz suggested that I try Four Track Skiing – this is on normal skis but instead of poles, you have outriggers which have little skis on the end. Duncan was my instructor and I really enjoyed this type of skiing.

We then found a ski-school near St Anton in Austria where we go skiing at the beginning of March to teach me and Tamworth were very kind and lent us the outriggers as the Ski-School didn’t have them.

I had a great ski instructor – Gemma, and she improved my confident loads with the outriggers – I was skiing more parallel, I was more balanced and I felt more confident as well as going faster down the mountain!

My aim for doing this was to ski with the rest of the group and to try different runs. I had one skiing day with the group this year. The weather wasn’t always great so I didn’t venture as far as I would have liked plus I was still getting use to the outriggers.

Because the Coronavirus was in St Anton half way through the holiday, we unfortunately had to leave 4 days early – it was a nightmare getting out as the announcement that we had to leave was very sudden and we only had 2 hours! Still it was an amazing holiday with friends from the UK and Austria.

Now, I can’t ski, I can’t dive, I can’t work and events I was supposed to speak at have been cancelled. But I am keeping myself busy – writing blogs, I’m also writing a book and also looking for German courses online.

Hopefully this will be over soon and we can get back to doing what we love – can’t wait to get back on the ski slopes and diving boards! 

Stay Safe everyone!

Maddy xx

Hello,

I hope you’re all well, I’ve turned 20 since I last wrote an entry. Turning 20 was a pretty big milestone as I’m no longer a teenager and on reflection, I have a few thoughts that I wanted to share with yourselves. As I’m getting older, I’m becoming more aware of the effects of my disability and therefore I have more of an understanding of what is classed as ‘normal’ for a person of my age…

 I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll never be totally independent and I’m fine with this I really, I am. But what will be my independent? I’ve previously started a new role-emerging occupational therapy placement and it’s been great for my confidence because a role-emerging placements works slightly different to a traditional placement and therefore, I don’t have my supervisor peaking over my shoulder all day every day, which I’m enjoying. On this placement, I am feeling a lot more independent - I mean of course I have to keep my supervisor updated with what I’m doing but most of the time it’s just me and I’m quite liking the control as it’s something that I’ve never experienced before.

Over the years, of course, my independence has improved for example I don’t need help putting my shoes on anymore and I know that I’m going to get more independence when I pass my driving test. But when I pass my driving test will that be it, will I have achieved my maximum independence? I mean, I only feel more independent on this placement because it is not as physically demanding as the ones I’ve done previously. If I get another physically demanding placement will my independence and confidence decrease?

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When I move out and become a homeowner, I guess I’ll feel more independent. But this will be financial independence. I’ll still need someone to put my jewellery on and cut up my meal. Which is fine by me- 20 years of it, it no longer bothers me.

But, will going to work and asking someone to do anything physically demanding be my independent? 

I don’t really know what my point is as you can tell by the multiple questions in this post.  Whatever my ‘independence’ is I’ll be ok with it - I mean this time 3 years ago I didn’t think I’d be able to drive so who knows what the future holds and you’ve got to be optimistic. But I also need to be realistic with myself, I’m never going to be able to live totally on my own or be the greatest at manual handling. This is completely fine. I’d be lying if I said it’s something that doesn’t cross my mind in terms of future relationships I mean, imagine, going on a blind dinner date and then having to ask them to cut my food up - I hope that this never happens. I guess my point is that I don’t have to be totally independent to be satisfied with my independence. I know I have the potential to become more independent in terms of driving and my career, but I probably won’t gain a lot more independence in terms of my self-care occupations. But I’m happy with this and I know it won’t be much longer until I achieve my own state of independence. However, it can be hard to picture what this will look like as who knows what physical demands and unexpected battles, I may face…

Thank you for reading,
Georgia 
@GeorgiaVineOT

Hi everyone,

Happy new year! I can't believe we're now in 2020.

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen the odd video of me skiing. Other than that, I haven't really posted much about my skiing. After seeing the videos, a few people have asked me about it. So for this blog, I thought I would explain how I ski and the progress I've made.

Like RaceRunning, I got involved in skiing by chance. I first got the opportunity to try it whilst on a school residential trip during my last year of primary school. Skiing just happened to be one of the activities on offer.

While I was apprehensive about trying it, I was keen to give it a go. Even though I had some reservations (mainly because I had no idea whether I could actually do it without skiing into everyone and everything), I agreed to a taster session with a disability instructor that my school had arranged. To my surprise, I stayed upright for most of the session. I had so much fun. So much so, I wanted to have another go when I returned home.

From there, I started going for lessons at my local indoor ski slope. To begin with, it was a bit scary because it was my first time on real snow as it was a dry ski slope for the taster session. I wasn't very good. Also I fell numerous times (which didn't help!) but once I became more confident on snow, I remembered how much fun it was and I was able to progress to gain more independence.

I ski standing up. I was given the option of whether I wanted to stand or sit to ski. I chose standing as I felt I was able to do so however there is the option to sit ski if that is more suitable for you depending on your disability. Although I ski standing up, there is some equipment I need to enable me to ski.To begin with, reins were attached to my skis to allow my instructor to guide me down the slope whilst I gained confidence. I still could control my turns but the reins gave me the reassurance that if I got into trouble, which I frequently did, my instructor could take over and guide me back to control. I also have links which joins the front of my skis together to help me make a snow plough shape. Then there's the spacer bar which I use for going up the poma lift. This goes under my boots and keeps my skis parallel as I go up the poma lift. Finally, I use outriggers which are crutches with mini skis on the bottom of them. I didn't use outriggers when I first started but I tried them once and found they really helped balance me and made a massive difference to my skiing.

Gradually, I have been able to be not so reliant on the reins to guide me down the slope. If the snow is really good, I am able to ski without the links that holds the front of my skis together which I know is a scary thought but I have managed to do it a few times.When I first started, I never thought I would get to that stage.

It has become more difficult to ski as my training has intensified. Skiing compliments my winter training well: my core and balance has got much stronger as a result. However, I have to be careful that I don't injure myself and we take as many steps as possible to minimise those risks.

Skiing was never a sport I ever thought about trying. If I hadn't had the opportunity to try skiing on the school residential trip, I probably wouldn't have discovered it was a sport I could do. I'm really glad I did though!

If you are interested in trying skiing and live nearby a slope, please get in touch with Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK) for more info.

Firstly a Happy New Year to all readers. Into the 20's and a Paralympic year!

I had a really busy final quarter to round off the year. I had decided that I wanted to create a range of crafted gift items to be sold at Christmas Craft Fayres in aid of the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity for whom I am an Ambassador.

Imagine Father Christmas’s Workshop and you will have a pretty good idea of what we looked like as my PA's and even my Grandparents all got involved in making and wrapping.

My Dad supported me in the second Fayre and had some really great ideas about visual merchandising which has inspired me to look at doing some more Fayres in the Spring and Summer.  He also suggested that the school children and their parents would be inspired to buy from a Paralympian so I wore a bit of kit!

I juggled the Fayres with my usual training commitments and traditional run up to Christmas with chutney making.

With my bedroom mural completed by local artist Dean Rush I have started to add my own embellishment giving it my own stamp by putting on some more Disney and Harry Potter characters.  It has been such a great project to be involved with.  I have really enjoyed sourcing bedding, lights and soft furnishings and have definitely got the bug with my guest and PA room in my sights for decorating projects this year.

'Work hard, play hard' is definitely my motto so I have been thrilled to have had the opportunity to be involved with the design and install of a new chill out sensory space at home. I worked with Chloe at Sensory Guru who has delivered on taking the same equipment that you would find at Dame Vera Lynn’s Children’s Charity and putting an adult spin on it to create a gorgeous sanctuary.  It’s my safe space to be alone and chill with lights, bubble tubes, mood lighting, gentle music and visuals but it is also a place to invite my mates, play Wii or snuggle for a film.

I am so grateful that everyone bought into the concept.  Private space has been a virtual impossibility for me up to this point.  PA's are always around me – eating, drinking, personal care – even a bath I am always monitored – even asleep there is a monitor.  So, this private space that I can access alone, that I can shut the door on the world means everything to me.

With Fayres done, the mural in my bedroom complete and the Sensory Room down to snagging I was more than ready to let my hair down and party.  I did just that at the Mamma Mia Party which was the best Birthday present from my Grandparents and Uncles and Auntie.  It may have been a chilly December night at the O2 but inside were at a Greek taverna boogying as Dancing Queens. It was absolutely brilliant and if you get the chance to go, you must.

From Mamma Mia to Oh Mumma with a night out to see Magic Mike at the Hippodrome.  The Show was fantastic but access was a nightmare with broken lifts and no ramps.

Christmas was really special this year with my paternal family coming to have a pre Christmas meal as close to the day as possible on the 23rd December.  I was really pleased with a couple of new recipes an Aubergine Nut Roast and a Sprout Gratin.  I followed this with a showstopper trifle and chocolate roulade.   By early afternoon on Christmas Eve I finally shut the doors to the outside world and my parents and I enjoyed a couple of days with the finest steaks, seafood and cheeses – all my favourite things.

We celebrated New Year with friends and this was closely followed by my first photography exhibition which was held at a local microbrewery.

 I am straight back into training but my work as an Ambassador continues.  I was deeply honoured that my Parents and I were invited to the Royal Albert Hall to see a new portrait of Dame Vera Lynn unveiled in collaboration with the Royal Mint.  A wonderful afternoon which was concluded in such style with Britain’s Got Talent winner Colin Thackery.

I have already got my eye on a couple of dates for Friday fun down at the charity and I have just booked the first Summer Fayre.  Another of my favourite sayings is ‘Seize the Day’ or my version ‘You snooze you lose’  that early bird gets jobs done whether it is training, photography homework or booking your Summer Fayre to ensure you get the best pitch!

As I sit here writing this blog there is 4 days of 2019 left, and what a year 2019 has been. Where do I begin? This year I have achieved a lot in terms of blogging, and I have got many memories with CP Teens. 

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First let’s talk about becoming an ambassador for CP Teens in June, this has got to be one of my best achievements this year I have been wanting to become an ambassador for CP Teens for a while and I did not think that I would become one in 2019. But here we are 6 months in, and I’m absolutely loving it! CP Teens has been a big part of my life this year and I honestly believe that they have helped me to become the person I am today who isn’t phased by her disability in the slightest. I’ve always been up for any challenge that comes alongside my disability and have never been negative about it, but this year has made me realise that my disability is the best part of me as without it I wouldn’t have had half as many amazing memories that I’ve had throughout 2019. This year I have been on many CP Teens events such as bowling, the sponsored wobble and let’s not forget the ball! From these events I have met new people and made new friends who I know will be friends for life! 

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I have also had a crazy year with my own blog Not So Terrible Palsy that I started in January, a year on and I cannot believe the opportunities that it has already given me. I did not think a year later that people would still be reading my material I’m still taken back every time someone leaves a positive comment on my blog. I still have a long way to go with my blog, but I like where it’s heading! 2020 is going to be a big year for me and my blog as I have my first conference coming up in June- I’m feeling very nervous but I can’t wait for the year ahead I would have never have dreamed that I’d be in this position when I started my blog at the beginning of 2019. Just before Christmas I had a few meetings to discuss my plans for the conference and other projects that I’m working on (that will be released in February) and I’m just in ore that I’m in the position that I’m in. 

I also have events with CP Teens 2020 that I am looking forward to! In January 2020 I am co-hosting bowling with CP Teens which is mental just last January I went to the same event as a ‘CP Teen’ myself so to be co-hosting this event as an ambassador just a year on is beyond anything I would have thought. Thank you to Ellie and the rest of the crew at CP Teens for having me as part of the team I really am honoured! Not only do I love CP Teens so does my family at the sponsored wobble in May I brought quite a big crew and we all loved it so much it was one of the best days of the year, my family love this charity so much and will go to great lengths to help raise money for it as long as we can. 

Thank you for an amazing year CP Teens and thank you to all those that read and continue to read my blogs on both CP Teens and Not So Terrible Palsy.

I wish you all the best for 2020, 

Georgia
@GeorgiaVineOT (new Twitter handle-very official, lol)
@georgiavine4213

Hi Everyone,

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So on Thursday 24th October I graduated from University – I was so nervous! In July I had been asked to be the Student Speaker and I had said yes! Thursday came around quickly and I was feeling nervous and excited. The week before I had been practicing my speech on friends and neighbours and rehearsing it when I could. 

Thursday was an early start as we had to be in Plymouth by 9:30am, I arrived at the Guildhall and registered where I got the tickets for my parents and friends that we had invited to come. I then went to be fitted with my gown and I was able to have a quick look inside the hall so that I could see where I was sitting on the stage and test out the walk to the lectern and back – this was helpful as we found that the stage had a bump in the middle of it so I could practise avoiding it!

After that, we went to have photographs taken. By 10:15, I made my way over the road with my guests to the VIP Room to chat with the VC, lecturers and the Student Union President before we all went over to the Guildhall. At 10:50 my guests left to be seated in the Guildhall with all the other guests and students (my parents got front row seats!) and then it was the stage party’s turn at 11:00. We formed a line and were ready to go when a member of staff in marketing who was in charge of getting us all ready, received a message from a member staff in the Guildhall to say the fire alarm had gone off! So for the next 5 minutes we were hanging around waiting to see what was going to happen – thankfully false alarm but my nervousness was getting worse with the wait!

We received the all clear that everything was ok and we set off to the Guildhall. Walking into the hall was very nerve-racking with everyone looking at you, plus I hadn’t told any students that I was Student Speaker. We walked up on stage and took our seats. The VC opened the ceremony and the first half of students went up on stage to collect their awards, this included me. Next was a presentation of an Honorary Degree to Honorary Graduate Debra Searle. Debra is an Atlantic rower, television presenter and author – and she used to go to the school I went to! Her speech was amazing as she told her story of rowing the Atlantic alone. The second half of students went up on stage to collect their awards and then some lecturers were called up for receiving awards which included my tutor for getting his Doctorate. 

Then it was my turn to speak.

They announced me and I was so nervous – I got up and after nodding at the VC, I made my way to the lectern (avoiding the bump in the floor!) After being so nervous throughout the whole ceremony because I was the 2nd to last person to speak, I actually loved doing my speech! I’m not going to lie – I was shaking the whole way through and I was little nervous but I soon became confident and I enjoyed telling people about my 'journey'.

After my speech, it became a blur. I walked back across the stage to my seat and as I did, I saw the lecturers stand up! I then saw all the guests and students do the same - I was the first Student Speaker ever to receive a standing ovation! I felt like crying! I actually had to sit down because my legs were shaking so much!! Once the clapping and whistling had died down, the VC went to the lectern to close the ceremony.

After the ceremony I had students, parents and lecturers (some who I didn’t know) coming up to me to congratulate me on an amazing speech, saying that they cried and that I should be a motivational speaker (maybe I need to think about changing my career choice). I had professional photographs taken with the VC, my tutor and the Student Union President and then had lunch with the VIPs. 

In the evening we went out for dinner and the next day I had gone viral on Twitter, been approached by the BBC for an interview and been approached by a school to go in and speak next March – more exciting things to come hopefully!

I thank everyone at Marjon for giving me the confidence to be the Student Speaker. I hope you all enjoy the video - you might need tissues! https://www.facebook.com/MarjonUni/videos/1010353799309065/

Thank you,

Maddy x

Hi guys! 

This month has been an interesting one for me! The beginning of the month saw a return to the CP Teens Ball that I was so excited to attend with my mum and meet up with so many people I often only get to see once a year! It was a fantastic evening with lovely food and some great 90s throwbacks on the dance floor! I love attending this ball, and it’s something my mum and I look forward annually together! I’m always happy to see everyone so well and finally put faces to names I’ve spoken to on the internet over the years.

I’m not sure if any are aware, but I’ve worked retail for the past 6 years - week after week. I had unfortunately become so familiar with my role that I was becoming pretty bored with my role. Therefore, back in September I applied and interviewed to be the new supervisor at the weekend!  3 weeks ago I had gotten the news I’d been both apprehensive and crossing my fingers for - I had aced the interview and was indeed the new supervisor on a Saturday! I’m thrilled to have the chance to do something different and I’m pleased to say it’s been going so  well thus for! The funny thing about my new role is my name badge, officially it reads “Cat Supervisor" which makes it seem like I supervise actual cats. In the past I’ve struggled to find my place and I’ve felt “held back" by my employers specifically because they have not seen past my Cerebral Palsy or valued my abilities so I’m excited to prove them wrong and support my colleagues. After all I’m quite used to asking my colleagues for assistance with certain duties on the job, such as folding or repackaging items.

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In other news my modelling career seems to be going quite well. I got to complete my ultimate dream of a photoshoot with OWLS. Their names were Thor, the Eagle Owl and Luna the Barn Owl. This shoot has such a significance to me. I never met my grandmother, but she collected owls unbeknownst to me. It was such a shock when my dad told me as both my cousin and I had a large owl collection too. I also got some amazing news about this shoot - the photographer is going to get the images published and I’m so so excited! These images give me so much confidence and I feel positive about myself when I see them being appreciated by other people! 

I'm also feeling better too, after restarting my anti depressants that also have muscle relaxants. I know medication is not the answer for everyone but I’ve found they have really helped me get back to my normal self.

December is very nearly upon us and I’ll be turning 23. I’m going to try my best to make this my best year yet! I think this is my last entry of the year so I wanted to wish everyone my best and hope they move into the new year in high spirits. Things are looking up!

Lots of love,

Cat =^-^=

One of my PA's has been sharing a blog with me that she has recently started following. It is called Gin & Lemonade and is written by Lorna - a young Mum with CP.  Lorna writes about a whole host of topics but one that has struck a chord with me recently is access.  Lorna does not mind being in a wheelchair.  What she minds is how poor access is.  The story of the teacher carrying a student in his backpack for a field trip has gone viral.  Lorna feels that we seemed to have missed the point in praising the teacher when we should be finding and highlighting wheelchair accessible nature trails. The young person involved is fine about the story going viral but Lorna makes the more serious point that disabled people are more than props for someone’s good deeds. 

Like Lorna I have my wheels. My wheels are not the problem.  My CP is not the problem.  My issues are inaccessible buildings and people not tuning in to what accessible means.  I am disabled by my environment.

From Service Stations which I can’t get my wheels into could you not move stuff so I can get my wheels in?  Sometimes it really is that simple.

Or how about before you advertise your Farmhouse as fully accessible how about trying it out with lots of disabled people to ensure that it really meets our needs.  We had done our research on a property to try this year for our holiday but the layout was tricky at best and unsafe at worst with me needing to go out onto a hairpin bend on the road to access the garden and raised pool.  The floodlit photo on the website did not show the lip!

I should have realised that things were not going to be easy from the get go for this trip.  Mum could not find her Passport on the Saturday with us due to leave in the early hours of the morning on Monday.  By Sunday afternoon having turned the house upside down it was clear that this Passport was planning on staying hidden and it was going to be too difficult to postpone given the way that my PA's were all booked up to be flying in and out over the next 3 weeks.

So I waved Mum goodbye and set off with some crazy weather for company all the way down to my favourite hotel and my preferred room which had been remodeled since my last stay and yes, you guessed it it was no longer accessible.  Delicious food helped to make up for the disappointment.

We then moved over to the Farmhouse only to find that it was not going to be suitable so immediately started to try and find what else might be available.  All in all that first week was spent packing and repacking and a steady stream of conversations and negotiations in an attempt to salvage the trip.  

So a week after I got to Spain, Mum arrived and we were back at the hotel for a week. All in all that first week was not very restful so the holiday only really got started once Mum arrived.  At the end of that week we moved again to an apartment in the Square.  Best fit given the circumstances.

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I got back at the end of September and have eased myself back into training from home having made the decision not to trek up to Lee Valley twice a week.  I have my new gym all set up at home and my PT is now coming across and with the days drawing in it feels like a good way to be heading into the Winter months.

