Taxi!

April 6 2017 is a date that to most people will be just another day, maybe a birthday or anniversary, but to wheelchair users around the country, this day will hold significance.

I have mentioned in a previous blog https://refinedwithgold.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/to-the-taxi-company/?frame-nonce=b0cb9475cdabout the problems I’ve had when using taxis. Sadly my experiences are not isolated, these problems are echoed by so many wheelchair users throughout the country.

 

So why is today special? From today a new law comes in which could see taxi and private hire drivers face a fine of up to £1,000 if they refuse to transport wheelchair users or attempt to charge them extra. Announced back in February by Transport Minister Andrew Jones, the new legislation means private hire drivers could face fines or lose their taxi licences if they discriminate against the disabled.

This is such welcome news and hopefully wheelchair users will no longer feel uneasy or worried if they find themselves needing to use a taxi. I really hope that people will start going out and regaining independence and a social life without worrying whether they can get home easily.

Muggi Review

I’m fairly new to wheelchair life and one of the things I have not yet got the hang of is manoeuvring my wheelchair whilst carrying a drink. I look at everyone who can carry a drink whilst in their chair with more than a little jealousy. When I was given the opportunity to try using a Muggi, I thought Christmas had come. Yippee, once again I am no longer reliant on someone else to bring me my much needed caffeine fix.

Seriously the Muggi is amazing, an absolute game changer and one more step towards regaining independence. It has a reassuring solid feel to it and comes in a variety of colours. Being a girly girl I was delighted to see it came in pink.

Ok, I admit that the first couple of times I used it, I had a worrying mother or grandmother following me closely “just in case.” I can be clumsy and occasionally my coordination will go but the rubbery feet on the base of the Muggi ensured it was stable on my lap. For the odd minor spillage (I may have filled the mugs too much) the Muggi caught it in the tray rather than it splashing onto my legs. For the first time in 3 years I was able to carry not only my own drink, but the drinks for my whole family. I know it’s a tiny thing in a person’s life but it gave me a real sense of achievement. The clever thing about the Muggi is that it will hold 4 mugs, glasses, cupcakes, cocktails, biscuits (you would get quite a few biscuits or cookies in a Muggi hole) etc. It doesn’t matter if you like a dainty cup or prefer a bucket sized mug, the Muggi holds a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

There is one huge downside though… I now have to make drinks for everyone!!!

Wheely Brits

Wheely Brits: Providing support, friendship and advice to UK wheelchair users and their carers since 2016

Wheely Brits was set up at the end of November 2016. There was a very large, predominantly American group of wheelchair users which also had UK members. UK members were asking for advice and receiving replies applicable for the American population. After doing research it became apparent that there wasn’t a specific group in the UK dedicated to wheelchair users, and people who care for wheelchair users so seeing the need, Wheely Brits was implemented.

We listened to our members in the early days and this helped to shape how the group is run. We continue to seek input from our members and we strive to meet their requests.

The group is family friendly with ages of our members upwards of 13. The group is dedicated to provide support, friendship, advice and laughter. We have a good mix of serious and lighthearted posts that engage our members on a daily basis. Since starting the group we hear really positive stories on a regular basis. We have members who are essentially housebound and they have said that being a member of Wheely Brits has given them a social life again through the interaction of the members in the group.

To date we have over 800 members and we are currently getting between 75 and 100 new members per week with momentum picking up as we gain more members. We work on the philosophy that the more members we have the better we can support each other, however we do have a policy to confirm with member requests that they are a wheelchair user or carer to protect the integrity of the group.

One of the most successful examples we have implemented based on members requests is that we have a Wheely Brits Over 18’s chat once per week. Some weeks we run separate Mens and Womens chats, other weeks we have a mixed chat. This is so that our members are able to discuss the more sensitive and intimate subjects of being a wheelchair user. To join the over 18s chat members have to opt in and agree to abide by the rules of the group. This has proved to be very popular and it holds a very different dynamic to that of the Wheely Brits main group.

At the moment we have a great team consisting of admin and moderators looking after the group. We are all dedicated to the Wheely Brits cause and as well as dealing with problems and questions, we are constantly developing games and posts where everyone can interact.

