Phab south east fun weekend

On Friday 15th November I went away for the weekend, with a group of friends who are members of Oxford Phab.

Oxford Phab is a club made up of people with a range of abilities. The idea behind Phab is to bring able-bodied and disabled people together.

The weekend was based in Chichester, and is known as Phab south east fun weekend. During the weekend there where a range of activities put on. The activities that I did were boccia which is the French version of bowling, indoor curling and laughter yoga.

My story Public transport the bus

On the whole I use a lot of public transport several times a week my main ones are trains and buses. I’ve also been on airplane as well which a different experience.

I do find that overall trains and buses are very good. However I find it frustrating that there is only one wheelchair space on every bus and only one pram space that wheelchair uses aren’t allowed to use. So if I had a friend who was also a wheelchair user and we wanted to go to an event together on public bus we couldn’t. In the past I’ve had to make alternative arrangements to get somewhere and meet up with my friends at the event. Whereas if it was two able-bodied friends going to the same event on public bus they can.

Another experience I’ve had is that when the bus arrives and there is already a wheelchair user on the bus, I then have to wait for next bus which could be up to half an hour. So that adds extra time to my journey.

I remember last year I’d just come back after finished an evening class so it was quite late and cold. I was waiting at the bus stop and when the bus came a wheelchair user was already in the space so I went to the pub and caught the bus later.

I have a bus pass that has a Carer goes free. However I have used it for my mum to go free and some girlfriends in the past. I do like the freebies.

The experience of being mugged

Wednesday July 7th 2010 at around 10:30 a.m. I was going into Banbury town in my wheelchair just to get a sandwich for lunch, as I wanted to be back to watch what was then the daily politics show on BBC 2. So I had a tight schedule, I was taking a short cut through an isolated and quiet area. When I felt someone behind me unzipping my bag. I was like what are you doing? He then came around and stood in front of me and said something like “give me your money or I will beat you up” I told him I didn’t have any money on me. He then proceeded to unzip my bum bag which was around my waist and pulled out the £30 my granddad had given me a few days before.

Now bear in mind, I was in a sitting position and he was standing over me, which meant he had an advantage on me and looked heavily intoxicated. Added to which I’m not a huge fan of hospital food. This led me to the conclusion I’m going to have to get out of here with the minimum amount of fuss. Fortunately for me he took the money and left, heading would you believe it in the direction of the police station. Where I later found out an officer had stopped him because he was acting really oddly and because at that point they didn’t know what had happened they sent him on his way.

At this point I just wanted to get undercover and around people. So headed straight for Castle Quay shopping centre still in shock over what had just happened. I considered not reporting it, but then I thought what if he does it again to an even more vulnerable person and causes them greater physical or psychological damage. Also it was clear to me that this individual needed to be taken off the streets if possible, if only for their self-protection and support. With that in mind I went straight into the Halifax bank as it was the closest building to me and explain what had happened and they gave me the number for the police.

So I rang the number and the person on the other end of the phone said

“hello Banbury taxi’s”

Me: Is that the police?

Person: no it’s Banbury taxi’s

Me: I obviously have the wrong number bye

I know at times people can receive a poor service from their bank but this was taking the piss. I was still very much in a daze but was thinking a bit more clearly. I then went to the British heart foundation a charity I was volunteering for at the time and again explained what happened they rang the police for me and gave me the phone.

I have to say the police were excellent. They told me to stay where I was and an officer was being dispatched to me. The officer turned up around twenty minutes later, and I went through with what had happened and showed him where it had happened. I also gave him a description of the person. The officer said there was somebody fitting that description being a nuisance in town, and that he was well known to the police. The officer asked me if I felt able to go to the station on my own as he needed to see if there were any witnesses, so this I duly did and waited to be seen.

During this time a made a few phone calls and managed to cause even more havoc. My mum was deeply concerned for my welfare. I told her not to worry and that I was ok. My dad happened to be in Banbury at the time so came to support me. I must admit there was a big part of me enjoyed the whole experience. I love a bit of action I do I also know that had things been different I would have been a police officer.

Some three hours later I emerged from the station having realised I’ve missed my program. But otherwise happy because they had arrested the person involved. My dad asked me if I wanted to change my plans and go home with now. I was determined that my assailant had already disrupted most of my day and he wasn’t going to disrupt the rest of it. I told my dad that I would catch the train over to Bicester after I have had my dinner as originally agreed, This I did.