In addition to the gym, great progress has been made on the murals in my bedroom.  It was hard work getting the brief together but I have got exactly what I wanted.  The only thing is having seen how great it looks has inspired me and I want more so that my whole bedroom is filled with Disney and Harry Potter characters.  I also have my Sensory Room to look forward to being installed at the end of November.  Feels like it has been a long time coming but I appreciate that it was important to get the plans right.  I know that it is going to provide me with the most important chill out space where I can have some privacy at last.

It was my Birthday this week and I started my celebrations with a surprise visit to Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens where one of my team has gone to become a Wine Ambassador.  I thoroughly enjoyed a Cheese and Wine pairing experience followed by a bottle of bubbles that Emma opened with a Sabre at the table!  This was followed by a visit to the Doll’s House Exhibition which was impressive.  I had taken my camera as I’m doing a Photography course at College but drizzly weather meant we spent only a little time in the garden.

On the Sunday I had a Surprise Party.  My PA's had worked to turn the outside area into a Big Top and we had a singalong to The Greatest Showman.  My afternoon began with a wonderful meal with my family but I made sure to save room for some Tapas during the film!

Monday was the actual day and I opened cards and presents first thing before heading up to London for a bit of retail therapy and a family meal.

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Now having started this blog by saying how disappointing access often is I want to end it by telling you how pleasantly surprised I have been by the College experience.  I am delighted to report that the faculty have already worked with a quadriplegic student and currently have a student with access requirements.  As a result the Risk Assessments and Emergency Evacuation procedures are all in place and the College have even offered to train my PA's on the EvacuChair!  

In fact I have been so inspired that I went to an Open Day at the College to see what options might be available for Art.  Watch this space for what I find.

Hi everyone,

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I hope you are all well. Firstly I want to start off this blog by wishing those who are going to the CP Teens Ball in a few weeks time a wonderful night. I have no doubt you will all have an amazing time. Unfortunately I am unable to make it this year as I am preparing for the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai later on in November. I am gutted to be missing the ball this year but sadly you can't be in two places at once. I wish that was possible though - that would be so cool!

Earlier this year, I promised that I would do a blog post about my recent trip to Romania with the boys' brigade when I returned. So for this blog, I thought I would share a few paragraphs I have written about the trip and the work we do in Romania:

Having visited previously in 2017, I was delighted to have the opportunity to make the trip to Romania and visit the Rhema Foundation for the 2nd time. I couldn't wait to return. One of the main reasons the boys' brigade continues to visit the foundation is to spend time with the residents. Over the years, a special bond has been created between the residents and the company, so much so we now consider each other to be like family. All the residents are dependent on the foundation to support them and unfortunately have very little or no contact with their family. Also, during our last trip, we learned that we are the only organisation to have visited multiple times. With this in mind, we try and spend as much time as possible with them during our trip. The disco and karaoke on the final night was a definite highlight.

As well as spending time with the residents, we worked with children from local communities and helped to run the foundation’s daycare sessions. Most of the children that attend the sessions come from gypsy backgrounds. These daycare sessions are vital as they not only provide a safe space to play and also they ensure the children receive an education they otherwise likely wouldn’t get due to the low status of gypsies in Romania. It was great to see the kids running around and having fun. They fully embraced themselves in the activities and challenges we provided, it didn’t matter whether it was making sculptures out of play dough or singing (and doing the actions) to “Baby Shark”. They even made sure they outdid us each time!

The first time I went to Romania, I really realised the importance of the work the Rhema Foundation does and going for a second time only reinforced this. Their work really is invaluable. The foundation has helped changed so many lives.

It was an incredible week. I am already looking forward to when I next visit, hopefully in 2021.

Gavin

When I first started playing the piano 9 years ago, I did not think that an instrument could have such a significant impact on my life.

I was influenced to get into the piano by watching my sister play as she had started lessons 18 months earlier, but I never thought I’d be able to do it and I just ruled it because of my fine motor difficulty due to my Cerebral Palsy.  Then in 2009, my sister was involved in a piano concert of which her piano teacher kindly asked me to be involved, I was a bit anxious as all I’d ever played was ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, however her piano teacher suggested I followed the lights which seemed perfect!

After doing this amazing show, I decided that in the next show I wanted to play the piano for real and nothing or no one was going to stop me! I started off basic as it was very hard to play using both hands, I am right-handed and whenever I’m using my right hand my left hand tends to wander off. I had a lot of work coming my way, but I was up for the challenge.  Over time I have got better at the piano, and not only this but it has been a great source of occupational therapy for myself as since I started playing my fine motor skills have improved. It challenges parts of my brain that need to be challenged and pushed as by playing the piano I must work against my brain. I admit I’m not the best pianist in the world, but this doesn’t matter all the matters is that I enjoy it.

Playing the piano has given me many opportunities I uploaded a video of myself playing for World Cerebral Palsy Day, in October 2018, of which I was taken back by how many views I managed to get! So now I am using the piano in a positive way.  I never thought that when I started 9 years ago, that it would help me gain confidence in not just being a young-women but being a young-women with a disability. Due to my disability, I have a speech impairment and some people find it hard to understand what I am saying so playing the piano gives me the ability to present myself in a clear way without presenting barriers and to have this ability makes me so thankful to my amazing piano teacher!

You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it (sorry for the cliché) however this is what happened in my case!

Thank you for reading,

Georgia Vine

@georgiaannv 

@georgiavine4213

Hi everyone,

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Hope you all had an amazing summer & enjoying being back at School, College or University. I thought I’d use this blog post to make an announcement, I have decided to step down as an Ambassador for CP Teens UK after 5 & half years. This wasn’t an easy decision for me as I am so grateful to be involved in such an amazing charity that does amazing things, however I feel it is the right time to take a step back as I feel I can’t give enough time with my work & I will be getting more involved in a couple of mental health charities. 

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CP Teens has made me become more confident in myself and with my disability, without CP Teens I don’t think I would be where I’m at today in my personal life & my work life.

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I would like to share my story of what CP Teens UK has done for me, As a child I was quite outgoing & never afraid to get involved in social activities, then when I went to High School I was constantly in & out of hospital through out my teenage years & I started getting social anxiety & going into a shell, I would never go out & just spent all my time on my own as I felt my Cerebral Palsy was a burden on everyone around me as I couldn’t get involved in much my friends were doing, It was like nobody could understand how I was feeling & I struggled so much with loneliness. I started getting involved in radio to try & help but there was still a lot of struggles I never knew what to do, then doing my own radio shows I got twitter to help with promotion of my shows, I started getting a following so decided to use the platform to talk about me & my Cerebral Palsy, this would turn out to be the best decision I would make.

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Through talking about my Cerebral Palsy on Twitter I came across Ellie & she was telling me about CP Teens UK and her plans for it & invited me to become an Ambassador, which obviously I said I would love to be. CP Teens UK helped me so much, finding a group of people who could understand me & know how I’m feeling. Being involved in this charity has been great & I have met so many great people & hopefully helped loads of people too. 

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Looking ahead to the future I am going to be getting more involved in a couple of mental health charities as I have struggled with mental health for a number of years & it has come to a stage in my life where I feel good about myself & enjoying life so thought I can help more young people who might be struggle & give them the support they need. 

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I will continue to follow & support CP Teens UK, wherever I can & wish everybody involved in the charity the best of luck & if anybody needs someone to talk to about anything feel free to get in touch & I am always willing to talk with people.

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Thank you to every single person who have helped me so much over the years I will always be forever grateful.

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Josh

Red Tape

There’s no handbook about what it is like to have Cerebral Palsy and this means that there’s no section about what the biggest hurdles are, but I can guarantee you that if there was a biggest hurdle it would be red tape. A lot of disability bloggers talk about the extra forms we have to fill out just to get to where we need to be so, I thought I’d tell you my thoughts on it. Filling out extra forms is just a part of my life and something that I am used to; at times the amount of hoops that I have to jump through is very frustrating. The older I get the more determined I am to succeed so as soon as I see the red tape I fell very deflated because it’s almost as if I was going at 60mph and to get knocked down to 20mph- which, isn’t the pace I want to be working at! 

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The most frustrating part is that sometimes the exact same hurdles pop up, or even worse get bigger. I have just recently had an issue with renewing my blue badge in which this has taken 2 months to get sorted as my medical evidence wasn’t acceptable. I get it - the medical evidence has to be up to date! But my Cerebral Palsy is never going to go away or change for that matter! I also still get issues around my epilepsy - I’m seizure-free and have been for 15 years and have been off medication for 3 years. Why is this still a big issue? I understand my needs could change and you never know what’s around the corner; I don’t think everyone would have invested 3 years into getting me driving if they thought that I was going to have a seizure anytime soon. The most confusing aspect of the red tape is that sometimes the reasoning behind the red tape can be completely different. For example, going back to the issue of my epilepsy, this particular process I’ve done before and the last time I did it, no questions regarding my epilepsy came up. 

A big part of dealing with this red tape is telephone conversations, and due to my speech impairment telephone conversations are not my best friend and on numerous occasions, I’ve had to end the phone call and wait until my parents are around because the person at the other end of the phone can’t understand me. I’m a lot better at dealing with these telephone conversations then I used to be and have gained confidence, but when I have to pass the phone onto my parents I do feel like a little bit of independence has been taken away meaning that this process becomes more annoying. I would be wrong to say it gets me down because it doesn’t; as a 19-year-old I’d like to think that I can deal with these situations a lot more independently. But even if I can deal with the phone calls, when the form that I have to fill outcomes through the post and is not electronic, this automatically means that I need help as I struggle to handwrite so yet again it gets passed on to my parents, which again leaves me displeased. 

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Frustrating or not the red tape just comes hand in hand with any disability and not just CP.  Do I wish this red tape wasn’t as hard to cut? Of course, I do. But this doesn’t mean I want CP to go away, it just means that at times I want things to be easier. I’m fortunate enough to have had a remarkable life so far with CP and have been given more opportunities like writing this blog today because of my CP. So even though this red tape annoys me when I look at the bigger picture I realised that there’s worst things to stress over!

Thank you for reading,

Georgia
@georgiaanv 

Considering I am quadriplegic I feel like a bit of a Juggler at the moment as I have got several  plates spinning, or is it lots of balls up in the air!?!  Feels like both!

I have had a big recruitment drive going on which I have been heavily involved with - interviews, shadow shifts, taster shifts. I have to be honest, it is exhausting. Putting yourself out there, inviting strangers into your home, being extra sociable to get to know new people with no guarantee that at the end of it all any of it will work out. I have fingers crossed that it will and I am doing everything in my power from my side to get things to work.  From my Team Leader down we have had quite a move about with virtually a whole new team which means lots of additional training and Staff Meetings.  How long is reasonable to expect a newbie to get the hang of the system and my routine?  It’s a question I am asking myself on a daily basis right now I can tell you.

A ray of sunshine - although it feels like a lifetime ago, given I am currently sitting here in what feels like a Monsoon, was my trip to Center Parcs with my two longest standing PAs.  It was the first time at Center Parcs for all of us and I have to tell you it was one of the best breaks I have ever had.  Can you imagine being disabled and being told that you can do every activity that you want to?  No? Nor could I.   The power of yes is infectious.  I zip wired, I went on the white water rapids, I did Field Archery and the Tree Tops Adventure and the staff were superb.  Nothing was too much trouble and wherever an adjustment could be made to help me access the fun it was done.  I will definitely be going back.

My new comfortable chair has arrived and I am loving it.  I have dates to start my bedroom mural to start within the next fortnight, my Sensory Room is well on the way thanks to fabulous Chloe at Sensory Guru - who are a forward thinking technical genius set-up who have recognised the gap in the market for us 20 somethings who would like a chill out zone at home where we are safe and can actually shut the door on sharing all of our home with PAs.

I wanted to touch on the difficulty of getting out and about for friends - relationships. I know that my situation with around the clock support is different from the majority of my mates who often rely on parents and siblings for help.  For the past two years I have tried to arrange a Summer gathering and neither year has it come to much and I know the major stumbling block is that my friends find it so difficult to travel any kind of distance.  Leading on from this point it poses the bigger question.  If friends find it hard to get support to do social things if they are relying on help from friends and family how are we supposed to establish relationships and date?  Life is hard enough but there are just so many obstacles put in our way to have any kind of meaningful relationships when you have PAs or parents helping you to FaceTime, feeding you if you are able to get out for a meal, generally ear wigging, lack of privacy. 

I have had a few competitions since I last wrote and the weather has been wild - from rain to winds at all of them.  Manchester was really tough.  We had a journey of over 9 hours on the Friday to arrive at a hotel with a kitchen closing.  Saturday we woke to torrential downpours.  Arrived at the venue and my chair gave up.  Throwing conditions were so wild Steve Millar MBE described throwing the club as trying to throw a slippery bar of soap.  Huge thanks to my tribe -  Nessa for her support - particularly in the loan of her chair, Taz you were an awesome support to me in the stands and to Ali who makes light of whatever chaos is thrown at us.  Ali you are a Warrior! 

I love a show and the Tina Turner story was sensational. I went with my Mum and Dad as a birthday treat for them and we treated ourselves to just being a family with no PAs and a special supper at the Savoy!

Summer Exhibition at the RA was a mixed bag this year but I enjoyed spending the time with my arty inspirational Grandma and we finally got a date  to visit the Doll’s House Shop at Steyning.

Regrettably I did not enjoy Thriller as much.  Felt a bit like Karaoke for me.  Shame.

So I have just cancelled an outdoor do for my PAs to get to know each other this weekend as the weather does not look as if it plans on improving.  I’m hoping we can move it indoors for a Painting Party for my sensory space.  There will be cake! 

I am really in need of some sun and am really forward to catching some sun in Spain in September. The sun definitely eases my spasms and I sleep so much better. All PAs have been tasked with bringing ideas for games and activities so I am excited to extend our repetoire beyond Uno!

Beyond this it will be Birthday celebrations, Little Mix and thinking about Christmas. I have decided to do some Craft Fayres making bits to sell on behalf of The Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity for whom I am a patron.  Always busy and always working at living my best life.  

Hi Everyone!

So the last blog I wrote was a few days before I flew with my parents to the United States! We had an amazing 4 weeks – but I am glad to be back home! The week before we went was my last week at University, so I was very busy with presentations. I finished on the Friday, went home and packed before driving to London on the Sunday ready for the 7-hour flight to New York on the Monday. 

We were in New York City for 5 days seeing all the sights. It was lovely during the day but did rain in the evenings – I think we went to Times Square 3 times and got drenched every time we went, including on the night bus tour we did! We then went up state for a friend’s wedding (and the weather was amazing!). Then the next 4 days we were in a house with the bride’s parents and 3 other couples who we didn’t know. We all got on so well and had an amazing time – we are planning next year’s reunion haha!

From NY we flew to San Francisco which was very bumpy!  We were there for a few days, seeing and smelling the seals, travelling up and down steep hills in the trams, boat trips round Alcatraz and going into the city and a spot of shopping of course! Leaving we managed to drive over the Golden Gate bridge 3 times as the sat-nav took us the wrong way!!

We spent the next several days taking in the sights of Yosemite National Park and then onto Carmel and Monterey for a spot of Whale and Dolphin watching.  Los Angeles was next on the list – and I was very looking forward to it……but it was such a disappointment! There was so much smog so we could hardly see the Hollywood Sign plus Santa Monica was really tacky. I did enjoy the Hollywood Walk of Fame and The Grammy Awards Museum. We did manage a better photo underneath the sign on our way out. 

Next on the list was VEGAS and after 6 hours (and 1 shopping trip) later we arrived in Las Vegas! Hot, hungry and tired, my body thought it would great if I fainted whilst trying to check in to the hotel! After sitting down and eating a couple of small packets of sugar that a member of staff got me, 2 security guys turned up to see what was going on. After explaining that this had happened before and that I just needed sugar to get my sugar levels up again, they still wanted me to get checked out by the paramedics. What we didn’t realise was that there is a paramedic team in every hotel in Vegas – well there has to be doesn’t there?!? (Our hotel was actually a resort with 3 hotels in it!!). The 2 paramedics were very nice and chatted to me while they made sure I was ok, they then wheeled me up to our ‘suite’ in a wheelchair!

The next day was definitely my highlight of the trip! We took a flight to the Grand Canyon and I got to be Co-Pilot with a very good looking pilot next to me! The views were amazing too!

Father’s Day was spent having brunch in one of the many restaurants in the resort and then we wondered around Vegas – it was really hot.

Our next stop was Palm Springs – again it was extremely hot and we escaped up into the mountains on the cable car to cool down.  The views were stunning, I am certainly more of a mountain girl than a city one!  Our last stop on our trip was San Diego, here we stayed with family which I had never met before. It was an amazing and relaxing 4 days before driving back to Los Angeles and having the 11-hour flight back to London.

So since I’ve been back, I’ve been getting over the jet-lag, been back coaching and diving, going to job interviews and I received my University results last week – I am pleased that I have a BA (Hons) in Sport Development and I can’t wait for graduation in October! Now I can relax, look for jobs and learn German. I have had a few celebrations already and we will be up in Manchester and Yorkshire when this blog goes out, so no doubt more celebrations with friends and family up there!    I think I need another holiday……. haha

I’m excited for the next adventure to begin!

Have a lovely Summer. 

Maddy xx

Hey everyone! 

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It’s hard for me to explain what’s been happening as I write this but I’ll give it a go! If it sounds as though I’m just blurting out my thoughts, I’m sorry. 

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First off, I’m finally a University graduate!! I can now say I have a law degree- how mad is that?! I’m really proud to say I achieved a classification of 2.1 with honours! Could not be prouder nor also shocked at the result. I know what pressure I put on myself to get this degree and I won’t let anyone put me down for grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I’m incredibly relieved university is over, although most of the time I enjoyed my course, I wasn’t enjoying the pressure I put myself under so you’ve no idea the weight that’s been lifted off my shoulders. 

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My plans following university was (as I’m sure some people may roll their eyes) to see if I could model full time! As I’m writing this, plans have been altered massively and my head’s been spinning. I can’t really go into it much, as I really don’t want to jinx myself. I now find myself in a kind of limbo. I’m pretty scared of being an ‘adult’ and I’m worried employers won’t want me. 

My graduation day is the 10thJuly, both excited and nervous that I’ll fall flat on my face. I am excited to see my favourite people in my life, my parents, my friends and my great Uncle and Auntie. I’ve wanted more than anything to have my great Aunt and Uncle there, so I’m glad I’ll get to see them on the day!

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Social media has been getting me down a lot lately. I’m becoming increasingly aware of perception and how people have a really narrow view of disability (something we all know is not the case of course). Disability is not a straightforward concept, something that is unique to each person. I sometimes can’t help but feel upset by some people in my life who think they know exactly how my disability affects me, and exactly how ‘severe’ I am. I know there’s no such thing as ‘normal’ but I have always tried my hardest to present the image that I’m okay, even if I’m not. For example, I wear heels, even if they’re killing me, and I constantly do the “DR walk” (as my mum calls it), around people, but people don’t see how much I’m struggling, both mentally and physically. Fatigue is real too, and a day or so of an activity may mean that I’m stuck in bed, or my couch, for a few days to recover. I hope one day society is more aware of hidden difficulties- both mental and physical. 

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I’m so proud of my fellow ambassadors, they inspire me to keep going. To see everyone flourish in whatever they’re setting their mind to is just amazing. I constantly try to remind myself that CP is a part of me, but it’s not my defining quality.

I’ll end my entry here. I’m sorry I’m not always the best writer but I find it helpful to write (or type!) my feelings without fear of judgement.

Love,

Cat =^-^= 

Why it was finally the Right Time to Become an Ambassador. 