I myself am proud of of the group and of you are a UK wheelchair user or care for someone who is a wheelchair user, I would personally like to invite you to join the Wheely Brits family. Please click on the link and request to join this popular and fast growing group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1267790583293894/

 

Game, Set and Match

12 months ago I was very nervously playing in my first ever tennis tournament despite only having been playing around 6 months. I really wasn’t a very good player but everyone was so supportive including Deena who patiently looked after me in my first ever tournament singles against her. Needless to say she won.

Despite being a very new, not very experienced player I refused to let it beat me, I wouldn’t give up!

This weekend I went back to the same venue, after training for around 18 months, for the start of the National Wheelchair Tennis Series tournaments and wow what a difference. I played very very badly on Saturday and was wondering whether I had been over ambitious. I played so badly and nearly had to forfeit the match due to pain but rather than forfeit I took Tramadol and kept fighting. On Saturday I was flattened on court. I played Paul first and then Alex. They both had a well deserved win.

Sunday saw me with renewed determination and I played 2 matches both lasting around 2 hours each. Unfortunately I lost the first singles consolation match against Matt 1-6 7-6 9-11. The tie break just kept going 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2,2 etc. In this match the winner needed 2 clear points. I was so close.

After motivating some of the newer novices to do doubles, today it was decided that Sarah and I would play together and Matt and Paul would play together. I’d never met Sarah before this weekend and hadn’t seen her play but I had nothing to worry about she is a phenomenal player. So the first set was 1-6 to Paul and Matt. Then it was 5-7 in the second set to Sarah and I. At this point I think Matt said “here we go again” and go again we did. Doubles almost mirrored the singles game we had just played. The tie break was first to 10 there didn’t need to be a 2 point clearance. Both doubles partners fought for the points and the whole match rested on that one little point after we reached 9-9. We won!

Both sets of doubles partners, despite us all having played earlier in the day, we were so tired to begin with which increased the value of every point won.

I was shocked when it was mentioned that 10 weeks ago I was still bedbound. I hadn’t thought about that before and it came as a real surprise to me, 10 weeks doesn’t seem very long.

So for 2 months of being bedbound over December and January, I started training again in February. So please excuse me when I say I am incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved this weekend. It really wasn’t about winning for me this weekend, it was a part of me getting back to normal life. It was also lovely to see friends that I haven’t seen since October / November last year.

I wonder how the rest of the tournaments this year will pan out?

My Faith in Humanity

So today has been a day that I can only describe as soggy. We have had the brunt of storm Angus, the first storm of the season.

Typically for me, I had an interview in Birmingham city centre. I met my amazing friend for lunch before my interview and felt guilty having to dash off to make my interview in time.

I had real problems parking for my interview but got lucky and found somewhere to park on the road but it was quite a push to get to the right building, in torrential rain. I was nearly at my destination when a very lovely gentleman offered me his coat, he could see I was very very wet. This totally restored my faith in humanity and thinking about it now gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Chivalry isn’t dead. Now I’m not the sort of woman who expects a door to be held open for me, if you know me at all i am fiercely independent, but this one tiny act today has made me realise that there are men who genuinely care, men so kind they offer you their jacket in torrential rain.

By the time I got to my interview I was soaked to my skin, even my knickers were soaked! Even though I was running a few minutes late I still had to find a bathroom so I could wring the water out of my skirt and attempt to dry off as best I can. I think my interview went well despite feeling my wet hair dripping down my back. The people interviewing me were lovely and I’m hoping I might be offered this job, the opportunity seems amazing.

I had to do something after my interview that I’ve never done before, it was raining as heavily as it was when I arrived, and windy and I realised I wouldn’t be able to battle that and the hard uphill push back to my car. I ended up phoning for a taxi, I was apologetic to the driver that it would be a short journey but he was so helpful, even strapped my wheelchair in properly. When we got to my car he even offered to help me get my wheelchair into my car. Needless to say I gave him a generous tip.

So out of a very very cold and wet afternoon there have been some lovely flecks of gold, for which I am very grateful.