The person in question had been to court numerous times for a number of different offences. This time however, the judge had enough and past down a custodial sentence of three and a half years for aggravated robbery. It turned out in court that he had separate from the girlfriend the night before and had gone out and had a concoction of alcohol and drugs. Something he’d been struggling with for a while. When asked by police did remember what happened? He didn’t have a clue. ‘I hope that this person has rebuilt their life and is now successful. I don’t have any ill will towards this person. I feel there in need of compassion

Using trains as a wheelchair user

My experiences on the trains have been a bit more interesting and adventurous. Now as a disabled train passenger, if I wasn’t bothered about what time train I wanted to catch, I could just turn up at the station and buy a ticket for the next train to my destination. Overall this is what I normally do and tend to get the train I want, but there have been times when I’ve not been able to do this, because people have already booked for assistance on that train, so then I’ve had to wait for the next one.

On one hand this is great it means more disabled people are using the trains and being active citizens. On the other hand the system highlights the fact the trains are really built for abled bodied people and that disabled passengers are just catered for.

In order for me to get on a train a member of platform staff have to carry a heavy metal ramp down to the carriage where I need to get on. When the doors of the carriage open the ramp is put down, I then drive up on to the train. Wheelchair users are really only allowed in carriages that have a wheelchair sign on the door, this is so when I get to my destination the platform staff know where I am, and can put the ramp down so I can disembark and be on my merry way.  In order for this system to work it means that staff at my departing station, have to call staff at the other station to let them know I’m on my way a bit like royalty.

Depending on a whole host of circumstances this system can break down spectacularly. There have been situations where I’ve got to my destination and know one has been on the platform to get me off. Then the train moves off with me still on it, every time this happens I feel myself grown.

In every carriage on the train there is a big red emergency button, when pushed it means I can speak to the driver, I’ve had to do this on a number of occasions. Above the red button there is a sign saying please speak clearly and wait for the driver to finish speaking before you speak. Now let me tell you the sound quality on these speaker things is crap, on top of that I have a stammer so speaking clearly can be a challenge and quite entertaining, when I’m trying to explain what’s happened.

Then the driver has to phone ahead to the next station and arrange for someone to be there with a ramp. When this happens it makes my journey considerably longer and makes me less effective than I could have been and is a waste of my time.

There was one occasion when I got on a really long train with surprisingly more than one carriage for wheelchair users. This was unusual and it would also be a weakness on this particular journey.

So I get on the train with the usual process having been carried out and my destination knows I’m on my way. However on my arrival nobody was there to meet me, so when that familiar beeping sound started up just before the doors close. I rolled my eyes and thought it’s going to be one of those days. I found out later that the station had been called but the person had gone to the other door and of course found no wheelchair. I must have vanished, that was quite a funny situation.

Normally my entire journey from Banbury to Bicester can take around an hour. There have been times when that journey has taken me three to four hours.

When I come from Banbury to Bicester to get out of the station I need to go across to the other platform which involves using two lifts. Guess what happens next!!!!

There have been several occasions where one lift hasn’t worked. It reminds me of the saying “so close but yet so far”

So as all the other passengers are filing past me getting on with their day, I have to wait for another train to take me to leamington spa to get on another train, to come back on the other platform.

As a regular train user you do get to know the staff very well, and have a laugh with them. I even got invited and went to a staff member’s retirement party.

The funny thing was, that all the staff I knew really well where there and we all had a lovely meal and great night out.

Introduction

Welcome everyone to my Blog posts, last week somebody suggested to me that I write a blog documenting my experiences as a so called disabled person in Britain today.

When a blog was mentioned to me my face froze in horror as I thought what the hells that, and given the fact that I’m not at all technically minded my hopes for this project aren’t amazingly high. At the time of writing I’m glancing outside my window and seeing dark clouds forming menacingly overhead, and on top of that I’ve already had two error messages come up on the screen. Is the computer trying to tell me something?…

Anyway moving swiftly on, after lengthy discussions I’ve decided to do this blog to try and inspire people like myself to go out and be the best that they can be. Everybody has something unique they can offer to the world, whether that is, writing, art, academia or something else entirely go and do whatever is in you. I hope you find these blogs helpful and informative.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

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