Hello, I’m Georgia a new ambassador here at CP Teens UK! I’ve written a few blogs for CP Teens UK in the past; I’ve never gone forward for the ambassador role as it’s never been the right time. But, when Ellie approached me asking to be an ambassador I thought that it was finally the right time. I’ve been wanting to become an ambassador for quite a while but the last time it came up on my Facebook the timing didn’t feel right as I’d just started university so, I didn’t want to be taking too much on. Of course, I wanted to do it back in September but I had to be real with myself- I still fatigue very easily due to my Cerebral Palsy so, I had to be realistic and put my needs first. 

However, towards the end of last year, my passion for the online community grew a lot more and I wanted to do a lot more work online. I was worried that I wouldn’t have any time to write blogs and that I’d be too tired, but writing blogs was part of my winding down time and not just that, I wanted to make time to write. So, I started writing guest blogs for CP Teens UK as I wanted to build my profile up first before going straight into the deep end. Therefore, I wrote a few blogs, including my story which was put up during March, Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. My love for CP Teens UK had grown and now I started going on meets ups and I started meeting all these fantastic people of which some I’d already spoken to online, and I remember coming home from my first meet up and just knowing that it was the start of something for me. See, I’ve never really had many friends with disabilities and only a few with CP, so this opportunity was great, I remember everyone sat around the table and all comparing straws and I just knew that, at that moment, that this was where I was meant to be. 

Then the sponsored wobble happened…

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The sponsored wobble was just an incredible day that taught me a lot! I made friends but, being disabled wasn’t the only thing that we had in common we could just talk for hours about anything- this is when I knew that I wanted to be involved with CP Teens UK a lot more!

But there is also another reason why this opportunity came at the perfect time, I’m studying occupational therapy at university (random, I know hold on), so I had this idea of linking blogging with occupational therapy. See, I believe that I was born with Cerebral Palsy for a reason and from my previous work, I’ve realised this reason could be to create a link between the online community and occupational therapy. I study occupational therapy as I can bring to the table my personal experiences as well as professional experiences and this how blogging links into it even if this link isn’t visible yet. I’ve asked myself a lot of questions around creating this link with one of the big ones being ‘Where am I going to start?’ and therefore I’ve decided to put my idea out there because this is where I am going to start. I can’t start something without a general idea of where it’s going to go so becoming an ambassador is one of the first steps in this journey. I’m not sure how this idea will work, but I am determined to give it a try. 

So that’s how I got here, I’m looking forward to my future as an ambassador for CP Teens UK!
 

Thank you for reading,

Georgia
@georgiaannv 

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone is well – this weather is a nightmare, one minute cold, one minute warm!

As I write this, I am contemplating my future as this week I completed my 3 years at University - it’s scary how quick the past 3 years have gone! 

I submitted my dissertation on time – a huge relief as it was a massive struggle! I also had about 6 more assignments to complete afterwards! 

Now I can breathe and relax for a bit! I don’t know what job I will be going into or even when I will get a job. For now, the plan is to try and look for something but in the meantime I’ll be looking at more part time work coaching.  

I'd like to learn German as I'd like to work over there or Austria and will be much easier if I know the language a bit. Hopefully I may be able to do a bit of work in Austria next year -  really excited about that and ready to learn a new language!

University has been a very stressful time but I would strongly recommend it – it isn't for everyone and it is very difficult, but having been told by some teachers when I was younger that I would never go to University, here I am having completed a 3 year Honours degree!!  I have struggled a lot but I am so proud of what I have achieved. If you are thinking about going to University, then go for it! 

I have had amazing support (Student Finance gave me loads of software to help me) plus the support from University – my amazing tutor, amazing mentor and study skills tutor. If you had problems at school trying to get support, then University is completely different! Each University is probably different in what they can offer support wise (and I have been to some that weren’t helpful) but Plymouth Marjon University is amazing and I’m proud to say that I went there!

By the time this blog goes out I shall be touring round the USA with my family. We are going to New York first for a wedding and will be there in total for about 10 days.  We then fly to San Francisco and after going to Yosemite we go back to SF and travel down the coast. Some of the places we are stopping at are Carmel, Monterey and Los Angeles. From there we drive to Las Vegas for a few days and we will be taking a plane ride to the Grand Canyon which I am really looking forward to. We then have a few days relaxing and shopping in Palm Springs and finish our tour in San Diego for five days before flying home.  I think I'll need a rest when I get back!  Looking forward to my next blog and telling you all about it.

Hope you all have an amazing summer, when it eventually arrives. Bit of a dismal day here in Devon today, shame, so lovely when the sun is shining.

Maddy x

Have you ever seen the scales so well balanced or a see saw where the weight of the people match so both sides are left hanging in the air?  Well that is exactly how I have been left feeling after trialling the Eye Gaze. I am split evenly 50/50.  It has been a slog to get to here with PAs supporting me in building Grids full of imported pictures only to see the images disappear as gaps in the coding erased them during the compression process.  I am hoping that another loan period will help me decide as I trial the head pointer but know until I can source a flip out tray that can slot back in with ease there is little point in booking it.

I am juggling lots of projects alongside my regular training commitments at the moment.  I went up to Naidex with Mum, my Team Leader and a PA as I was keen to look for a comfy chair that would offer enough thoracic lumbar support.  I only found a couple of options and have pursued the Cura by Careflex whilst doing more research online. I have been impressed by the Cura and the Symmetrikit and am hoping that the tray which I have yet to see may be an answer to my Eye Gaze problem.

Today we started digging out the footings for my new sensory room.  I am keen to have a safe space and sanctuary where I can get away from everyone.  There are times when it really gets to me that I am rarely alone.  I can chill in my bedroom in the evening watching TV but there is always a PA listening at the end of a monitor.  I want somewhere where I can just shut the door on the outside world.  If I did not have CP, I could come home and shut my front door and leave the world outside but with CP my home is filled with people coming and going.  We are looking at intelligent door systems so I can get myself into a space where I can park my wheelchair and then fully matted I can safely move around inside.  Think bubble towers, illuminated ball pit (have not totally figured how I am going to get in and out yet!) fibre optics, projectors... my Wish List goes on!

Since I last wrote a member of my PA Team has left.  Exciting times for her and her family as she has started a Midwifery Course and whilst I wish her well, it is always an upheaval for the household and the hassle of needing to recruit more staff.

I have also won an award recently from SportsAid who have teamed up with Nelsons who manage the Spatone and Rescue Remedies brands. I went with my Dad and a PA to Nelsons head office in Wimbledon to receive my award and meet my buddy Simon.  I think we are going to get on brilliantly as he is sporty and foodie. Simon is planning on coming to see me in competition and get to know more about my journey and lifestyle and feed this back to his company to inspire and drive his team.  I am excited about the mentoring opportunities and am curious about the similarities in mindset for sport and business performance excellence.

I had my first competition of the season in a blustery, cold Kingston.  Performed better than last year so it is a promising start. Unfortunately I had an accident on my Race Runner a couple of weeks ago.  I managed to stack it at speed taking the impact through my right shoulder. Thank goodness it wasn’t my throwing arm.  Could kick myself as it was totally my fault.  I just get it into my head on that last run that I need to race back home Forrest Gump style and so if I am pointed in the direction of home on my last run out then I seem to be programmed to just head home.  I hit a bit of dodgy camber and the whole frame lifted. So I am on light duties, a couple of trips to the physio and a review to the Risk Assessment that insists my final run should always be in the opposite direction from home!

I spent a wonderful evening celebrating Dame Vera Lynn’s 102nd Birthday.  I am an Ambassador for her charity The Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity.  During the speeches we heard from parents, Patrons and her fundraising team on how the charity is totally reliant on the public for donations.  The evening was really inspiring and so I made a decision to commit to a monster fundraiser for the charity.  I wish you could have seen my Dad’s face when I announced to everyone that I was going to climb Snowdon.  My Mum thought that I was going to do it in my chair so I had to set her straight and say I mean to do it on my own two feet!  I have started training in my walker and trainers without splints. One of my PAs has started to bring her little pet therapy dog over to take my mind off the time, distance and my feet!

I had planned to go up and support one of my PAs who was running the London Marathon when Mum announces that she has read that they are taking Race Runners for 2020.  Given I’ve started training for Snowdon I thought well I have just got to go for it and enter the ballot.  Here’s what I have written in support of my application:

Hello!

Abbie Hunnisett here - Paralympic Thrower who represented  Team GB as a Club Thrower in Rio 2016 at the Paralympic Games coming 4thunder challenging circumstances as I had just lost my Grandpa four days before.  I am also a World and European Bronze Medallist.

I am a 23 year old, quadriplegic wheelchair user.  I’ve got CP as a result of oxygen starvation for a very long time when I was being born.  That in itself makes me a bit of a bloody miracle!  I am the only one in the world like me.   I have worked really hard to be as able as possible so not satisfied with being a Paralympian I have also started Race Running.  Imagine my delight whilst supporting one of my Personal Assistants (PAs)  from my team running this year at 2019 in London to hear that for 2020 you have opened the Marathon up for Race Runners!

When I knew this I entered the ballot straight away.  I obviously need help.  Given my level of disability I will require support whilst running, to ensure I am safe and take on fluids, use the toilet etc.  none of this I can do myself.  It will be hard for one person to run alongside me and complete all of this (especially should I need to use the toilet and my legs are like jelly) so I may need support from two people at certain points.  Ideally I would have a team of assistants, that could swap at certain points of the Marathon, to rest and keep up with me, but also support my care needs.   Should we be successful in the ballot my Dad who ran London over 20 years ago has said that he is going to train and hopes to run the entire Marathon with me, perhaps as my assistant, but I would still need other assistance during the race as mentioned or should he not be able to support me all the way - which could be the case with anyone trying to support me actually. But if he could, what a great story that would make! When I told Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity, which I have been involved with for my whole life since I was a little girl and am now so proud to represent them as an Ambassador that I was going to try to run the London Marathon one of the Office team was so inspired that they entered the ballot themselves!

I would dearly love to run for my charity (The Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity) because they are so close to my heart and I owe them so much and they desperately need the money to continue their life changing work in the support that they offer families facing great challenge.  Unfortunately they only get a single ballot place every 5 years and I need to run the inaugural Marathon that will include Race Runners.  Maybe by 2024 it could be my 5thMarathon!  But I need your help now.  If we are successful in the ballot and I can represent my disability, can you give me the support to make this dream come true?

I am also an Ambassador for CP Teens UK which is a charity founded by my great friend Ellie Simpson who has also entered the ballot for Race Running in London 2020.   We share a desire to inspire young people living with CP to live their best lives.

Race Running has been introduced at the World Championships having been approved by the governing body IPC at the European Championships held in Germany in 2018, and hopefully Race Running will make a Paralympic Games at some point. A Marathon would be a phenomenal achievement in my life. I have lost several of my disabled friends and I know how much it would mean to their families to run in their memory as well as inspiring those young people with CP by working hard and doing your best.  The impact of my personal story over this next year and hopefully being selected for Tokyo and the Paralympic Games, by being able to run in the first Race Runners London Marathon in 2020 would be amazing!

I look forward to hearing from you

Abbie@l1v1ngmybestl1fe

Member of Weir Archer Academy

I met up with CP Teens and went bowling.   Mum  and a PA came with me and it made me realise just how much fun I have with Mum when we go out and do things. It was Mum who was the first one up the step ladder supporting the crowds with no need of a megaphone at the Marathon. So I’m planning on taking her to the new Primark in Birmingham for a bit of retail therapy and to explore the new Disney cafe and Harry Potter experience.

As you know I love going to Shows and gigs.  Motown was superb and I am looking forward to seeing Thriller, Hugh Jackman and Robbie Williams over the Summer months with a treat in November of Little Mix.

I am looking forward to going to Ibiza, not been easy to plan as fitting in with training and comps I am restricted as to when I could go. It has meant that I am going right at the start of the season and so planning was a nightmare as we could not talk to Holiday Reps or get in touch with the Hotels. I had hoped to take some mates with me but appreciate that college commitments have meant that I’m treating this year as a checking it all out opportunity and will hopefully be doing it again next year.

I don’t really know what to expect as I haven’t tried clubbing in the UK but I’m keeping an open mind.

Signing off now as I need to get packed!

So I’m back.  I have had the most amazing time in Ibiza.  Airport assistance was super in Ibiza with a special seating area that they came and collected you from and took you to the gate and onto the plane before the gate was even announced.

The highlights of the trip were the Fire Dancer on the beach, the live DJ at the Sunset Beach and the sunsets in general. I loved the Little Mix and Olly Murs tribute shows and the pool party was brilliant. 

I am definitely planning to go back. They had ramps everywhere and it was all so clean.  Everyone was so helpful at pubs and clubs lifting my chair in and out and trying all those shots and free drinks!  My only changes would be to go for the upgraded black band as cocktails are included and I would look to travel between June and July as all the clubs will be open by then!

So having landed on Saturday I was straight back on it with a super healthy shop to support my diet followed by an early start on Sunday as I headed up to Lee Valley for a competition.  Clearly my body had benefited from the rest as I threw well.

I am off to Valence (my old School) to lead a talk and a Q&A this Friday about how to be healthy and the challenges that I overcome to lead my best, independent life.  The students have sent on some questions ahead of time which really helps as I can get my answers together and uploaded into my Grids and timed with my Powerpoint so that my presentation can be as slick as possible.

Right I’m off out into the garden to see how my newly planted pots are getting on. Bye for now Abs xxx

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all doing well. I can't believe we're almost already halfway through 2019!

I write this blog ahead of a very busy weekend. I am competing in Scotland for the first time since the European Championships in Berlin. Also, I am receiving my Queen's Badge which is the highest badge you can achieve in the Boy's Brigade. It's shaping up to be an exciting weekend.

Since I wrote my last blog, there has been quite a few changes in my life. 2019 is the year of change for me. I feel like everything is coming to an end. Probably the biggest change has been that I have now left school. As you can expect, lots of people are asking me how it feels to have left? It is definitely weird to know you're not going to school again after all these years of going but I feel I am ready to start a new chapter in my life.

So I'm finished school, what happens now? I think this is a question most people ask themselves when they leave school, especially if they are unsure about what they want to do next. With school, there is a structure to follow and you don't have much choice. When you leave school, all the structure goes and it's completely up to you what you decide to do next in life. Nobody can make that decision for you, whereas at school, everyone more or less does the same thing. While it's nice to have that freedom, it can be quite scary. I feel it's important to take some time to explore the options and not be pressurised to make decisions quickly.

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Transition from school can be a daunting process for anyone. I feel the transition process can be extra challenging for disabled people as there is often so many aspects to consider. As well as deciding what you want to do, you have to make sure the right support is in place and if you are going onto further study or employment, you have to make sure the facilities are accessible. All of this can get quite overwhelming. However, it's about just taking one step at a time. This is what I'm trying to do.

As I said, I feel ready to move on to a new chapter in my life and find new opportunities. Of course, I have worries about what will happen in the future but I am not trying to think about that too much. I think it's completely natural to have these concerns. It's a time of big change. I am sure many of you can relate to this if you have been through transition and if you haven't, you have got all this to look forward to!

I believe transition should be a mostly exciting time. Yes, it will be sometimes daunting and overwhelming. The most important thing to remember is to make decisions which you feel comfortable making and if you're not happy with a situation, let someone know. There's always a solution to every problem!

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Gavin

Hi everyone

Hope you are all well. Something I have noticed more recently and that is the amount of television coverage Cerebral Palsy is getting. Seeing so many comedies about people with CP is very refreshing, Cerebral Palsy has featured in television for many years now, but usually just secondary characters in such programmes as Trollied & Breaking Bad. But, in recent years there has been more primary characters on TV programmes, for example, Speechless, or more recently, Special, on Netflix & Jerk on BBC Three. As someone who has been involved in media industry before seeing more and more people with Cerebral Palsy getting more main roles is great.

I have recently returned to work at the Scottish Seabird Centre, This year I decided to try and work full time hours - it is something I have trouble to do in the past as it has just made me so fatigued, but having enjoyed working there last year I thought I could give it a shot as working in beautiful surroundings of North Berwick makes me feel so relaxed. Working in a centre with staff that are really nice throughout has made me feel more comfortable and confident in my abilities - they have also given me the opportunity to be a Team Leader in an busy office on some shifts, which is something that I am so grateful for as it shows that even with my disability, I can do anything I put my mind to.

Over the last year with my confidence getting better and better everyday, one thing I have struggled with is dating with my Cerebral Palsy. I think the main reason for this is that I always put others before myself. I never want to tell people I have Cerebral Palsy, but at the same time if I was to be with someone they would need to know I have it, but I feel it puts so much pressure on them and one of the things I dislike the most is people worrying about me. So hopefully with my confidence in work getting better, I will become more confident when meeting new people.

Lastly, I would like to say good luck to everyone who is sitting exams in next few weeks & months. The best advice I can offer to you is try and not get too stressed about them as you are still young and you have plenty of time to improve in the future. As someone who struggled with exams as I found them hard to do as I struggle when given a time limit, I ended up being disappointed with my results and I let it get to me. However, looking back now I realise it is best to look to the future rather than in the now. I ended up going to university and now being able to lead a team in a workplace. You can be whatever you want to and go on to achieve great things no matter what your exams results turn out to be. Hopefully you all have a wonderful summer and feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or just want someone to talk to.

Thanks

Josh

With university finishing in 2 weeks, and having a dissertation to finish for the 29th April, my stress and anxiety levels have reached new heights but as the saying goes “this too shall pass”. 

I’m looking forward to no longer being at university, and not writing essays that I’ve come to hate. If you’ve ever written an academic essay, for school, college or university, I think you’ll understand my pain! There’s a particular way in which you have to write (or type) and in my case I barely recognise myself in my own writing! 

But as I said, it’ll all be over soon! I’ve made so many plans in my head but the biggest would have to be sleeping-guilt free! As I’ve mentioned a lot (sorry guys) in my previous entries, I plan to see how far I can create a modelling career and I’m hoping to keep myself busy over the summer! I’m also planning to continue my volunteering but also take the 10th July (graduation) as a well earned celebration! I’ve got my outfit all planned out - a 50's slim dress in purple and Cheshire cat shoes that light up as you walk. Yes, I’m being brave and attempting heels. Risky, as most of us know how graceful CP makes us, but well worth it as I really want to stand out.

I am however, fairly concerned about my gown, and it drowning my left arm that can’t straighten, or indeed not being able to keep my cap on my head. How did you guys deal with this? I’ve kind of resigned myself to the fact that if I fall, at least I’ll be memorable! Plus everyone needs a smile through the long ceremony, right? I should know, I sat through my mum’s when I was younger. Hopefully it’ll be better being the actual person walking this time, ay?

I can’t say I’ve looked too far into the future after the summer, but one thing keeping me going is the knowledge I’m seeing Lee Miserables with my fellow musicals fan, my mum! Knowing we are seeing it together in October, and that I can fully appreciate it without feeling guilty that I have an essay or some studying to do, is going to feel blissful, something that I haven’t felt in 3 years. I really think that’s what I’m most looking forward to, not having work on my mind.

There has been one down side to everything at the moment. My retail job, that I’ve belonged to for almost 6 years in September, decided to pull me aside and tell me not to bother applying for the supervisor role due to go on advertisement as the currently is moving to mid week. They did this without even asking if I was interested in even applying for the job (which I definitely am not - hopefully I’ll get to leave soon!) They told me they don’t think I’d manage the role and I’d get too tired with the long hours it requires, but then go ahead and ask if I’ll come into work on the Saturday at 8/8:30! How hypocritical can they get! I’m left in a position that I can’t afford to leave, but don’t want to stay. I’m also left feeling like no employer would want me, because, and I’m being a bit defeatist here, I accept, let’s face it, how many people make it into modelling so I really do have to have a back up plan. I’m feeling lost in regards to employment. In need of encouraging right now. 