 

Interviews

I finished my last job around a week ago after being with a company for just a few short months. I enjoyed the work and the people I worked with but despite working from home, it was worse that being in an office. There was a virtual chain tying me to my desk with no flexibility on hours worked and it would make me feel guilty if I took longer in the bathroom catheterising, when I’d get back to my laptop there would be a notification on my screen saying I had been in active for a while.

Anyway, enough about that, it was a gamble I took that didn’t pay off so onwards and upwards to better things.

I have an interview today. I don’t really get nervous or apprehensive about the interview, I enjoy learning about the company and the role and I know I come across well in interviews.  I have my granddad to than for that as he spent a long time preparing me for interviews from a young age.

I always make sure I prepare for interviews well, I go through the job / person spec and make notes against each point to ensure I am ready to answer any questions they fire at me. I also do extensive research on the company to find out how old the company is and how it was founded. I even go as far as searching for reviews from past and current employees to read up on what it is like to work for that company.

Even though I don’t get anxious for the interview, since being a wheelchair user I find that I have other things to worry about. Questions I’d never even thought to ask when I was running around in my heels:

Does the building have a disabled parking space, and if so will it be available for me to use?

Is the building wheelchair accessible?

If there are several floors, is there a reliable lift that doesn’t break down every other day?

Are there disabled toilets?

Is there an emergency pull cord in the toilets?

Can I get around the building easily?

How high are they security swipe pads?

Can I get into the kitchen to make myself a drink?

Are the desks at a height where I can use them comfortably?

Can I reach the printer / photocopier?

I’m sure there are a million other questions to ask, questions that I really shouldn’t have to ask because modern buildings at least should be completely accessible.

 

This is my happy place

This is my happy place, this is the only place I can truly say is an escape from everyday life. As soon as I wheel onto a court all if feel is my heart thumping as the adrenaline begins to work its way around my body. I abandon my water bottle to the side of the court, I carefully tape my racket to my hand – all that is going on in my mind right now is to get the taping right, get my racket angle correct before I start playing. I wrap the tape around my hand and racket, not too tight or I’ll get cramp, take it around the racket to prevent it slipping, loosely around my thumb to prevent the tape from cutting in. I finish by flipping the tape and running it around my hand a couple of times for grip. I cut off the tape and wrap a couple off layers of cohesive around the tape, good, that feels comfortable.

Deep breath now, it’s time to warm up. I send a couple of balls over the net to gauge the response. Ok so what are their strengths and weaknesses, how well do they move over the court? What is their forehand and backhand like? How much competition are they going to be for me? We indicate to start serving warm up. I sit back from the baseline and I watch as they toss their first ball, how high is it? Are they going to serve shallow or deep? Is their serve fast? I let the first ball sail by. Their second serve, how does this compare to their first? Is there any difference? I move to return their serve this time, are they moving to get the ball back to me or are they sat still? I serve a couple of balls back in their direction.

We both approach the net, spin a racket to see who will serve or receive first. It’s in my favor. We shake hands, wish each other a good game and head to our starting positions, mine a little to the right of the centre line, about 2 feet back. I’ve got this, I can do this! I take a deep breath, toss the ball into the air…  drat it my toss was out. Come on, you’ve done this a million times before, glance at the racket, look at the ball, glance back at my racket, deep breath and toss. The ball rises in a straight line, I reach to hit and my racket comes into contact with the ball… It’s in, I watch as the serve is returned and  a volley ensues.

This is my happy place.

 

The Big Reveal

The past couple of weeks have been incredibly exciting in the life of Tabitha. It’s been such a roller coaster and I still am pinching myself to make sure I am awake and this is all real.

Ok so before I tell you my big news, I want to tell you how I got to where I am right now…

It all started at my first tennis tournament in Loughborough over Easter weekend. On the second day I found myself talking to another person who was also competing in the competition. We ended up talking about work and I found out he had a vacancy at the business he owned. It just happened that the vacancy matched many of the skills I developed when I worked as a marketing executive before I was made redundant.

I was obviously very interested as I’ve wanted to get out of the admin based job I am currently in, I missed the marketing world.