I’m sorry to leave this on such a sad note, as otherwise I'm quite content as I think I’ve finally accepted myself and learnt to appreciate who and what I look like, but it does upset me how other people (or another company’s don’t seem to do the same!)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter, and is going into summer with a smile on their faces
 

Much love,
Cat =^-^=

Hi everyone,

Since I last wrote it’s been a very busy time. A few days after the Storey Racing Team Launch, I travelled to Appledorn Holland to compete in the UCI Paracycling Track World Championships - this was my second Track World Champions and going into it I did feel pressure. I think it’s really important to be open about things like this, everyone has their own strategies, which change as time goes on, and I noticed a lot of differences from last year, mainly thanks to experience. There were a few things I worried about particularly with the Scratch Race.

Last year, I crashed and this has played on my mind, but I had lots of support from the coaches (particularly Barney Storey and Andy Pink) to do my best. Competing in the Scratch Race and the 200m alongside the 3km and the 500m meant I took part in the Omnium. The Omnium is a new test event for Paracycling and to be able to take part in it was brilliant!

One thing that is really important to highlight is that unless I am wearing GB kit, I am self funded - I receive no support from UK Sport, which is why I’m so extremely grateful for the continued support from the Derbyshire Institute of Sport and from Storey Racing, team and personal sponsors. Being a non funded athlete brings many challenges and I’m continually looking for support to help me to get to races.

This weekend it’s Easter weekend, which can only mean CHOCOLATE! But as a cyclist, it also means Buxton Mountain Time Trial - yes, I said Mountain! I’ve done this race twice before and it’s tough but beautiful; the scenery is amazing. I’m looking forward to it (sort of), especially as I have a new bike - it’s brilliant, I can’t wait to put it to the test!

Hope everyone has a great Easter!

Hi everyone!

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I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful spring weather that has finally been bestowed upon us. Living in the South West of the country we get a lot of rain, so this is really a very welcome start to Spring and here's hoping we have an amazing summer again. 

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It’s been a really busy few months for me trying to get my dissertation in order and now only a month to go. I did manage to sneak in a quick holiday with family and friends to Austria and I did some skiing, which was really great fun - not all the time as I had to do loads studying too. There was so much snow that many of the ski runs had to remain closed and you could hear them blasting the snow to stop avalanches from first light in the morning.  Now back to reality and hard work to get everything finished at University on time – only two months left to go, quite frightening.

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My diving has sadly taken a back seat recently due to my own coach being injured and also with the amount of work I'm having to do at the moment. I have had a few sessions with my old coach and they have been really good.  Hopefully, I will get back into it full time when I've finished my degree.

A huge highlight for me recently was attending my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award presentation at St James Palace in London on 9th February. This award offers young people a challenge and an amazing experience. Millions of young people take part – pushing boundaries and gaining new skills. It is available to all 14-24 year olds throughout the British Isles and it equips young people for life regardless of their background, culture or physical ability. It isn't a competition, but a challenge which pushes you to your own personal limits with recognised achievement.

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Because of my disability I found certain aspects of the challenges a real struggle but I was determined to complete all 3 levels. I was given tremendous support by many people, including the Forest of Dean team who helped with my expeditions.  The support from my D of E Leader at my old school continued after I had left, which enabled me to complete my gold award last May whilst at University. 

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St James Palace is not open to the public, unlike Buckingham Palace where awards also take place. So this was an incredible opportunity to be able to see such an amazing and historical building with fabulous ornate rooms. Groups/schools are divided into separate rooms with about 50 guests in each according to which area of the country they are from. We were lucky to be in the Entree room where Prince William and Kates engagement was televised from. 

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Prince Edward represented the Duke of Edinburgh and made us all feel relaxed during his chat, asking us about our experiences with volunteering, skills and expeditions.  As I was the only person who did diving as a skill he seemed pretty impressed with my progress. 

Olympic Rower, Alex Gregory, was the guest who presented us with our awards. He was a really nice guy, full of humour and a true inspiration to us all with the delivery of his speech about his own journey from grass roots to success.  

The presentation procedure lasted 2 and ½ hours including photographs, speeches and relaxing chats. It all went too quickly! My mum accompanied me to the presentation. Only one guest is allowed to attend. But we met up with family and friends afterwards and had a wonderful meal celebrating at The Wolseley in London where I was presented with a book from the Maître D. It was an amazing day and up there with my very special moments in life.

Christmas shopping is always eventful!  Christmas is undoubtedly my favourite time of the year and I enjoy every aspect from planning, finding the perfect presents, making my chutneys, wrapping and finishing a training cycle, to chilling out and enjoying Christmas films, games and time with my family.

Oh and I should really mention the food. I love spending time putting menus together and cooking.  For inspiration this year my Pa and I went with two PA's to Harrods and spent our time largely tasting and photographing in the Food Hall.  This was part of a Birthday promise from my Pa to me but I did wonder who was enjoying it more as we snacked out on amazing food! I came home laden with cheese and a superb Ragyu steak, which I cooked on my new salt stone – another Christmas prezzie!

Food, glorious food, where all my ideas came together bringing friends together for a pre-Christmas Party.  It felt great as I received lots of compliments about the work that had gone into the preparation.

Christmas had really started.  I had been to Lakeside, London and supporting locally as well as scouring the internet.  Big thanks have to go out to Mum for always going the extra mile (should be miles!) as she went to hunt down a bobble hat I wanted for a PA. Mum went from Crawley to Horsham eventually resorting to online.  Wrapping up Christmas presents saw me sending out my PA's to scoop up those very last bits from my list - nothing I had forgotten, but I was wanting it to be as special as I could possibly make it.  I even managed to get a cheese from the Isle of Wight for Grandpa!

I was really pleased with my tree this year as I decorated with all my Disney Princesses.  I was thrilled to see that Primark had a great array of Disney and Harry Potter (two favourites of mine) Christmas decorations which did slip into my basket making it a Disney/Harry Potter tree. Elsa was at the top of my tree and I have to tell you that a Christmas highlight is definitely my Dad singing ‘Let it Go’ at the top of his voice!

Christmas is definitely a time for family.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and enjoy time with PA's and binge watching ‘Home Alone’ is great, but no substitute for saying goodbye on Christmas Eve, shutting the door and just spending time with my Mum and Pa.  We freestyle and throw away the rule book. So if we fancy a pizza, Pa will crank up the pizza oven.  If we want a steak on Christmas Day, that is what we do!

The best presents I had have to be tickets to go and see not only Robbie Williams but also Hugh Jackman, and if that is not enough, my Grandparents gave me a perfume experience that I am looking forward to booking! Then there was a Pandora bracelet and new charm. Finally I have to mention the coolest Disney handbag – which incidentally when I went Bowling with my friends, we met a lady bowling with her grandchildren who shared my Dad’s great taste as she had exactly the same bag!

My gifts to Mum and Pa saw me thinking long and hard and scouring the internet. Pa was really pleased with the hot stone that I gifted to them and he is already making plans for a hot stone circle for outdoor eating as the weather gets fine.

In addition, I gave Mum boots, a jumper, a charm and a special Gin. I got Pa a special Whisky, a book on outdoor cooking, a raclette and optics for his outside bar.

I went to Disney On Ice between Christmas and New Year. It was a real treat as my Art Tutor had managed to arrange a box! Moana was fun. The fiery special effects were amazing. I absolutely love the Frozen sequence and Minnie and Mickey Mouse were really charming on their Special 100 Year Anniversary.  They certainly are wearing well!

New Year came with a fresh training cycle, spring cleaning and no sniff of any leftover Christmas goodies. That week was tough!  But living my best life I made sure that I had something to look forward to.  On Monday the 7th of January we booked tickets for Dream Girls as we knew it was coming to the end of its run but weren’t quite sure when.  Imagine my surprise when we heard it was finishing that very week!  We managed to get tickets for Friday, which was the second to last day and the actress playing Effie that night had her family there and it was really emotional.  The Savoy Theatre is so beautiful and in spite of it being a listed building the staff ensured that my needs were met.  I really had a fantastic night with a PA surprising me in being able to join me for a quick pre theatre supper at Frankie & Benny's and yes, I was still being good and rounding off with a cheeky night cap!

That late night was followed up on Saturday with another one as I headed off to celebrate my friend Olivia’s 18thBirthday.  I got her a lovely charm but I was knackered so I didn’t dance the night away, but I was pleased that I had made the effort to go and I did find a new drink I liked – Vodka, lemonade and lime, but it didn’t make me any less tired!

In addition to training, I am working with my PA's programming my grids in order to enhance my communication. I currently use my IPad and I am looking forward to trialling eye gaze on loan in March.  Watch the next blog from me to see how I get on!

I need to sign off now as I am heading to the beach with my camera on a rest day during my first warm weather training of the year in Spain.  I am excited and frustrated as I try to book another holiday though.  We have spent hours as a team emailing back and forth several resorts as I try to get my needs met being a CP wheelchair user. Guess what?  Watch out for the next blog to find out how this adventure develops!

Ooh before I sign off I ought to mention my trip down to Spain.  We rallied almost a day early from home to try and get ahead of the snow, but crazy weather was hot on our heels.  We got to Bordeaux in one piece and checked into the Grand Hotel, unpacked and slid into the spa.  Bliss. Once back to our rooms, my parents and I got ready for dinner. We had pre-dinner drinks (Porn Star Martini instead of my usual Vodka Mojito and a beer!) and then headed into Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant. We had the tasting menu with different wines for each course. It was definitely a once in a life time experience.

Leaving Bordeaux, we headed down to Northern Spain where I am renting a villa with my PA's. The night we arrived was wild with strong winds blowing down walls and resulting in power cuts. It is out of season so not much is open, but the square is still busy at night. Warm weather training is tricky when you are tempted by cheeky beers and tapas and I am trying to find a happy balance between training and down time.

On the 19th February, I went to see the X Factor Tour. We nearly didn’t make it as the roadworks were horrendous.  It was shocking as such large stretches of road were affected and I can tell you that my PA's and I did not eye spy that many workmen. It was stupid!  Quick thinking from my lead PA saved the day as we got a cheeky take away Nando's which I had to eat discretely inside the venue. Needs must but I don’t want to do it again.  MESSY AND STRESSY!  Scarlett is my favourite.  She will be performing with Robbie Williams at Hyde Park in July and I can’t wait to see them sing together.  Scarlett was really inspiring to me and to the whole of the crowd which was full of youngsters as it was half term. She talked about her unbelievable X Factor experience and the importance of following your dreams, which is exactly what I am doing!

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Before Grandma and Grandpa’s Anniversary Dinner, I bought lots and lots of dresses online to try on in the comfort of my own home. It was exhausting for all of us and I treated myself to a manicure and pedicure!  The ladies were really nice and helpful and two of them worked beneath the desk to do my toes so that I did not need to try and transition which was really sweet of them. I returned home with glittery pink nails, shimmery tights and got ready with a lovely bath, face pack, followed by hair and make up. I had whittled down my choices to a final four but needed Mum, Pa and my PA's to help me decide which one would be the best choice for a black tie event. I chose a new purple, tailored cocktail dress which I complimented with matching purple velvet heels.

We drove to my Grandparent's and arrived for 6ish - a pianist played from 6.30 as we sipped cocktails and nibbled canapes. This was followed by the meal.  To start, we had mushrooms in pastry and the main course was a slow roasted, stuffed rolled shoulder of lamb with dauphinois potatoes. Dessert was chocolate cheesecake which was really rich – nearly too much but the cheeseboard with Grandma’s specialty cheese finds was amazing!  

I know that I am really lucky to be able to book to see so many great shows and acts.  I have already mentioned Christmas presents of tickets for Hugh Jackman and Robbie Williams and I am also going to be seeing Thriller and Motown the Musical.  Actually, I ought to just mention that I have started leaving TripAdvisor comments. Check them out @l1v1ngmybestl1fe.

Hi everyone,

Last week's blog from Gavin made me reflect on my education. Gavin mentioned about the planning involved in going to university - there is a lot, particularly for those with a disability. I have now finished university (at least for now) with an undergraduate degree, PGCE and a Masters in Education is enough for anyone! I might reconsider one day but for now...

Before I went to university, I guess I’d been used to our incredible educators supporting and understanding Cerebral Palsy (at least to some extent). It can be difficult for some to understand that on one day we can do something and on the next we can’t - but most of my teachers understood.

Before I started at university, I had several meetings with support workers to find out what I would need. We spent a long time working out whether I should live at home - eventually I lived in Halls; however, I realised that I should have stayed at home. For me, halls were quite isolating. I’m not trying to put anyone off living in Halls, for some it works out, but it’s not for everyone. Go with what you feel comfortable with; I felt pressured by what I thought is expected. University = moving away from home. It doesn’t have to, do what you feel is best for you.

In other news, many of you might know last year I had a very successful year with cycling and due to this I have been given the opportunity to join Storey Racing, a Women’s cycling team. Our team launch was on Thursday and it was AMAZING. I can’t wait to start the road season racing with a brilliant bunch of ladies, with fantastic team sponsors.

If you’ve got any little uni hacks maybe you could share them on the Facebook or Twitter posts.

Hi everybody,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break! Seems so long ago now.

The start of the year is always a quieter period for me before the track season starts. However, I like to make my life as fulfilling as possible at all times so I haven't been keeping that quiet

This year, I have decided to start a blog. In fact, I posted my first blog on the 1st of January. If that's not dedication then I don't know what is. I guess starting a blog gave me a New Year's resolution because I don't usually have one. So far, I have done 6 posts on my various experiences in life and I have also interviewed some of my friends too.You can keep up-to- date with my blog through my social media channels.

I have also decided to take a gap year once I leave school in May. I have actually written a whole post about how I reached that decision.That was one of my very first blog posts I did. Basically, I have decided that I need a bit more time to work out what I want to do next and explore what options are out there for me. It's not a situation that I envisaged myself to be in. I thought I would be going straight onto university because I knew I was capable. However, there is so much planning to be done if I was going to go to university and that planning required time that I didn't have as I was studying for my exams last year. It is also about not rushing into a decision and making sure everything is set-up right for me. I shall stop myself there before I recite the blog post!

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I am also getting ready for the track season ahead. At the end of last year, it was announced that RaceRunning is going to be included at the World Para Athletics Championships this year in November. It's another step forward for RaceRunning. I still cannot believe how far the event has come in the last 3 years - just crazy! The world championships are going to be my main focus this year. I am especially excited as they are going to be held in Dubai so hopefully I can stay fit and get selected because I have no doubt it will be an amazing experience. It's definitely shaping up to be another incredible season.

I have one more thing to share with you. It's something that I am very much looking forward to.You may remember that in 2017 I went out to Romania with my boys brigade company to visit an orphanage and I wrote a blog post about my experience when I came back. I am delighted to share that I have been given the opportunity to go back to Romania with my company this August to visit the orphanage once more. I cannot wait! PS: I promise that I will do another blog post.

Gavin

Wow! It’s already 2019 and 2 months in too! 

I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy lately since I’m in my final few months of university - something which I cannot wait to come to an end. As much as I’ve enjoyed my course to begin with, I’ve got to a point where I’m ready to move on and finally fully immerse myself in my chosen career to begin with. I am beyond stressed, especially with my dissertation, so if anyone has some words of wisdom to help get me through these last few months, I’m all ears (currently stress crying at least once a day - it's not pretty!). I plan to take a break and relax at first, then work hard on taking bookings for modelling and hopefully find an agency to represent me.

Although modelling has taken a backseat, I do have an exciting paid shoot to look forward too in March! I won’t go into details via pay, but I do get to dress in my Tudor dress made by my good friend in a venue that is totally appropriate for the costume. Not only am I working the Saturday, but they decided to book the Sunday as well and put me and my friend up somewhere so we do not have to travel the distance! April sees me having a shoot in a beautiful architectural building with 2 female photographers that have since become good friends of mine!

Aside from modelling and university, I’ve been excited by the news that Barbie are releasing dolls to represent the disabled community. Not a lot of people know this about me, but I am a huge doll collector and have amassed way too many for the space in my room - and it’s causing me to debate whether or not I’ll actually get one as I might hold out for one with an AFO - that’s what I relate to most! 

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I do get my new Motability car soon, after some debate I decided to go with the newer version of my current car (Toyota Yaris Hybrid) in a dark blue shade. I’m going to need new names suggestions so if anyone has any do let me know! I opted for the same car again because although I’ve been driving over a year now, I’m currently only comfortable with town driving rather than long distance driving!

My friend and I were both single for Valentine’s Day and we each gifted each other with Valentine’s day presents to cheer one another up. 

Not strictly news about myself, but my cat, Cassie, turned 17 years old on Valentine’s Day! I cannot believe he has been with me so much of my life and I love him dearly. 

Hi everyone,

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Hope you all had a great Christmas & are having a good start to the year. I have just finished another season of working at Edinburgh’s Christmas & for me doing a different role this year really helped me as I was doing box office work rather than street team, which involved less walking so it was easier physically. However, I did have a few bad CP days whilst working this year & on my bad days I was struggling a bit mentally dealing with customers who were struggling to understand me - when I have a bad day my muscles are badly affected throughout my body including my speech and it can be worse than usual. I was lucky enough to work with some great colleagues & supervisors/management who were always helpful throughout the season.

People always seem surprised when I blog about my struggles as no matter how I’m feeling, I just get on with things with a smile on my face, but also I am very open about my cerebral palsy as I think the more you open up about it, the easier it is to cope with. So, if you are ever struggling to cope with your disability or any sort of health condition don’t be afraid to open up about it as it will help you even if you don’t want to talk about it or write about it. 

Looking into 2019, I am hoping to do more documentaries for the radio as last year I did some but not as much as I had been doing, but at the same time it was good to just take a breather away from radio as I had been doing it for so long and non-stop. This year I have plans to do more health & disability documentaries as well as a couple of nature documentaries, I also have plans to return to university to do a masters in tourism marketing having really enjoyed working in a tourist environment over the last 12 months.

For the last part of this blog I would like to talk about dealing with pressure & being disabled as I know a lot of you will be about to go into studying for exams or about to start your final semesters at college or university. Having a disability & dealing with pressure can at times be quite difficult as you get drained/fatigued much faster, so my advice for people at school is don’t worry too much about how you do in exams & just try your best, without putting any pressure on yourself and you will surpass yourself and be able to achieve your dreams. For anybody at college and university, just try to enjoy yourself and any pressure you are feeling will disappear. I have said it many times before and put pressure on myself whilst at college but not at university and enjoyed my university experience so much more than college - still to this day I say my university days were the best of my life.

Thanks for reading my post & remember if you are ever struggling feel free to get in touch with me or any of the other Ambassadors as we are always willing to chat to people.

Going Solo
 

I took a big, independant step this Summer as I planned a nearly three week holiday where for the first time in my life I would be spending ten days of that time away from my parents supported solely by my PAs.
 

Given that my parents listen, know and understand me better than anyone else  I would like to share that I did have some very real concerns about planning such a long time supported only by PAs.  It starts right at the beginning with planning for me and I run through my head exactly how I want things to be packed and how my case should look.  However whilst this is running through my head I also get a worried feeling that some of my PAs will not understand and I can get myself worked up worrying about the fact that they will think that I am moaning when all I want to do is feel in control by being well packed.  It simply makes me happy in my head when it is done right and it may take several attempts to achieve that. 
 

Another key factor in planning a road trip is your vehicle which my PAs were going to drive to Spain so imagine my stress levels when a fortnight before the off I was rear ended on my way back from a visit to Thorpe Park. This was a major headache as we were now looking for a specialist wheelchair friendly vehicle that my PAs would feel confident to drive and could fit all my gear in.  Yes, you guessed it we ended up with a minibus! The additional space came in handy though and I filled it with the bonus of taking my racerunner for some endurance work in the heat. Winning!
 

We broke our journey with a night in France but it was still long and boring even with blaring tunes.
 