Straight after the tournament the person I was talking to went off on holiday for 2 weeks but he was in contact with me over the duration and arranged an interview when he was back in England. I attended and within a couple of days I had been offered the job.

So there you have it. My big news… after 18 months working in the NHS, I will be leaving on 31 May ready to start my new role as Business Development Execuive on 1 June. I will be sad to leave some wonderful people behind at Health Education England, people who I am honoured to call friends but I am very excited about my new role and the challenges it will bring.

I have every confidence that I will thrive in this role, and hopefully I can establish myself in this company and build a long and happy career with them.

I may not have played well enough to win any medals at the tournamet but i feel like i’ve gained something so much better, the opportunity to be a part of an amazing company with a very good reputation and sparkling reviews.

So here’s to another new chapter in the life of Tabi!

 

P.s. I am still working hard raising funds towards my wheelchair fund. You can donate here:  https://www.gofundme.com/Tabi-sWheelchair

Benefit Cuts and Me

There has been a lot of exposure recently about the proposed disability benefit cuts, and this got me thinking about how it would impact me if my Personal Independent Payments (PIP) were cut.

1. My Car
I rely on having the mobility component of PIP so I can have my adapted motability car. This car is my indepedence, this car allows me to have a life, this car is my life.

2. My Job
If I lose my PIP payments it will prevent me from working full time. Yes, I know there is Access to Work who can help with taxi jorneys for work but have you ever sat in a wheelchair In a taxi? Most taxi drivers do not know how to adequately strap you into the car so even the shortest journeys become massively dangerous. Couple that with them charging up to 25-40% more per journey than an able bodied person and their lack of reliability just makes life very difficult. I can’t manage that level of stress every single day.

But what about public transport? Well we have a very poor transport system in the UK and the very few times I’ve been on a bus in my wheelchair it has caused a lot of disruption.  I’ve even had bus drivers claim they are unable to set up the ramp due to “a sore back” or “the ramp is broken.” Can you imagine doing this day in and day out? Plus, I’d never be able to get myself onto a packed bus during peak times, times when I’d be either going to, or coming from work. The reality of catching a bus to work would be this: someone would have to push me the 3/4 mile to the nearest bus stop through steep inclines and over uneven surfaces as I can’t do that myself; I’d then have to request that the driver operates the ramp and then battle to get onto the crowded bus; then when I reach my stop I’d have to ask the driver to operate the ramp again and then hope someone can meet me from my office to push me into work because again, the pavements are dangerous and very uneven. I would then have to do the same thing in reverse on my way home.

3. My Physical Health
So losing my PIP would be devastating for my health. At the moment I keep as active as I can be and regularly go to the gym and play wheelchair tennis. I know the effect weight gain has on my joints and keeping active means I am using and moving my body in ways I wouldn’t usually. If I lose my PIP I will lose my car and with that my independence, I wouldn’t be able to work out or play tennis, I would gain weight from a sedentary, house bound lifestyle and my health would decline rapidly.

4. My Mental Health
So as a continuation of the decline in my physical health if I was to lose PIP, my mental health would also be impacted. I am not the type of person who can sit at home all day and watch Jeremy Kyle and Judge Judy. I need to be working and I need to be stimulated. Playing tennis especially is valuable to me as I get to mix with other people with disabilities and have made some great friends there. We have different disabilities but are a great support structure for each other. Unfortunately the nearest wheelchair tennis club is 40 minutes from where I live and without my car I’d have to stop playing. To get to the tennis club I’d need to catch several buses and would have to transport my tennis wheelchair, rackets and balls as well as myself so it would be impossible.

5. My social life
As any intelligent person knows it’s important to socialise with your peers. Given the issues I have with taxis and public transport I wouldn’t be able to go out with friends without putting a huge strategic plan in place. I would gradually lose contact with them and eventually become a loner (although I suppose I could go into a chat room online and talk to complete strangers, and weird strangers at that!) I would almost have an existence resembling a hermit.

6. My family
At the moment my adapted car has a roof box that means no one has to lift my chair in and out of a car. With 2 parents who are getting older, whose health is unstable (for both of them), if they start lifting my heavy chair in and out of cars it worries me that I would cause futher damage to their physical health. It would also put a lot more strain on them as I would have to ask them for lifts which restricts both theirs and my schedule.