I made the most of staying three nights at my favourite hotel - The Hotel Emporius enjoying cheeky cocktails on the terrace.  The following three nights were spent at Salou enjoying thrill seeking rides at the theme park. Having had some concerns about the trip away from my parents I was surprised to find that I had not missed them too much as we had touched base on the phone which really helped.   It also helped being busy doing fun things with my PAs. All in all the trip has been a success and I will definitely be planning to do more solo in 2019. However back to Spain Summer 2018 from Salou we took a route back to Es’cala where I spent the last ten days joined by my Mum and Pa and a change of PAs.  Es’cala was a blast from the highest waves I’ve ever seen through to wonderful shared meals.
 

Once home it was time to start my training but it was great to take a break and enjoy seeing familiar faces at the CP Teens Ball dancing and catching up.
 

The end of October saw me celebrating in style with a methodically planned and fully packed trip to London.  Highlights include dinner at Mash on my actual Birthday followed by a luxury night at the Waldorf. The following evening we had supper at The Shard where the whole of London was lit up.  The next day we saw a show where I may have met some celebrities and we finished with tea at Harrods! Oh and maybe a little retail therapy was peppered throughout! I really am so lucky and was thoroughly spoilt.
 

Back to work and training in November.  In my role as Ambassador for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust I thoroughly enjoyed spending a Friday afternoon with a group of youngsters in a conductive therapy session.  I took my Pa down and he took a trip down memory lane telling me all about how I would try to convince my Grandpa that I needed to go to the toilet to get out of doing something tricky when I was small!  Me? Really? On a more serious note Pa spoke passionately to parents at the start of their CP journey about the brilliant work that the Trust do and how in Pa’s opinion I would not be in the paralmypic position that I am today had I not put in the time with the sessions at the Dame Vera Lynn Trust.
 

I finished the year on a high with a trip to the X Factor Finals. Yet another example of how some organisers just do not have the first clue about what disabled access means.  I had planned this trip minutely - checking access, booking car park etc. but the reality was needing to try and keep calm and roll with all the changes. Ending up without wristbands and potential seats where you would need to stand could have spelt disaster but Wembley came to the rescue when one of their senior Operations Managers saw the problem and whisked us through not one, but two upgrades!  

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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
 

Abbie Hunnisett

Hi everyone,

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I hope you are all well. It has a busy few months for me since I last blogged in July. I thought I would take some time to reflect.

The last time I blogged, I was preparing to fly out for the CPISRA World Games in Sant Cugat. This was the second time the Games has been held within three years, following on from Nottingham in 2015. Like Nottingham, the Games proved to be a roaring success. Athletes from a record 25 countries competed in Sant Cugat.

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As you may already know, things didn't exactly go to plan for me. You may have seen a photo of me lying on the track with my RaceRunning frame on top of me.Well, let me explain! At the end of the 100m, I had a bit of an accident.When I hit the 50m mark, I could feel something wasn't right and my body position changed and I felt I lost control of the steering. You can see if you watch the race back that I was leaning further over the frame. At this point, I was just focused on getting to the finish line. I have been taught you always finish no matter what. There is nothing else I could have done - I knew if I had tried to stop, I would have put my competitors at risk. When you race, you literally go onto autopilot and the 100m is over before you have time to think.The one thing my coach told me specifically not to do before Berlin. I felt the most sorry for Matt and Rafi who both basically stopped running because they were concerned about me.

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I thought the CPIRSA World Games would be nice preparation for Berlin but now I had a huge scrape on my left elbow and they were all down my back too. I had been riding a high following my Berlin selection but this certainly put a dampener on things. After checking I was okay, people immediately asked about whether or not I could race in Berlin in 2 weeks time. The World Para Athletics twitter account even tweeted me to send their best wishes and hoped I recovered in time. Of course, I tweeted back saying I would. However, the real answer is that I was unsure. I knew I would be okay because my legs were unaffected but I couldn't guarantee that my frame would be in racing condition. It's easy to forget but in an event like RaceRunning, your equipment is just as important as your fitness.

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I am very relieved to say that I made it to the start line in the Berlin. What happened in Spain seemed like a distant memory although it was only two weeks before. I definitely noticed a difference in my perception afterwards heading into the Europeans. I suddenly stopped becoming fixated on the time I ran, I was just so focused on crossing the finish line and not crashing. In a way, I found it to be liberating.

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From start to finish, Berlin was an absolute incredible experience. It's only in the past couple of months where I really have had the chance to process what actually happened.

Looking back on Berlin, I am so glad that everything came together. Not only from my perspective but as a whole. RaceRunning was so well received.The support was absolutely incredible, quite a lot of things were absolutely incredible including the support and the experience. RaceRunning was one of the highest participating events there. That only bodes well for the future and what is to come.

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I am actually quite glad that my life has quietened down since the highs of Berlin. Having said that, I am still busy. It just that August was a really really really busy time for me.

It's now awards season.This year, I have come to realise just how many awards are out there.When you get selected for GB you get so many opportunities that you just do not think of, including a number of invitations to award ceremonies. The best one yet has been an invitation to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year!

All in all, I think 2018 has been quite a successful year!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year,

Gavin

Hey! 

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Since I last wrote, I am sorry to say my mood has lowered and I’ve been struggling with my mental health even more. I think this has to do with my final year at uni being ever more stressful and has meant I have not been properly able to attend photoshoots and feel more positive about myself. If I could, I would leave uni, but I do not see much point in leaving when I’m so close to the finish line, and I don’t think it’s within me to give up. 

I’m also disappointed to report that I am having continual struggles in my job- and their lack of considerations toward reasonable adjustments that they should have in place. They even has the cheek to assume I and my family were taking care of it. I have been there 5 years and constantly asked for further responsibility and not received any, and when they make “attempts”, they are removed quicker than I can adjust to them. I’m at my wits end with them. 

I'm struggling more and more with friendships, despite assurances that with age comes maturity. I feel used and seemed not good enough most of the time and feel sad that no one puts the effort with me but expect it from me.

I turn 22 next month and while I’m excited,  don’t currently have any plans at all, as last year after taking time to organise a bowling match, my invitees dropped out the day of. It doesn’t help I’m born a week before Christmas. 

I have to get a new car next year, which feels totally strange to think that I’ve been driving for over a year now. I’m stuck between my decisions on cars... stick with the type I have or go with a new one I have little experience with. The great problem when trying to get hold of a new car when you have adaptations, is not being able to test drive the car legally as they won’t put the adaptations on before you have purchased the car. Gahhh!

I also attended the CP Teens Ball again and got to see the people I usually only get to see once a year! I wore a vintage dress and have to say everyone looked fantastic and a ball was had by all! 

My cat Cassie is currently a great comfort to my anxiety and sense of self- he keeps me calm and helps me to de-stress. I cannot believe he is 17 in February!

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Right now I have to focus on my essay coursework and dissertation. Wish me luck!

Cat =^_^= 

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe it’s November! This year is going by so quickly! 

The rest of the summer holidays flew by, seeing friends and family and a relaxing trip to the Channel islands before starting my 3rdand final year at University! Ahh so scary!

At the beginning of August, I was photographed diving by one of the old coaches at Plymouth. She now photographs all the local diving events and other sports. She approached me last October saying that she was producing a book of inspirational people she’s photographed in Plymouth and she wanted to photograph me!!  Similar to when North London Aquatics came down, I was the only one in the pool which I was getting used to but the sprinkles weren’t working so doing some of my dives off 3m was hard as I had trouble seeing the water, one of my colleagues and friend had to stand under the board and splash the water so I could see the water and know when to ‘come out’ of my tuck shape. 

I got sent the photographs a few weeks later and they are amazing!!!!

Just before I went back to University, we went on a family holiday to Jersey and Guernsey. It was a fun holiday; the Islands are small and there wasn’t that much to do, but it was nice to walk along the harbours and look at the big boats – some of them were for sale so dad and I kept pointing out the ones we liked and saying that we were going to buy them hahaha! 

Going back to Uni for my last year was a bit daunting.  I'm sharing a house on campus with two boys but we all seem to be like ships in the night. Because I need support I don’t stay all the time, living close by means my parents are still able to help me quite a bit.

I'm beginning to think about what I’d like to do when I finish my degree. I'd really like to go travelling around Europe but that would be difficult with my mobility issues and I couldn’t expect my friends to take responsibility for me. I might do this with my parents in a couple of years and try and save some money first. Getting a job may be difficult for me.  I'd love to work at the University where I am now. I really like it there and it would be great if they were able to offer me something, even if this was just for a year. I would really want to do something to do with sports, but still not sure what, I guess I shall just keep looking.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even though it’s still a while away. Everywhere is beginning to look a bit Christmassy.  I love the Christmas markets especially the one in Manchester, but this year we are going to try Birmingham.  This will be my last blog before Christmas, so I want to wish all CP Teens and families a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic 2019!   

Maddy xx

Hi everyone, 

Firstly, I would like to wish CP Teens UK a happy 5thbirthday, it has been an incredible journey to see it become bigger and bigger, and to see it help it so many people it is an outstanding achievement. I think it also inspires so many young people to do what they love doing and hopefully it will help so many more people in the future.

A lot of people have recently gone back to school, college or university and I keep seeing that people with CP have been asked for tips on how to manage with their disability with new workloads, so I thought I would use my blog post to try and offer advice as somebody who done 6 years at 4 different colleges and a university. 

The main thing that keeps popping up is dealing with fatigue, this was probably the hardest thing I dealt with especially at the colleges. I was travelling 1 hour each way to get there and back. My advice for this one would be trying to be open about how you your feeling to your lecturers, friends and classmates. It is something I didn’t do when I started college and I kept how I was feeling hidden, this was affecting me mentally and I learnt to be more open. It helped a lot as I went through my education.  

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The next thing that is affecting people is the amount of work they are getting, This is something that others believed didn’t affect me as I was doing media courses so it always came across as an easy course where you just watch/listening to stuff- but there is so much more to it. The reason it may have come across like this is my laid-back mind-set. I was always told not care about if I passed or failed as this is one of the main reason people get stressed about their work as they focus too much on passing, but you are still young. If you fail don’t let it get to you as it isn’t the end of the world. Thinking like this was one of the reasons I passed all my courses as I was always stress-free. My CP will always be the biggest stress in my life, if you can manage your disability, you can cope with anything that gets thrown at you.  

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The last bit of advice I would like to share is balancing your disability with education and your social life. For me, while growing up my social life was terrible, mainly because of my disability. In school all my friends would go play sports and this is something I couldn’t do all the time and because I never was open about my CP, I just wouldn’t get involved. In college my social life got better but because I was travelling all the time I was always so tired. Therefore, I didn’t get involved in many things. However, my social life excelled at university as I was in accommodation and I think more importantly, living independently, as it gave me freedom to enjoy myself more as my disability was my thing to share with who I wanted, and you weren’t constantly around people that were always worrying about me. My advice would be to be open about your disability but also share what you want and just enjoy yourself.

Hope this can help for anybody that has any worries and I will always listen to people if they just need somebody to talk, feel free to get in touch.

Josh Halliday

Wow, a lot has happened since my last blog.

Leading up to the CPISRA World Games was tough but well worth it. On Monday the 6thAugust all the months of hard work and excitement finally came as I jetted off to Barcelona to meet the rest of the team at the airport. It wasn’t until the opening of the games that it began to feel real because you had all the countries from all over the world in order and ready to enter the parade. Before we knew it was completion day that led onto 3 days of athletics. I still can’t believe that I medalled not only once, but twice. Without all my support team, this wouldn’t have been possible. 

So, it’s a big thank you to Weir Archer and Optimum Performance for a everything that they have done to get me to where I am, ps. we still have loads more of these moments to come. 

Without everyone at the club I wouldn’t be enjoying sport to the amount I am now; the club has been a massive part in making me who I am, and it’s played a big part in helping me achieve, not just in sport but in the outside world as well. 

The feeling of racing for your country will never change, it was an amazing experence and I would do it again if I could as I’m missing being a part of a great team and of course the sunshine- lol. I definitely hope I get so many more opportunities like this. 

As most of you probably know, on the 6thOctober we had world CP day, I’d love to share what I posted on Facebook as I feel it should be heard by so many people with CP because even if you have CP, don’t let anything stop you from achieving:

Today is world CP Day. 

Without having Cerebral Palsy, I don’t know what my life would be like. I may be unstable when I walk short distances, I may be in a wheelchair for long distance walking but this hasn’t stopped me from living my life to its full. There has been loads of smiles, laughter and tears but it’s all worth it at the end of the day because of the inspirational support I get from everyone is what keeps me going. 

There are going to be many more challenges coming my way but so looking forward to seeing what my future brings whilst having all the amazing people around me to support me through everything.

Let’s make today about everyone living with Cerebral Palsy and show them that having a disability isn’t that bad after all, especially when you meet the most amazing people in your life through sport. 

I would love for more people who have Cerebral Palsy and MSI to get into sport as it’s been amazing for me so please don’t just sit at home, please be out and about enjoying life to its full. Ps. don’t let all these conditions stand in your way there are ways around it.

Your amazing love and support have helped me through life and through all its challenges. 

#WorldCPDay

As of this weekend we have the 4thannual CP Teens ball 2018. I’m looking forward to seeing people who I met last year and some new faces. It’s going to be a great night.

I’ll look forward to writing a new blog sometime soon.

• Olivia 

Hi Everyone, 

It’s been a very busy month for CP Teens, with race running, cycling and all manner of other things going on.

For me cycling has been the pure focus. Many of you may have seen that in March I went to the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio, Brazil; where I competed in the 3km Individual Pursuit as well as the 500m Time Trial both in the C1 category and finally the C1-3 scratch race. I’d never done a scratch race before so to do one at my first World Championships was pretty cool. There was no plan unlike my other races I just had to ride! My other races however were planned focusing on the pedal strokes and time splits.

I still can’t quite believe I came back from my first Track Worlds as a World Champion, oddly beforehand I’d never thought about the results I just wanted to enjoy the experience. And the year just seems to of snow balled from there really.

Within a few weeks of being back home I was off again this time to Oostende in Belgium for the first round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup Series. We stayed in this lovely little house, on a quiet estate only down side was the staircase, I had to go down stairs on my bum 😅which made me laugh! During this round I competed in the Time Trial and the Road Race. Unlike in 2016 ( the last time I raced in Oostende) the races were on different courses, the TT through the town and down the seafront whilst the RR still went through the town but down the side of the airport and back. After having such a big Track season I wasn’t sure what form I would have on the road, but I was amazed at how good I felt and the power I put out over the distances, the road race in particular went really well for me; as I managed to work with a small group of riders which definitely helped save a bit of energy. To my amazement I won the the first round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup Series!

I did a few races at home, local TTs, road circuit races and of course the National Championships. These races are always really important to me and really helped with the prep that was coming next.

The UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Maniago, Italy. I raced in Maniago a few years ago and had a bit of a tough time so to go back with British Cycling and race in GB kit was very special. Having had some time to acclimatise and get to know the course inside out, especially the tight left hand turns!! Come race day I had done everything I could and pushed as hard as I could during the race, worrying the Dan and Martin in the car behind me at at least one point... sorry guys 😁. Fortunately I didn’t have any mishaps and won the Time Trial, two days later it was time for the road race 3 laps of the same course as the TT in very hot conditions so hot the BC ladies and gents in the feed zones tipped water over me to cool me off in the 37 degree heat. I’m so lucky with where I live as it gives me the stamina I need to just keep going. The 40km race got harder with every 13km lap as the heat just sapped energy by the end the cold towel and water was amazing. Crossing the line first also felt very special. To win both the Time Trial and Road Race was something I’d never imagined I’d do, I still can’t believe it now!!

I had 4 day, yes 4 days at home before flying off again to Canada, for the final round of the World Cup. I was very lucky to get the opportunity to race in Canada and like everything else this year to roll down the ramp but this time in World Champion Stripes was amazing and hard to believe I was doing it!! This race circuit was a bit different to other ones with two flatish sections with a nice big hill in the middle; now I’m used to hills and this was short but very sharp. For both races I had to be within a time limit, which I met, meaning I won another two golds and the World Series.

It’s been an incredible season on the bike, I don’t know where it will take me but there have been so many amazing moments from crossing the line in Rio to climbing one of the steepest hill I’ve ever done in Italy and seeing the view from the top 👌🏼

Whilst I’ve been racing I’ve managed to fit in a bit of study on my Masters, which will hopefully soon be done and of course working part time. At this point I’d like to thank everyone who made this season happen from Sheffield Hallam University and the After School Club I work at for being so understanding to Barney and the Derbyshire Institute of Sport for keeping me fighting fit and ready to race; my family and friends for just helping in every way possible.

Katie xx

I’ve been so proud of myself lately! 

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After a recent charity fashion show, followed by a vintage fashion show, I finally felt confident enough to explore the possibility of modelling. Modelling has always been a dream for me; something which I never thought I do. But given my sudden surge of confidence, I decided to take the monumental step (for me, personally) and contact local photographers who may be interested in working for trade. I was lucky enough to come across a friend whom my brother went to school with- whom happened to have set up a photography business with his fiancé- and guess what! They were up for shooting with me. After seeing the result of this shoot, I was spurred on even further- and uploaded the images to a website that holds the images for portfolio purposes. I then contacted the photographer of the charity fashion show, and he said he’d be up for a shoot too! I’m incredibly proud of the images that shoot produced, as it not only proves to myself that I can model, it also highlights that I can be a model- and not just a ‘disability’ model- but a model who happens to have Cerebral Palsy! 

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Following the two shoots, one of which was roughly 3 hours (impressed with my own stamina!) I’ve been contacted by different photographers on social media who all would like to collaborate with me! I’ve also booked myself in for an event to network and shoot for an entire day! I am so excited to see where this leads, because this is being done with no cost to me-and I’m enjoying it so so much! The confidence I’ve boost I’ve had so far has been incredible, and I can’t believe the images produced so far are even me half the time! 

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I’ve got to make the most of the time I’m not in uni- as September marks the start of my final year at uni, and hopefully education all together! It may be that after university is over, I could consider professional modelling- but that’s in the future, so who knows!

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I have done so many shoots this summer and I would really love to get my name out there and potentially open up the modelling industry to a bit more diversity. I am especially proud that I was selected to model and advertise a local vintage shops clothing, and have also begun to gain paid work. This summer has really put things into perspective to me, that I really need to focus on what makes me happiest in my life, and that is travelling, and meeting new people, (whilst getting to wear amazing clothing of course 😉) 

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Modelling has given me such confidence and belief in myself, something which I was extremely lacking beforehand. I am extremely excited to see how far I can go in this industry, but I do know that I will stay true to myself and not shy away from my cerebral palsy in any of my potential job.  

Hi everyone, 

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Sorry but I feel like a bit of a rant……

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I’m struggling with the heat; my chair is padded so I’m sitting in front of a fan on high, so ridiculous! I have cool pads which go down the back of my chair but they don’t last long: I can’t sit with my shoes off because the foot plate is bumpy and it bugs me too much. I think they could think about more comfortable structures, I could be a tester for them….. My hair used to get caught over the nuts on the headrest before we put some tape over them. The fabric is uncomfortable and all kind of fuzzy on my skin when I’m wearing shorts, why? I guess it’s something to do with trying to keep me cool(?) but it hasn’t been working lately! It is the most comfortable postural seating that I’ve had though. I would really like an armchair like everyone else gets to sit on but it would have to have supports and a strap to help me sit up. I’ll let you know if we find one that I like. Get in touch if you have one to recommend!

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How many of you are fed up with wheelchair access at concerts like I am? 

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• First, you often can’t just click and buy online like regular seating. Booking for Birmingham Arena, when you click ‘buy tickets’ the link takes you to Ticket Factory. On that page you can’t buy wheelchair spaces, you have to telephone the venue for these – that must be disability discrimination surely? BUT, get this, they do a scheme where you can buy a special card which gives you access to the disabled seating online. YES, you did read that right, as a disabled user, you can pay to get access to online booking like non-disabled users. Cat (fellow ambassador) what do you make of that?

• Arenas have lots of normal seats and a walkway into which they fit seating areas for people in wheelchairs. This means that there’s not many disability spaces. AND you can’t sit together as a family because it “takes up disabled spots”; luckily we got to sit together when we went to see Fall Out Boy because there was room so my family got to see me go fabulously bonkers at the cuteness that is Patrick Stump (lead singer.)

• In Manchester arena the wheelchair accessible spaces made me feel like I had been abandoned in an old bus shelter; how about putting proper disabled spots in areas and making then equal to the regular seats? Actually…..I can stand in my power chair; why do I have to sit in the wheelchair spaces where I’m far away from the stage? What about being in general access on the arena floor so that I can be part of a better atmosphere? 

• I wanted to go to see Twenty One Pilots and my mum was ready with her £15 disabled access online booking card when the tickets went on sale at 10:00. As soon as the tickets went live she clicked ‘buy’ but the wheelchair accessible spaces were not available. So she called the accessible seating booking line to be told by an automated voice that she could now book accessible seating online. She went back on to the website and the wheelchair seats were there. BUT THEY’D ALL SOLD, it was 10:04!! 

• Get this, mum had to battle when I met Diversity. She wanted a meet and greet package but you could only have one if you bought a “Gold Package” ticket. Thing was, there were no accessible seats in that area. So the meet and greet option wasn’t available to me because of my disability. Mum argued and suggested that they remove a seat from the “Gold Package” seating area to get my wheelchair in. The box office said they couldn’t do that because it would probably mean 2 or 3 seats being removed and mum would have to pay for 3 “Gold Package” tickets. Mum got a bit feisty about disability discrimination and in the end A WEEK LATER she managed to buy 2ndrow seats in the “Gold Package” seating!! Just in case you were wondering, I did tell Ashley that I loved him! I’m sure that he would be horrified by this story, if you know him send me his e-mail address so I can tell him ;-)

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Mum and dad want to get legal training about disability rights into my EHC plan. We need to know our rights as disabled people because so many service providers seem not to know what the law says they must do and are not allowed to do.

On a happier note: it’s my birthday in a week and I’m so excited. I’m going bowling and for a certain Colonel’s specially coated chicken. 

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Thanks for reading, and keep sticking up for your rights! 

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Lucy x

Hi Everyone,

What does everyone think of this lovely weather? I really like it but sometimes it’s just too hot! We went to Manchester a few weeks ago to see friends and it was so hot! There was one day when we went shopping and we were trying to find the cool shops to go into when we wanted to escape the heat.  A week later and we went to Kent to see family, which was just as hot.

I finished my second year of University at the end of May – I can’t believe I only have one more year to go! The two years have gone by so fast! I’m starting to think about what job I’d like to do after, I’d love to go and work in Europe – my dream job is to work with the Paralympics Association! 

If that doesn’t work out, then I’d do a PGCE. Doing a placement at my old school this year as part of one of my modules for university has definitely made me think more about maybe going into teaching, my confidence with children has also grown and the whole experience I really enjoyed. 

In January I got asked to be Patron of a charity in London called North London Aquatics, they came down to Plymouth at the beginning of July to interview me and film me diving – I was really nervous because I was the only one in the pool and I’m not used to that environment but it was really fun and I enjoyed it once I got used to how quiet the pool was. Being interviewed on camera was quite nerve-wracking as well because I had to say certain lines 3 or 4 times so they could get the right angle – this was a challenge when I sometimes forgot the line I was supposed to say! I’ve also been interviewed for one of the local papers as well.

Some more exciting news is that I’ve completed my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. You can complete different levels of the award (Bronze, Silver & Gold) and I am proud to say that I have completed all three. When you complete your Gold, you are invited to receive your award at St James Palace by a member of The Royal Family! I am so excited to receive my invitation – the waiting list is 12-18 months so it will probably be sometime next year. 

I’ve passed my 2ndyear of university and I can’t wait for this coming year! My modules include: Sport & Disability, Sport in Society, Leadership & Management, Strategic Sport Development, Employment in Sport and my honours project. I’m looking forward to all of them with my favourites at the moment being: Sport & Disability, Leadership & Management, Employment and honours project – I’m sure that will probably change once I get into them! Haha! 

Employment means that we will be looking at how we go about finding a job, writing job applications and being interviewed by local companies. The honours project I’ll be doing is going to about diving and how I can get it into the Paralympics.

I hope everyone has a lovely summer!

Maddy x

​Hi everybody, hope you are all well! The last time I blogged, I had just finished my school exams and I shared an essay discussing my experience. Your response was amazing as always and I am very grateful for that. I find out my results in mid-August but I am trying not to worry as I have much more exciting and important things to look forward to. What was meant to be was meant to be. After all, exam results don't define you as a person. I'm a firm believer in that!

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Now I've dealt with exams, I shall start sharing what's coming up. August is shaping up to be an extremely busy month for me. I fly to Barcelona on the 6th August to compete in the CP World Games in Sant Cugat - which is about 30 minutes drive from Barcelona. It's always an honour to represent Scotland. Some of you may remember I competed at the CP World Games when it was held in Nottingham three years ago so I am happy to be returning. It is set to be the biggest world games, with around 25 countries participating in Spain. I am only doing two events (100m & 400m) in Sant Cugat based on the competitions that are to come later in the season, which I will come on to discuss. So, I will stay in Sant Cugat until the 12th. That's just enough time to prepare before I embark on my next adventure!

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Six days later, I will fly to Berlin where I will make my GB debut in the World Para Athletics (WPA) European Championships. This is not only a exciting milestone for me but it's also a exciting milestone for RaceRunning as it's the first time it has been included in a WPA major championships. I know you have probably seen me mention that many times before but I thought I would mention it one more time.

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I travel to Berlin on 18th August. The actual championships run from the 20th to the 26th August. I am scheduled to do the 100m on Thursday 23rd August but that could change . It's only the one event as it is the first time. In terms of following the action, there will be live steams but I'll try my best to keep you updated! Definitely exciting times!!!

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As I prepare for Berlin, I thought it would be a good time to turn back the clock to 2010 and reminisce to where it all began for me. In 2010, I competed in my first international RaceRunning competition in Copenhagen at the annual camp & cup. Over the last few days, I have been thinking how I would sum up that experience for you because it really started my career I guess, and I thought I would get my 11 year old-self to come and describe my first international competition.

So without further ado, here is what I thought of my first international competition - just 2 years after:

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"So I went to Denmark as the 'underdog' and I didn't know what to expect. It was a completely new environment compared to home.

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I was on the startline for the first practice race, which was the 100 metres. I can remember thinking 'I'm probably going to get thrashed here'. Everyone had spikes on and I stood there on the startline with just my trainers on. Nothing fancy. I felt like a newbie.

The boy next to me; turned round and said to me "Let's see what you have got!" I didn't know what to say or sign to him.

I actually won that race by a mile as I did in the 200m & 400m. I finally realised my potential but there was one slight problem, in all the practise races I came out of my lane, if I do that on raceday that leads to automatic disqualification.

As raceday arrived, another problem occurred; I didn't like the pistol and it was a pistol start.At one point, I wasn't going to do any of the races but I wasn't going to let that get to me. I was scheduled to do four events but I am proud that I managed to do two; the 100m and 800m."

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Sometimes, you need to remind yourself just how far you have come. All those years ago, although I dreamed about going to the Paralympics, I never thought that it could actually happen. There is still a long way to go but we are closer now than we have ever been.

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I hope I can do you all proud in August. Gavin

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Hi everyone, hope you are all well and enjoying the summer, with actual hot weather in the UK. I myself prefer cold weather to hot weather. I think the main reason for this is due to the struggles I get with having cerebral palsy, wearing a splint in hot weather is the worst as it makes my foot worse due to the heat going straight to the plastic. Also, I am not too comfortable wearing shorts when out and about, I can never find any good clothing to make my foot less hot. It also affects me quite badly has I always feel more tired and feel more vulnerable when walking without support. I always feel like I am going to fall over or get quite light headed. So hopefully the weather gets ‘better’ soon.

Over the last few months I have been trying to get fitter as I felt that my disability was getting worse, I have been trying to find ways to get fit. I don’t like the gym as I can’t go alone, and I am someone who likes my independence. At the gym I always feel I can’t do a lot of things without somebody there to help me. So, I decided to start walking more as it something I can do alone or with others, therefore I don’t feel trapped. More recently I have started walking up hills, with the good weather you get some stunning views and it is something that I didn’t think I could ever. By being able to do it makes me feel better about myself and my disability.

Also, recently I have been on a couple of dates, but it is something I personally struggle with due to my disability. I don’t like getting too close to others as I never like people worrying about me and always feel people worry about me too much. I guess it is something I don’t because I am somebody who puts others before myself.

I am also still working at the Scottish Seabird Centre and I am really enjoying it. I work in a good team of people and a great manager who understand my disability. This makes my work so much easier and enjoyable. However, I do come across things that I struggle with due to my CP but I just smile and carry on. One of the biggest struggles is not been able to take bookings over the phone as it involves holding the phone and typing which I can’t do. The customer sometimes gets annoyed if I can’t pass them onto a colleague and starts to get angry. I just say I have CP and then they start to stumble over words before apologizing.

Finally, I thought I would do something different to end my post. I asked people on social media to ask me questions about my disability so here is a couple of questions I have been asked:

How my CP affects me? Well I have Left Sided Hemiplegia which means I have little to no use of the left side of my body, I also need to wear a splint on my left foot to walk.

Am I always in pain? No most days I don’t feel pain, however I do have a bad day about 2-3 days a month which leaves me in a lot of pain and very fatigued, but it’s something people rarely notice as I am good at hiding it.

Does it affect my mental health? No, however if I can’t do something I do get a bit down, but if I really want to do it then I get very determined.

Hope you enjoyed reading my post and hope you all have a great summer!

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Josh

Hello everyone 

Hope you're all well :) 

I can officially say that I have finished my first year of college and I am looking forward to my next two years on the Level 3 Sports Science programme. I have already decided that I want to go to uni after I have finished as I would like to get a degree in Sports Physiology - I will probably change my mind as it is about three years away yet.

 I have been training very hard in preparation for the CPSIRA World Games that are being held in Barcelona.  I have updated my training more than ever and I’m feeling stronger at each race that I do. My final comp before the World Games is happening at the weekend and I’m hoping that I can PB in every race so that I’m consistent before I head off to Barcelona to represent my country for the very first time. If I do well at these Games, then who knows what might happen in the coming years. 

Being a full-time athlete is a challenge at times, training can get very tough and you can sometimes have mental issues like motivating yourself to do well, however if you think positive thoughts then the outcome will be greater and you will feel good about your performance. Sometimes training can be tough, but it’s all good for your own performance and it helps you reach your goals quicker.  If you want to achieve something, then do it with pride and passion and think to yourself it’s for your own benefit. 

I have found sport amazing - sport has given me something positive to think about and it has made me realise that I’m not the only one in a wheelchair. Sport is about building friendships and feeling that you belong somewhere. 

If you have a disability and don’t know what do to with your life then why don’t you try something that you might want to do? Such as a hobby or a sport, even if it’s going to the gym every week and getting healthy. Having a disability can sometimes cause issues within school - if you are struggling in school, then you need to know that you’re not different. You may just have a chair or sticks to help you get around - you should feel proud to be able to use a chair or a sick because sometimes it can make you a better person and more independent. If people aren’t being nice about it then just don’t listen and stay stronger. Stick up for yourself even when it can be very tough at times. 

I will look forward to writing again for you in 12 week’s time.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog 

Olivia 

Hey, it’s Friday and today it is my turn to post in the CP Teens ambassador diary. I thought what better than to talk about how mainstream media is finally becoming slightly more accessible to those of us with disabilities. You may recall that one of my previous diary entries was how mainstream media specifically wasn’t accessible to those of us with disabilities. This was because there simply weren’t enough disabled people on the TV. However, Lee Ridley has cerebral palsy and won Britain’s Got Talent with his act: lost voice Guy. Also, Robert White came second in the show and has autism, meaning it was a great year for disability representation on television and hopefully we can use this and help to make mainstream media more accessible.

So, what do I think will happen? What affect will it have on those of us with disabilities when talking about mainstream media?

Firstly, I think this is a great opportunity for people with disabilities because it really shows how other people are willing to get behind us and do well. I don’t mean this in a patronising way at all but the more people that are seeing disability as a good thing, the more it will get to be in mainstream media. I also think that Lee Ridley performing at the Royal Variety Performance will have a greater effect on the world we live in, especially in the UK, because people are now be becoming more accepting towards disability itself.

Television taken steps forward in order to showcase disability talent such as Lisa Hammond who plays Donna in EastEnders, and again lost voice guy who won Britain’s Got Talent. Also, big fashion brands are making a stand, I’m keen to follow who is making adaptive clothing for the disabled customers as well as hiring disabled models to be in adverts and fashion editorials. A great example of this would be Tommy Hilfiger, a high-end brand that recently made a few collections of stylish adaptive clothing for customers who have a disability and they are also following trends with these collections meaning that they’re no longer in-accessible to younger people who feel these are something they wouldn’t wear. The clothes feel very modern and something as a 16-year-old I would try out. Also brands like ASOS have recently used disabled models in their advert campaigns and this is going to help make fashion more accessible for everyone, this can only be a great step.

Hopefully some of what I written today is insightful and if anyone reading isn’t disabled but works within the media Industries I urge you to take something from this blog post in order to include disabled people within your company. 

If you know any other fashion brands that are following suit with Tommy Hilfiger or any other television programmes that are including disabled people you can tweet me at @official_faithm and let me know what you think or alternatively you can also tweet me about how you’re going to use this blog post if you are somebody who runs either a media or fashion company.

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Faith

Since my last blog I have still been very busy, having just completed another boring 6 week training block, but I still completed it. 

I had a week’s break afterwards which was what I needed. I went to Shrek world in London followed by some shopping where I bought some great bargains, I love to shop.

My break from training seemed to go too quickly, and I was soon back to the grind and my first comp of the season which was at my home ground Kingston.  The comp consisted of my first ever RaceRunning race on the Saturday, in the 100 and 200 meters, followed by Club Throw on the Sunday. I managed to get around the track and not crash into anyone and just about stayed in my lane, although I did manage to crash into the finishing markers as I crossed the line! 

After the comp on Sunday, I went over to Lee Valley for my RaceRunning International Classification where I was classified as a RR2, although they said I am border line of a RR1. Back to training for another two weeks followed by another comp in Stoke Mandeville and despite the cold weather and high winds, it all went well. 

A few weeks later I then competed in York which started off with a 6 hour journey to get there instead of 4 hours. I caught up with a friend of mine called Beth, a fellow RaceRunner and also a very good Boccia player. She invited me over for dinner, I stayed up in York as I was competing on the Saturday morning.  My Club comp went better than my last comp, things are still progressing.  

Later, I had my 100m which was a good time and I finished the day with 200m, which I found challenging and a bit hard around the bend trying to stay in lane. I ended my 6 week block with a holiday in Spain, which was really nice and it felt like home as it is a place we have going to since I was born. I managed to get some nice hot weather whilst I was there and I enjoyed myself with my PA’s and my parents. This was one of the first holidays where I was more independent as I did things on my own with my PA’s on some days. I really need two PA’s whilst away and this was the first time we had tried this. I enjoyed being with my parents, but also having some time to myself!

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I ate and drank a lot and now I am back with a tan starting my next block of 6 week of hard training, and having to lose a few pounds to get back on track.

So that’s what the life of a full time athlete looks like, sounds a little boring but that’s the price you have to pay I suppose!

Hi everyone,

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First of all, I want to thank Ellie for inviting me to the Sponsored Wobble to Chatsworth a couple of weeks ago, I had a lovely time. The weather couldn’t have been better for it! The only bad thing was I could not talk because it was too bright for my eye gaze device to work. I loved driving my power chair (Thor), I don’t get to do it very often. I also enjoyed my ice cream, it was mint chock yummy! I had a laugh when Debbie said “flying dog”. We were in the Kissing Gate (a turn-style kind of thing) and she had Ellie’s dog and she had to lift him up so I could get in. 

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OMG Patrick looked very hot when we to see Fall Out Boy (twice at Birmingham and Manchester) they rocked! They played my favourite, save rock and roll, I went for it! I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t do a meet and greet. I would have broken the record for being excited and squealing! I would have said “Mr Stump I love you Mr Stump”. I was so sad when they finished especially at Manchester because I’m not going to see them again for a few years. I hope it goes as quick as the flash and they do a meet and greet. We are planning to see Panic at The Disco next, I hope they do a meet and greet. I also want to see Twenty-One Pilots, the gigs look amazing and fun. 

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I would have everything crossed that RaceRunning is going to be back soon, I miss it so much! It will be nice to be back in my runner and up and running literally. 

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I’m having great fun with Climbing for All Sheffield – every week I hope to go higher than I have ever been. I can swing in a harness or I can try to climb with help. I can reach for hand holds and try to pull myself up a bit. it’s sooooooooo fun! 

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I have written about my Gridpad 13 before and told you all how great it is. I’m typing this diary entry using my eyes to select keys on screen just like you can press keys on a regular keyboard. Its slower but the predictive text helps a lot but does throw up some odd chocolate (see what I mean!) choices. I can control the telly with it too. I like to watch music videos on YouTube. I have an app that lets me search and skip adverts or those rubbish songs that it thinks I’ll like for some reason. It’s way better than what we did before, I would have to get someone to do it for me. I also have apps for Netfilx and Amazon Prime but I prefer to watch music videos. I want to try an eye gaze device with a bigger screen for school. About half of my screen is taken up by a keyboard so the rest of the screen is only just big enough for the document I’m typing in. It means that for worksheets and comprehension tasks I have to scroll up and down a lot and remember bits of information to type in my answers. A bigger screen should make it easier for me to have a couple of files on screen at the same time – don’t know yet though, the assessments to find the right gear cost a lot and that’s before we buy one. I’ll keep you posted….

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Thanks for reading, all the best

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Love Lucy X

​​I scour my surroundings with the hope of igniting inspiration. I receive nothing. Instead, I am coldly rejected by the infinite darkness that fills my eyes. Only the brightness of the light illuminating the screen comforts me. Midnight. I continue to graft. Why? Because I know I'm capable.

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***

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My stomach begins to churn. The familiarity of the instructions reassure me. My legs begin to tense. I enter the required details within the designated boxes. My hands begin to sweat. I have been told that exams are designed to challenge you and push you. Do well in them and you'll go far. I embark on this emotional journey similar to my peers.

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I scroll down to begin...

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I take a moment to compose myself. I look around. I see a sea of faces. Each one with their own story to tell. Each one has their own unique role. Each one has came together for the same reason. Together, they form a jigsaw. A jigsaw that would not be complete if one piece was missing. I feel pressure. To give back. I try my best to reciprocate.

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We both absorb the question. An awkward silence fills the room as they wait to be instructed. My mind goes blank. I begin type. I struggle to articulate. They struggle to comprehend. I try to visualise. We do our best.

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I hear the seconds tick by from the clock above. For now, my elapsed time has been paused to allow me to recuperate. I have been going for four hours. I have two to go. My body is beginning to tire but I know I can rely on my endurance. The chattering and murmurings from outside slowly fade away. I realise that everybody else has finished. Possible answers are still formulating in my brain. I am unable to switch-off.

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As I lie here, I contemplate about my journey ahead and reflect on how far I have already come.

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***

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As I study, I feel a sense of tranquillity. All I have is paper notes. No screens. No internet. No distractions. I find reassurance in that. The ability to be productive without technology is something to be valued despite the possible impracticalities over time. However, it is suffice for tonight.

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We are one of few in the restaurant. I relish the opportunity to enjoy a two-course meal. We look out onto the idyllic scenery that surrounds us. The local seaside is metres away. This feels like a celebratory occasion. However, I know I'm only halfway. This feels like a whole world away from the stress of the examination room. However, I know I will have toreturn in the morning.