My family also care for me. Amongst other things they cook all meals and provide lots of day to day assistance. We are able to have a cleaner who comes in to help with chores around the house once every fortnight. This again is a big help to my parents who shouldn’t be doing heavy housework. Actually they shouldn’t have a 33 year old daughter living at home but I’m here until I am in a position to get my own place.

So in summary if the government want to cut PIP benefits they need to be aware of the knock on effect and adequate support will need to be put in place for the hundreds of people these cuts will effect.

people + disabilities – PIP = poor physical health + poor mental heath which will put added stress into an already fragile NHS.

people + disabilities – PIP = the inability to go out and find employment due to transport issues

people + disabilities – PIP = a sedentary lifestyle; weight gain; no stimulation; living a solitary existence = more strain on the NHS.

In conclusion I feel that yes benefits need to be reviewed but don’t take it away from the people who simply want to live a normal life; try looking at the benefits cheats who chose to sit at home watching tv, smoking, drinking and have a genuinely unhealthy lifestyle. These people have the ability and capacity to work but are simply lazy and think the world owes them something. These are the people who should be losing sleep over the possibility of their benefits being cut.

The genuine people who want to work and live life should be recognised and applauded for the effort they go to to secure a job and live life, and not be penalised for also wanting to be active. They should be seen as role models and used to prove it is possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle even if you are a person  with a disability.

I just want it noted this isn’t about money. Stop my benefit payments if you must, just please don’t take my car away.

From One Court to Another

Birmingham Wheelchair Tennis Club Crew!

 

 

If you have been reading my blogs for long you will have picked up on the fact that I have a law degree and have visited various courts during my studies. Since graduating I haven’t used my degree, the last court I attended was the Court of Appeal in London. This weekend I found myself on a very different type of court, a tennis court!

I have just come home from participating in my first ever wheelchair tennis tournament. Although I didn’t come away with any medals, I never expected to (after all I’ve only been playing for 6 months) I feel great for having taken part. The result right now is that I have slept nearly all day; I tried to eat breakfast cereal with a knife and fork and I hurt in places I didn’t know could hurt. Despite the aches and pains and the blisters on my fingers and hands it won’t stop me from competing again.

Ouch! 

I met many amazing and inspirational people over the weekend and some real characters. One guy (who used to work with my brother) is an amputee and he could tell I was nervous before I played so he decided to let me know about my opponent. I was told that she was in her 80s, had false teeth, failing eyesight and was partially deaf. He made me laugh and it took my mind off the situation for a moment. He also told me he was a table because he had 3 prosthetic legs and with his good leg he said he was a table because he has 4 legs in total.

I was really nervous about taking part as it was a very new experience to me. When I was walking I had zero interest in any kind of sports, before last autumn I barely knew which end of a tennis racket to hold! Now I am completely hooked and for the first time ever I can honestly say I am looking forward to Wimbledon.

With the Referee

My first encounter when I turned up at the tournament was when I had parked my car. I am quite an outgoing person and make conversation with anyone. The guy next to me was getting his kit out of the car and I said hi to him. He maybe grunted at me and then looked at how I had parked and grumped that he wouldn’t be able to get into his car, I had left room for him and could easily open my car door fully. I tried to talk to him over the weekend but I barely saw him have a conversation with anyone. I can’t only assume he was having a bad weekend but you can probably imagine that I kept everything crossed that he was the only person like that. Thankfully everyone else was friendly and lovely.

We had one hilarious moment during our first doubles match. Both of our names wouldn’t fit on the scoreboard so our surnames were overlapped. My partners surname is King and when we saw the result of our names overlapping we were all creased with laughter. It seems that Nick and I were team Funking. We have now said that we should be doubles partners in future tournaments because we have such a great name.

Team Funking

So although I didn’t win any medals I had such a great experience and playing wheelchair tennis has opened up a whole new world to me.

When is the next tournament…?

 

P.s.Don’t forget you can still donate to my wheelchair fund here: https://www.gofundme.com/Tabi-sWheelchair