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Some may say that this is an inconvenience or an invasion on privacy. Yes, I wish I didn't have to do this but I want to give myself the best chance possible to succeed.

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***

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I think we all can conclude that my exam experiences have been very different to those of my peers. Normally, when you think an exam, you would expect it would be completed within a maximum of two sittings. For me, it has been quite the opposite. This is why I wanted to produce a short essay in order to give you some insight into what it was like sitting all-day exams and one over two days.

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Sometimes, things do happen which are out of my control. With so many different aspects and people involved, you can imagine it is almost inevitable. Through experience, I have learnt just to let those things go, concentrate on myself and look forward.

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Gavin

Hi Everyone, 

Gosh I can’t believe it’s almost 4 months since I last did a blog. I have been SOOO busy at university in the past month, haven't had my head out of books, and so many essays to write. However, the last few months have also been fun.

For 50 weeks of the year I’m a platform diver, the other two weeks I spend skiing in St Anton am Arlberg, Austria with my parents and a group of our friends. Skiing and the mountains have been a massive part of my life since the moment I was born – literally! Being born in Germany, my first trip across the border was at 5 months old! My parents and some of our friends have been going to St Anton for 30+ years. Skiing with Cerebral Palsy is very difficult and I do struggle! When I was younger, I used to go into Ski School, but I hated this as the ski instructors would often have a large class and I couldn’t keep up. For the last 10 years I’ve had a private ski instructor which has worked out better as I can work at my own pace. I go slowly down the slopes and I fall over occasionally, but always carry on. I’ve certainly had a few injuries over the years including: concussion when I was 8 years old, bleeding on my knee cap last year and this year I fell over and pulled a ligament in my foot – every skiing holiday is eventful! The group of friends we go with are really supportive of my skiing and I ski with them occasionally, if they are doing easy runs. The other times I see them at the end of the day for Après-Ski and then we’d try and all eat out together.

Myself and my friend Julia are the only young adults in the group. We’ve been going together since we were a year old. This year we were presented with our 20-year Golden Eagle badge and certificate from the Tourist Office. We are the two youngest to have been awarded this honour.

Evenings are usually spent in different bars to our parents! I have a friend Max who works in one of the cocktail bars- so we usually ended up there. Max’s father used to be a ski guide for the group many years ago, Max and I first met when we were about a year old though obviously neither of us remember that.

Just recently I had my 21stbirthday.  I went for dinner with my parents and my friend to an amazing hotel on an island in Devon. It was Black tie so we all dressed up, the hotel was amazing. On my actual birthday the following day, my parents had arranged lots of surprise visitors, friends and godparents. Lots of champagne and I had some amazing presents. I am so lucky to have such amazing family and friends.

I'm currently doing a placement back at my old school as part of one of my modules, but more about that next time. Have fun peeps and enjoy the summer, when it arrives!

Maddy

Hi everyone,

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I hope you all had a great Spring holiday. I have been very busy recently working on a few things, I've just finished my Disney documentary which will be available to the public in a few months time and I am just starting my next project. This is about being disabled and dating which I feel will be help a lot of people as I will be looking into who are happy in a relationship as well as looking at people who struggle to date due to their disability. My aim for this is to show that even though someone is disabled they are just like everybody else. I have spoken to a few people so far, this has varied from someone who has a disability dating someone without one to a couple who are both disabled. So far I have learnt that when it comes to dating everyone is different, but everyone deserves to be happy. If anyone wants to share their experiences, please feel free to get in touch with me.

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I have also just started working at the Scottish Seabird Centre which has been great so far, everyone is super nice and understanding of my disability. It is also very different from my previous job at Edinburgh Christmas which was great but did involve at lot of walking which was causing me to be in a lot of pain. The good thing about my current role is that it is a mix between working behind a desk and working outside, so I get the best of both sides and it isn't too hard on my feet. Also, I think I have found the best way to work with my disability and that is to take short term contracts, so I'm not tied down to one role. Therefore, if I am struggling near the end of a contract, which has happened to me before, I can take a break before starting a new role.

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It hasn't all been great lately though as I have been falling over a lot recently and it is confusing as it isn't because of the weather, as sometimes the weather can be fine, and I still trip up or fall. As a result, I have injured myself. I am someone who doesn't let injuring myself stop me from doing things, some people think is wrong but for me I believe I am the only person who knows what I am feeling. As a result, if I feel I can deal with the pain- I will. The only person who can tell you what to do or how you feel is yourself and never let anyone tell you that you can't do something.

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Lastly, I would like to say good luck to everyone who is sitting exams in next few weeks and months. The best advice I can offer to you is try and not get stressed about them, you are still young, and you have plenty of time to improve in the future. Hopefully you all have a wonderful summer and feel free to get in touch with me if you want to get involved in my documentary or just want to have a chat.

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Thanks, 

Josh Halliday

Hi everyone,

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The 2018 season is right round the corner now and Barcelona is officially only 4 moths away. Training has gone well in preparation for the season. It kicks off in London next Sunday at the virgin London mini marathon, I’m hoping to finish it in under 20 minuets. This will be my last London mini marathon as of this time next year I’ll be 18 and won’t be able to complete the race as it for under 17s only. It’s going to probably be an emotional day because if I look back to 3 years ago I couldn’t even do three miles, let alone think I’ll be racing for my country this year. It just shows if you put your mind to something you can do it, no matter how long it may take. College is going well and I’m planning on doing the level 3 sports science course In September and then hopefully university in a few years time.

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I have been extremely busy this Easter holidays seeing family seeing friends and adding in extra training with trying to do my coursework at the same time. 

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If you find having a disability difficult and you feel that it lacks your confidence then why don’t you try doing something you really want to do in life and try to join in with people who may not have a physical disability? Because if you do something you want to do, then do it because nothing should ever stop you from doing anything in life no matter how hard it may be. 

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What ever life throws at you must always be positive. 

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Thank you for taking time to read my blog!

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Olivia :)  

Hey everyone, it's Faith here!

Since it’s my turn to post in the Ambassador Diary I thought that it might be a nice idea to talk about disability representation in media and film. Also, to celebrate the brand new short film - ‘The Silent Child’ - which is a story about a young, non-hearing little girl, who is also portrayed by a deaf actor and therefore I would like to ask the question, is there enough disability representation in media and film?

With big Hollywood stars like RJ Mitte, who also has Cerebral Palsy, being very well known, why is the industry not more open and accepting towards disabled talent on and off screen? Some may call it ableism, I just call it ignorance.

As well as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones also features a disabled actor who is known as Peter Dinklage. British soaps feature disabled talent such as Lisa Hammond, who is a wheelchair user and a prominent character in EastEnders. However, is this really enough for the media industries to be seen as inclusive for all?

There has been an ongoing debate for many years now about whether it is fair to disabled actors that abled- bodied actors get to portray characters with disabilities, even though there are many disabled actors that are just as capable of fulfilling the role. Personally, I believe that disabled actors should be able to fulfil these roles. However, I also don’t see too much harm in abled- bodied actors portraying disabled characters either, as I think acting is about becoming a character and putting yourself in someone else's shoes.  Besides, if you couldn't do that then you would not be doing your job right. Although this definitely does not mean I’m not all for disabled actors having equal opportunities.

I often wonder the reason why we don’t see more disability representation in media and film, or at least I did, until I found an article about how people find it ‘uncomfortable’ to watch actors who are disabled on screen. The thing that strikes me is that if an individual feels ‘uncomfortable’ watching someone with a disability on screen, what must their perception be when they see a disabled individual in public or how do they envision our lives to be?

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If disability representation openly makes people feel ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘uneasy’, maybe that’s why we don’t see enough disability representation on screen? However, I would say that education is key, the more people that are educated about disability, the better it will be for all of us, and ‘The Silent Child’ has really helped to get the ball rolling.

If you ever want a more light-hearted way to see disability representation I can not recommend ‘The Last Leg’ enough as it features disabled and abled- bodied presenters who are really helping to break the stigma around disability and make the media accessible for all.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this topic, so don't hesitate to tweet me @official_faithm and let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading as always and I'll see you soon.

Faith

Hi, my last blog was in November and I was getting ready for Christmas, putting up the decorations and getting in the festive spirit. For those reading my blog for the first time, I am a Para Athlete and train full time, so have a busy training programme and schedule.

I finished my six-week block of training the week before Christmas. I was getting ready for my two week break where I was going to spend the time with my family and friends. During this period I went to London to see ‘The One Show’ which went out live that evening. I met Max Branning from East Enders (Jake Wood), which was really exciting. I also spent a lot of time getting ready for Christmas and the New Year, as I had no doubt this was going to involve lots of eating and drinking, which wasn’t going to help me keep to my training target weight.

I loved Christmas, chilling by the log fire and spending time with family, a very special time of the year for me.

However, I did miss my training and started back on New Year’s Day where, I completed three hours in my gym at home, which was tough after a night of celebrating the New Year in. The thought of ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ came to mind!!!

So, back into my five-week training block after Christmas, most weeks went past much the same, train, eat, sleep, train, eat, sleep! This was a really tough block ‘The Strength Phase’ but, with added Cardio Endurance too.

After my training block had finished, I had a holiday to recover in Florida, Orlando for two weeks with my family, which I really enjoyed.  We went to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay, and I got to see my boy ‘Barney’.  I also went on loads of attractions, rides and rollercoasters such as; ‘The Hulk, The Rip Ride Rockit, Harry Potter Escape From Gringotts and The Hogwarts Express along with Spiderman, The Mummy Returns, Water rides and many more. Thankfully, we chose the right day to go on the water rides, so we dried very quickly.

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I did some retail therapy too and bought myself a couple of new pair of Uggs with one pair being a bargain!! I enjoyed my time away from training and spending some time with my family.

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I am now back from Florida I am getting into the full swing with my training to start getting ready for the season of 2018.

As I mentioned in my blog this last year I have been training for RaceRunning which I really enjoy and seem to be reasonably good at, although it is early days. I am looking forward to meeting up with other racerunners during the competitions this season and having a laugh.

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Although I do love RaceRunning, my club throwing is my first love and priority for this year. I am hoping to be able to get my co-ordination back and my tone reduced so that I can be back to my best for the European Championships in August 2018.

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Ok, got to go, another training session beckons, looking out the window the snow is falling, so I think it is going to be a cold one today!

Abbie

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog. This time, I thought I’d talk about my new puppy, and how it’s going at the moment.

Well, first of all, she’s gorgeous! (She looks like a mini Chewbacca!) And she’s gradually getting used to my wheelchair. When we take her out for walks, she runs at my bike and jumps on it; I think she’s confused about my wheels. Also, she ADORES socks and pretty much anything she can sink her teeth into!

Many years ago, me and my sister always begged my Dad for a dog, but he just wouldn’t budge. Here’s how his opinion changed. Last October, we dog-sat for a one-year-old called Lottie. My Dad took her for a walk and returned totally adamant that we were getting a dog, and you know what happened next. Betty has changed my life, and I love her dearly.

Although, one thing she hates, are baths. The moment she hears the water running, she starts crying. I guess she doesn’t like being wet. I know I wouldn’t!

In May, we’re taking her on her first holiday to the Lake District, and I’m really excited. She’s going to see new things, and she may get to swim for the first time!

It feels really strange to say that she’s ‘My Puppy’ because I’ve always watched my friends get dogs, it’s never been me. I almost feel proud to say it.

Life with Betty so far has been amazing, and I hope I make many memories in the years to come.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog! 

Eve

Happy new year everyone! I know I am a bit late but better late than never as they say. Hope you all have had a good start to 2018!

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A few weeks ago, I sat my preliminary exams or some of you might know them as mock exams. I'm pleased to say they went well. I'm currently in 5th year of high school and doing Higher level exams. For those not familiar with the Scottish schools system, 5th year is the equivalent to Year 11 and Highers are university entry qualifications that are in-between GSCE level and A-level. That's my best explanation so I apologise if you are still confused, but all you really need to know that it's an important school year for me. And, I should probably mention that I am going to be sitting 5 Highers in May: maths, English, physics, chemistry and modern studies.

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As someone who has sat exams with a disability, I have discovered that things are not often set-up properly and it becomes your job and those around you to get things sorted in time. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common theme when I have spoken to others with cerebral palsy and with other kinds of disabilities. So, for this blog, I thought I would share my exam experience and some of the challenges I have had to face in the process.

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Firstly, I would like to say that my school has been great in supporting me through my exams.They have been really accommodating and have allowed me to take the lead when in arranging my exam set-up.The responsibility falls have placed on my school to provide the right facilities and tools in order for me to sit my exams.They have never had a pupil similar to me come through the exam system before in the same way so you can imagine what a daunting task it must of been to begin with.

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Sitting exams is never a pleasant experience for anyone. I think we can all agree with that one. In the Scottish education system, we have to pass unit assessments and submit portfolio work before we even get to think about the end of year exams. Therefore, any student who wants to do well has to literally study constantly. However, when you have a disability, it becomes a whole lot more complicated.

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As a student, I have a pretty long list of requirements. For my exams, I require extra time, digital papers, separate accommodation, rest breaks, a scribe for diagrams (for maths, chemistry, physics) - and an invigilator. That's my list without adding in any equipment! I use a computer programme which allows me to carry out calculations. It's quite cool as I write the calculation in a code form and then it converts it into a recognisable form including all the symbols. On the other hand, it's quite time consuming and you have to learn all the different codes but it has allowed me to take subjects to a high level - which is the main thing! Then, I have about three different chairs which I rotate during my exams so I don't get stuck in one position for a long period. I also have a memory-foam seat pad to support my posture. I think that's all!

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It takes me at least double the time of my classmates to complete work. This means that I can have 6-hour exams or potentially even longer. There are definitely times when it does become overwhelming, especially when all the assessments all come at once! I suppose I am lucky in that my cerebral palsy does not stop me to working for long periods of time but it does get tiring. Many people with the condition do not have this luxury.

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Also, I don't have many regular hospital appointments but many others have quite a lot. And, of course, they often only have appointments during school time. This is something that has affected me from time to time but for others, it can really set them back in their progress.

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I have not exactly given myself an easy year. This is because I know that I am capable of achieving good grades and I want to keep my options open going forward - as most students do. I personally think it's really important that people with disabilities are given an opportunity to do well at school due to the reduced opportunities available to us after school. I feel we have to prove ourselves to colleges, universities or employers that we are capable to make them remove their preconceptions and see our ability.

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I have had to basically put everything on hold the last month or so. I would love to be doing more training and taking up other opportunities - especially with the exciting season ahead - but I know that is not going to provide me with a sustainable career and I need to think about the long-term future. I very much hope some full-time RaceRunner vacancies become available soon. In the meantime, my upcoming exams have to take priority as much as I would rather be training more.

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I have heard some horror stories from others with a disability about their exam experience, quite often when they are forced into a situation where it's virtually impossible for them to do well in school. This really frustrates me when I hear this, especially when they are able to stress how crucial exams are without any issue. My response is that is absolutely crucial that all education systems are accommodating for all. I cannot stress that enough. What is the point of sitting an exam if you know you will get only halfway through? This is like only being allowed to see half the questions.

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As I said, I have been incredibly lucky in the support I have received both at school and at home. I have been able to express my views and offer suggestions in confidence that I will be listened to. My exam experience has been far from easy but I have chosen to take on the system. However, to do this, you need support. Not every person with a disability has this!

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Gavin 

Valentine’s Day has just passed- I hope everyone had a lovely day!

Being back at University is both a blessing and a curse. My mind is occupied but my body is suffering from a pain perspective. I did, however, collect my coursework from last year and I’m pleased to say I passed them all. I’m still in shock that I graduate next year. To be honest, it can’t come soon enough, as I’m so tired. 

This year I started Law and the Vulnerable Person which is giving me a great insight as after university I hope to work in some sort of advocacy position. So far we’ve covered disability discrimination and the Mental Health Act. However, my friend and I aren’t too happy with the woman lecturing, as she merely reads from the screen- even my notetaker thinks she’s not enthusiastic about what she’s teaching. It’s a shame that the coursework is 4000 words! 

My friend and I went to lunch together- and she treated me as she wanted to make up from missing my 21st birthday. I made a new friend this February- she sat next to me during a seminar and we realised we had a lot in common- we’re planning a movie day soon. 

Breathe Magic invited me back again, and I adore attending so much. The kids are wonderful and I get a real sense of fulfilment. I stayed with the OT of the programme and her new partner. I always have the best chats with her. Breathe are like my second family. I hope to possibly work with them full-time one day. 

After completing all my alternative assessments, I now have to worry about all the pieces of coursework I’ve got to complete- the first of which is due at the end of this month- Land Law!

I recently started collecting a variety of different snow globes- most of which are Disney related. I already have 14!

 I also got my 4th tattoo this month- it covers my scar on my left wrist perfectly and is made up of my favourite colours. My 5th one is booked for the 20th. My friend Sam is an amazing tattooist and I’m glad I went with her as I trust her because she knows about my Cerebral Palsy and is totally accommodating.

My cat Cassie had his birthday this month. He’s 16 and in perfect health other than his hearing- which seems to be deteriorating. This makes me worry about him an awful lot as he’s been around virtually my entire life. I love my little old man!

In March, I will be taking part in my local RDA’s fashion show- I’m not sure what I’ll be wearing yet but I always enjoy myself with the ladies- they did so much for me when I was younger! 

Have a great month everyone! 

Cat =^-^=

Hi everyone,

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I wanted to tell you all how sad I am about the loss of Andy Longden, our RaceRunning Coach. We had such a laugh at training! I would say “Andy, I’m coming for you” and he would stand in front of me to tempt me to run faster. I used to try to sneak up on him to try to run him over. R.I.P Andy! Such a lovely person.

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I have had a great new experience since I last wrote a post. I was invited to try climbing with the Climbing for all Sheffield group (thanks Jenny). I was so excited to try something new and I’m a bit of a thrill seeker. I’ve been 3 times so far and Nick and the gang have worked out what harness will support me best and have taken me 6 metres up and made me swing a lot. I LOVE IT! (thanks Nick and crew) It’s great to see some of the folks from RaceRunning there having fun too. I love trying new things.

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My sister Jessica has just returned from an exchange trip to Spain. I love Spanish but I don’t think the same kind of opportunity will be available to me. School haven’t even managed to arrange a Geography trip that I can go on because they’ve chosen an animal park that does not have proper accessible toilets. To take part in the day they were going to have to get me back on the coach and drive me 15 minutes up the road to a shopping centre that has a “Changing Places” toilet. I reckon I would spend most of the trip getting into and out of the coach and toilet. Because I have my powerchair, a hoist and 2 supporting adults some so-called disabled toilets are nowhere near big enough. These attractions don’t really care; they just tick a box by putting a blue wheelchair sign on the door of a tiny room. If you need proper disabled toilets and changing, check out the Changing places web site and get involved in the conversations on twitter @ToPeeOrNot and @MumsMissions.

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I hope that all of you attending the CP Teens’ Fish and Fizz evening in on 3rd March have a lovely time. I’m going to see Imagine Dragons in Nottingham on that day so I will miss it. I’m also excited because I’m going to see Fall Out Boy twice at Easter. Mum has to be super-fast booking tickets for gigs. If she doesn’t get on the phone straight away on the day the tickets go on sale, we miss the chance to go. I think it is so unfair that there are so few wheelchair spaces compared to standard seating. Anyway, we did get tickets and I am going to see the gorgeous Patrick Stump and his band ;-)

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Thanks for reading my post.

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Bye for now,

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Lucy X

Hi Everyone!

Well Christmas seems a long time ago now.... hope everyone had fun. I’ve had so much work to do at University and exams - it’s been really stressful. For weeks now I only seemed to have done studying and revision! I've now started Semester B and my new modules. One of them is ‘Independent Study’ which I’m really excited about as we can choose our own topic to research and we also decide how we want to be assessed. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do yet, but quite excited as this will help me towards my dissertation for next year (did I mean excited or dreading!!!). I can’t believe I’m now half way through my degree!!

This past weekend has been amazing, thankfully with all the exams behind me, I volunteered to help out at the British Diving Championships 2018 at the Plymouth Life Centre. As well as meeting up with all the British divers from around the UK, and watching them try and qualify for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia, I helped out with flag bearing and the music – which was a bit nerve-wracking as all the events were live streamed, so thousands of people were watching you! It’s been an awesome weekend with lots of fun!

Best of all I spoke with so many people at the Championships about my campaigning to get Disability Diving noticed more and get people interested, this has been really difficult at the Life Centre in Plymouth, although there are DiveAbility sessions in other parts of the country. I haven't been allowed to advertise and they're not being particularly supportive or helpful with regards to Help for Heroes coming to dive either. But after this past weekend I have been approached by head coaches in Denmark and Norway and also from other centres in this country. Hopefully a competition will be held soon in Southampton and Norway so that's quite exciting-  fingers crossed that goes ahead! Things are moving I hope.

I'd love to know if any of you guys fancy trying diving, please get in touch with me, it’s so much fun and there are centre’s around the country that offer lessons for disabled – even Plymouth, it’s just such a small group!

So maybe the highlight this year is that I have being asked to be Patron for 'North London Aquatics' which is such an honour. This is very exciting, as the other Patron is Joanna Lumley. Exciting times ahead, fulfilling my role I hope.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Maddy x

Hi everyone,

So firstly, I should apologise as this blog post is slightly late, however this weekend has (and still is, depending on when you're reading this) been the British Cycling Track Championships. As a para-cyclist I have the opportunity to race in the 500m, 200m and the 3km Individual Pursuit and of course, as I like a challenge, I did all three (I'm shattered, but happy). In this blog post I'm going to take you through the weekend.

I suppose it starts weeks before, training 10 hours a week with a full time Masters degree and part time job on the side, keeps me out of mischief. Due to this I have to be very careful with fatigue levels. Measuring my Heart Rate every morning when I wake up is an indication of how my body is responding to training, nice and low and we are good to go, too high and we have to rethink the training plan.

Fortunately, in the run up to the British Cycling Track Nationals things were pretty smooth and I completed everything I needed to. This was a big confidence boost.

My racing schedule started on Friday 26th with the 500m. I love the 500m, it's a race of pure power, fast as you can for two laps and includes a gated start. I have trained hard for this and it showed taking over a second off my previous PB, this got me a Bronze medal and a new British Record.

Athletes are factored via their classification which reflects their disability. I was recently reclassified as a C1, as I have mild quadriplegic CP that affects me on the bike in many ways.

Anyway, on to race number 2 the flying 200m, no gated start you roll into the effort. 3.5 laps in total with the final 3/4 flat out. Again, I've been training hard, learning how to ride at the top of the velodrome isn't easy, the pros make it look effortless!! I have to think a lot about balance, positioning and be reactive to what I think my bike and body are trying to do. If you go too slow you fall off and on to the wooden track- that's not a good thing, believe me. The best thing to do is get the right amount of speed and build from there. Using the track to help you, going near the railings in the straight and as high up as possible in the banking. If you do that right and get the right line into the black race line (at the bottom of the track) and white timing line you'll do well, oh just don't let the G Force carry you back up as that won't help your time.

I've just re-read that paragraph, man there is a lot to think about, some serious multitasking going on.

Anyway, I managed a racing PB (I say racing because I've gone quicker in training, the track conditions weren't great as it was cold and high pressure, ideally you want it warm and low pressure) I also managed another new British Record and a World Best Time (not World Record as doping and the UCI were not present, oh). The 200m was at night so I did a 20-minute cool down afterwards and headed home for some sleep.

I managed 3 hours sleep.

Wakey Wakey rise and shine it is time for day two (Saturday 27th), it can only mean one thing- individual Pursuit day!! 3km or 12 laps of pace not pain, well hopefully not until the final half (6 laps). So normal warm up, even though I was quite tired by this point. A normal warm up is needed to get everything going again. I got really warm and was ready, but then had to wait 20 minutes due to other races, so I chilled out then got back on the turbo just to get going again. For this race, I had my Coach Barney Storey walking the line for me.

Walking the line is when someone keeps an eye on your pace at the side of the track, so you ride at the optimal for as long as possible, then give it everything right until the end.

So out of the start gate, get in!!! It was perfect (thanks to the practice at Derby Velodrome). I gradually wound the gear up. Track bikes only have one gear (and no brakes) so it can take a while to get going, but this time I was on target straight away. With Barney showing me how I was getting on by his hand signals from the side of the track. I did have a dip about half way and Barney just told me (via his hands) to go a bit quicker. With 1 km (4 laps to go) everything was starting to lose balance and I could feel my brain really working hard, but I've practiced for this and I know what to do. Look just ahead and concentrate on my feet. Before now I've become unclipped from my pedals and as there's no brakes you can't stop and go again. Three laps to go, come on you've got this, I'm thinking, hold position and empty the tank. Two laps, two laps!!! Nearly there, look for Barney - I'm on target!!  Right 1 lap, give it everything. At this point holding the bars is hard, I don't have a clue what my feet are doing, I just know my legs are going as fast as they can and I'm moving! Move faster or just MOVE as my Grandad would say. Just GO all the way to the line; I can see the line now, sprint, everything, come on!!

I've done it!!! I swing up the track in a wobbly fashion and try to look at my time 4:39.876. That's 7 seconds quicker than my last race!!! Fantastic!!! I roll around the track to Barney who catches me and holds me up whilst pushing me near to me pen (he's got some skills) where the lads are warmed up and getting ready to race but they say well done and a very tired ‘thumbs up’ from me.

At this point it's important to warm down; this time it took 30 mins for my heart rate to drop and let’s just say my legs weren't pedalling fast.

So now we watch and wait. I was in heat 1 out of 14, I think. It was a long wait. But a while later I found I'd got 3rd and also another National Record.

I'm pretty happy with this weekend. There were some outstanding racing from everyone, some very new riders and some with experience, all did amazing. We even managed to have a laugh in the pens in-between racing.

Thanks to everyone for their support. I'd like to say thanks to the people that were in the same pen as me; you were amazing!!! Funny, hard working and supportive. Well done guys we did well!

Katie

Hi everybody,

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I hope everyone is had a great Christmas and New Year. I decided to get a little Christmas job over the holidays, working at Edinburgh’s Christmas. It was something I wanted to experience since I have lived in the city most of my life and love going to the international and Christmas festivals, so decided to get involved myself. Since I have Cerebral Palsy people were a bit surprised I applied for the street team rather than Box office or front of house, but the reason I did was I love helping others and knowing the city very well I thought I would do better in that role.

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The company was very good at understanding my disability and gave me a good amount of control over when I wanted to work and for how long, as well as allowing me to take breaks whenever I was starting to get sore which got me the nickname which I will talk about in a minute.

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During my time I had a lot of ups and downs, the first few weeks were great helping people get into the Christmas spirit and the weather was fairly decent as well for that time of year. I was doing a variety of things whilst at work which made it much better than doing the same thing all the time. Everyone working there was really nice with the box office staff calling me a Ninja as I always was fast at handing the brochures out, with the security and supervisors were calling me a skiver because they also saw me just walking about. So eventually they just started getting called The Skiving Ninja, but one thing I could take away from it was even though most staff knew I had CP, they just treated me like everyone else, which a lot of you will probably know that doesn’t always happen.

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There was a lot of downs during my time working there from the first few weeks, as some of you will know having Cerebral Palsy sometimes makes you more anxious and I am someone that never shows it, but from the first week there was reports that the Christmas festival were high risk of terrorist attacks, so It was hard to try and stop yourself thinking about it. This made me quite anxious about working during busy times but I managed quite well once I started to get use working there, another thing was the amount of time I was standing and walking about. It was very hard to deal with and sometimes I was struggling to get out of bed in the morning due to the pain I was in but being the type of person I am, I just put a smile on my face and somehow managed to get through the days. It didn’t help either when the weather was cold and icy, if you have ever been to Edinburgh you will know everywhere you go in the city centre is very hilly so I did fall a number of times which didn’t help with the pain.

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Overall, I had a great time working there and meeting loads of people. I would highly recommend never think you can’t do something that you love doing because of your disability and your love for something will always be stronger than your CP, so you somehow will manage to do it. Hope 2018 is a good to you all.

Thanks

Josh Halliday

Hi everyone, Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a wonderful start to 2018. I have recently turned 17 and of course had my birthday. 

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Life is very stressful at the moment with college coursework and exams coming up within the next week or so. Training is going very well and I’m really looking forward to see what this upcoming season brings at me. This season will be the first one where I will be reporting my country and it will hopefully be the very first of many more amazing opportunities. I have also recently returned from a bit of sunshine in Spain. The weather was very nice and warm for a change lol hehe . 

I’m sorry for a short blog this time round it is because I have exams and coursework to do so apologies for it to not be as long as usual. 

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Thank you for taking time to read my blog and I wish you every success in 2018. 

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Thanks olivia 

Hey everyone,

It’s Faith here and today I want to talk about how listening to music has helped me overcome my disability and also, how it has helped me gain confidence as I’ve grown older and my music taste has changed.

As I’m sure everyone knows, music becomes a part of everyone's lives, whether it be in a small or big way. Take Christmas music for example, everyone knows the lyrics to at least one Christmas song and we all have songs that bring back memories.

However, all of these songs that we know have lyrics and this is where we get to the part about music helping me overcome my disability. Lyrics are a pretty powerful thing because they are ever so easy to believe and resonate with.  For me, one of the lyrics that I’ve always found powerful is a line from a Mumford and Sons track called 'Timeshel' that says "for you are not alone in this". These lyrics really helped me realise that actually there are others in a similar situation to me and I actually used these lyrics a few days ago to celebrate International Person with Disabilities Day on an Instagram post.

Also, I wanted to talk about lyrics from a song you may well know. This one is from James Arthur’s track - "say you won’t let go. I met you in the dark you lit me up". It reminds me of my friends as they have been there for me in the darker times but always managed to make me smile in some way.

As I’ve grown older my music taste has changed, which means that the way I view and listening to music has also changed. When I was younger I would listen to music just because it made me happy. Howeve,r now although music still makes me happy, it also helps my thought process and how I view the world.

BBC Introducing’s artist of the year this year is Declan McKenna. Now, the reason why I wanted to mention him is because not only do I like his music and his song writing, I also like they way he doesn’t conform to the ideals of being marketable, meaning that he writes about subjects that effect our generation and he also doesn’t fit into a select box when it comes to describing his music. Declan and his music helped me learn not to conform to the ideals  of modern society and learn that you need to be yourself.

There are loads of bands and lyrics I could talk about but if I did we would be here forever, so I think I’ll leave it there! However, I would love to hear what you thought of the post and you can always tweet me @official_faithm

Thanks for reading as always and I’ll see you soon! Have a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Faith

I feel like a typical day for me would allow many people to have a greater understanding about the daily experiences that someone with Cerebral Palsy goes through - unfortunately this is extremely difficult. There are many factors that can contribute to us having a good or bad day with our CP, and even then there isn’t always a particular reason for it to play up! 

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A typical day?

Just like everyone else, I wake up. I probably have woken up because my alarm has gone off, but like any normal teenager - I will press snooze. You see, the day before I might have walked a little further than normal, or even the weather might have been damp and cold. As a result of this I won’t have slept much due to chronic pain in my joints and muscles. I know I need to use my muscles in order to keep them strong, and I am grateful that my CP still allows me to walk, yet every morning I will wake up with certain muscles cramping for no apparent reason, my painkillers are no longer having any effect and I have seized up from being in one position for too long. First thing in the morning and last thing at night are often the hardest for me - sometimes you’ve just got to bite the bullet and get moving.

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Starting the day right
After taking medication I go into the kitchen and make a cup of coffee and breakfast. I am often less coordinated in the morning so I need to be extra careful with the kettle and really focus on what I am doing. I can make a cup of coffee but can’t carry it from one room to another - the way I walk (especially when I am not wearing splints) is far too wobbly to keep the drink from being spilt all over the floor! Thankfully my PA or a friend is there to help when I am at university.

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Time to get ready- CP style
For the most part I can dress myself, it may just be buttons on shirts which are tricky and I need help with these due to the fine motor skills which are needed to complete this task. If I am in a lot of pain then I am more likely to choose a looser fitting top, as even something as simple as this can make a difference. Similarly, if my left arm was particularly tight then I may not put my hair up as I will probably get half way through and it will give up on me, another reason why I now have shorter hair as it is a lot easier to manage. When it comes to doing my make-up, I am no expert in this field! I’m often very clumsy and will drop brushes and create a mess, a make-up brush is probably safer in my mouth than in my left hand. I know this may sound odd (trust me it is!) but when I plait my sister’s hair I will hold the hair in my mouth rather than in my left hand - I get the same result!!!

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The commute to university

I will put my splints on and I realise how restrictive they are every single time. I don’t wear my splints around the house and, instead, walk on my toes with my feet and knees pointing inwards. This may be quicker and more comfortable, but it wouldn’t allow me to walk outside safely or to walk the distances that I need to. With splints on and a bright yellow stick in my hand, I am ready to go! Walking to the train station is not a long walk at all, I just need to be aware of uneven surfaces as this could easily make me lose my balance- or even make me trip up over my own two feet. When I get on the train I hope there is a spare seat, I am able to stand for the short journey but my balance is quite bad so I will need holding upright if the train is busy. Most of the time people do kindly offer me their seat, making the commute a little easier. I feel like if I was on a longer journey and there were no seats available then I would definitely ask people- although it is easier when they offer as it can be awkward at times!

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Attending university
I will apologise in advance to the people I am sat with as I often have to change positions to keep myself comfortable and in less pain. I may also have random muscle spasms which causes my arm or legs to move (fingers crossed I don’t hit anyone in the leg or face!). These happen completely randomly and often happen many times a day. If I am stood up and my leg twitches, then I may nearly fall over or it may cause my hand to drop something. When a muscle spasm happens I will feel it build up and the movement is almost like the signal has been ‘fired’. Most of the time they aren’t that painful, just more annoying when you are trying to do things. However, if I have a lot of uncontrolled movement then it can become painful as it causes muscles to contract and relax at random intervals without my consent. Halfway through a lecture my hands could seize up and I have to take a break from typing. At the end of the lecture it is usually hard to stand up again. I will be stuck in the position that I have been sat in and will need a second to straighten up - this is probably the part where muscles are most likely to misbehave and may prefer to be in a sat down position. Sometimes I think they have a mind of their own!

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Cerebral Palsy limits our energy
The further into the day I get, the more tired I become. When I walk I move more than I should and this in itself is tiring! People with CP use three to five times more energy when completing every task that we do, probably because we are fighting with our bodies to get them to do what we want. Walking back from university my legs will have cramped up after being stuck in splints all day, and when I take them off it is the best feeling in the world! When I get home from university I may be so tired that I need a nap before doing anything else, or I may okay and just need to take it easy as the pain will be pretty high by this point. 

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By the time I get into bed I hope my legs won’t cramp and that I won’t be woken up much throughout the night - then the whole thing starts again!

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One day at a time, one step at a time

I realise that I have focused on the negative parts of my day, the struggles that I may face, but that does not mean I have had a bad day. In-between the pain I will have laughed with my friends, enjoyed the course I am studying, watched a film to relax, and gone about my daily business just like everyone else. 

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I have learnt how to adapt by doing things differently. I have learnt my limits and know that if I push myself beyond this then I will be in more pain the day after - but this is often worth it for the experience. I have learnt how to manage being in pain and being in a lecture. I have learnt that carrying a hot drink would not be a wise decision!

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My day is not bad, my day is unpredictable and can be a challenge. However, this is the day I am used to and this is the type of day that I know I can manage. One day at a time, one step at a time, enjoying as many moments as a I can.

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~ Chloe

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all well and looking forward to Christmas!  Since my last blog I have been away on holiday to Europe, well Spain mainly.  It was a 4 week break, quite a long holiday but after the last 4 years and my heavy training plans I wanted to make sure I had a good break to chill and relax.  The weather was great and I ate too much, but that’s what holidays are all about I suppose.

I have been paying for the extra weight I gained in the gym and the diet that I am now back on.  I always look forward to getting back into the gym and working out, I know it gets me fit and keeps me healthy, and helps to loose the extra pounds too.  But it is really hard work, and I look forward to the end of the cycles when I get a week off.

My first break from training allowed me to visit New York for my birthday.  It was planned earlier in the year but my injury and competition plans meant I had to re-arrange it to the end of the season.  New York was great, I did lots of shopping and sight seeing and would love to go back.  I ate a bit too much so back on the diet again!

Before the New York trip I went to the CP Teens Ball, which I really enjoyed.  It was great to meet the other Ambassadors and families and relax, chat and have a little dance.  I gave a short presentation which I hoped motivated some of the people in the room, my presentation was about how sport has changed my life and my Rio experience.  I am looking forward to next years Ball which I hope I can attend.

I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to try a new sport, and guess what, yes I am now a Race Runner!  Classified as an RR2 although bordering RR1, so will see how this develops next year.  I am training 3 times a week for Race Running, fitting it in between my training for the club throw.  I love the freedom Race Running gives and the speed you can go.  Can’t wait to compete next season and hope to see other CP Teens around the competitions.  The Club throw remains my main event, and I am working towards the European Championships in August next year.

I have changed my support team with the throwing and am now working with the support of Stephen Miller 6 times Paralympian. My dad is now my lead coach and things are really progressing well, so I am in a good place at the moment.

I have a new Power Wheelchair!  My old one eventually died and I was very excited to get my new chair a few months ago.  For those who know me you can guess what colour it is, yes ‘purple’…..

I love this time of the year, putting the fire on and snuggling up in the evening in front of the TV.  Christmas isn’t far away and if I had my way the decorations would be up already.  Still, will have to wait a few more weeks before Rudolf is brought out of the garage and the house is lite up and sparkling.

I am currently making homemade chutney for Christmas presents and the house smells fantastic.

It gets better on Sunday next week with ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ back on the TV…can’t wait.

I don’t think I will be blogging before Christmas, so I know it is early but hope you all have a Happy Christmas and hope 2018 is good to you all. Have a Happy New Year!

Abbie

Hi everyone. Hope you're well!

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Fowling up from my last blog so much has happened since. I have started college and have settled in well. I have also been travelling independently from home to college everyday. I'm just about getting the hang of things with getting assignments done by the deadline dates and keeping up with all the work. I do get tired when it’s been a long day and then I have to travel back home, but it’s all part of being a young adult and wanting to be independent. It's sometimes about proving people wrong who may think that being in a wheelchair means you can’t do anything with life - well, you can do anything you want, just don’t listen to those people because they honestly don’t know what they are talking about and don’t know what you do daily!

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On the 14th of October, I went to the CP Teens UK Ball 2017. There were loads of inspiring people in the room who have all been through what I have been through and have experienced what I have experienced in life. The Ball gave me a different view to life and gave me the confidence to tell people my story. The Ball has made me realise I’m very lucky and grateful to the support of my family and friends, and of course, the Weir Archer Academy. And, not forgetting CP

Teens UK - without these people my life, I would not be hoping inspire the next generation of Athletes and I wouldn’t be standing here today as an Ambassador for CP Teens UK.

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Last but not least, on the 19th of October I got the most amazing news yet in my racing career yet saying that I have been selected to represent England at the CPRSIA World Games 2018! This is a major thing for me as I have only been doing the sport for three years and I have improved massively over a short pried of time. I have wanted this amazing opportunity for so long and to finally have it in my hands, I couldn’t think of anything better than this! I do hope this is one step closer to my dream of racing in Tokyo 2020. I hope to get the Gold that I have wanted for so long. So, let the winter training begin!

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I hope this blog inspires more people to try Wheelchair Racing and to get involved in sport. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and thank you for the support.

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Love,

Olivia