About
| Personal Pronouns | Patty |
| Disability | I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage in February 2007 which has left me in a wheelchair. |
| Mobility Device | Wheelchairs, both manual and power |
| About me | I volunteer for a charity that enables elderly and disabled people to remain in their own homes and be active in their community. I’m now a Trustee for them as well which I think is awesome. I also volunteer for a charity called Action Breaks Silence where they are educating young people about violence against women and how bad it is for the victims, I log all the surveys on a system called Survey Monkey so they can access the data anytime they want. I love going to the theatre, cinema, museums, art galleries and exhibitions. I also enjoy reading books and have joined 2 book groups locally. I have also joined a weekly art group (where I’m hoping to display my art at a local Art Fair in May, I’ll let you know how I got on), the U3A organisation where I’m part of 4 groups including a Singing for Fun group which meet weekly on a Friday morning, Members on their own Weekenders group where we have talks about different places people have travelled, we meet monthly on the 2nd Saturday afternoon of the month, Members on their own Monday morning group where we organise different outings that we’d like to go on, Members on their own Friday lunch group where we meet the on the first Friday of the month at a different restaurant to enjoy a meal and each other’s company of course😀 |
| Current Location | Teddington United Kingdom |
| Places Visited | I have traveled back to South Africa (where I’m originally from) twice, found the country not that accessible but I suppose I was there over 13 years ago now so I do hope things have changed 🤞. I have traveled to Kenya (to the Mara Triangle to be precise) in 2017 and we went to a specific safari camp as it was built by friends of mine, one of them came to see us in 2016 and asked why we hadn’t been especially as they’d installed Patty’s Tent! Of course we were obliged to go, I did have to educate the camp managers that I can’t hang my clothes where able bodied people can, where do my knees go as they had shelves under the basin, etc. 😲 I also suggested that they get an old wheelchair and get their extremely willing staff to stay in the wheelchair for a day so they get the feel of what it does feel like. In 2023 I went to visit my younger sister and her lovely family in Australia. We stopped over in Singapore on the way there and the way back and I was amazed at how accessible the Country is 😃, we went to an amazing laser, light and water show at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, we went to the Singapore Botanical Garden, the Aquarium and the Gardens by the Bay with those iconic tree like structures I enjoyed wheeling from one to the other, a truly magical place. We went to the top floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to have a drink and a snack, the view from up there is truly astounding, when the General Manager was asked if they need to advertise the hotel he said absolutely not as so many people take photos of themselves in the pool and post it on Instagram 😁. We flew from Singapore to Sydney where my brother-in-law and sister met us, it was a GREAT reunion for my sister and I haven’s seen each other for many years. They live 2 hours away from Sydney (so we did go to the city to get to the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Botanic Garden, among other things). We went on a Street Art Walk in Katoomba on the way back from the Blue Mountains, stunning art works on entire building walls great to see that no one has ‘tagged or graffitied’ them. We flew Singapore Air and I was incredibly impressed with their service both on the ground and in the air, great to see that service DOES exist in this mad world. I’ve since been to Bath, via Stonehenge, spent 3 nights in Bath and although it’s a pretty hilly town I was in my Power chair so was able to do all the hills. I’ve also been to Cambridge for 2 nights and thoroughly enjoyed it, I can’t wait to go back (as I found an accessible punting company (on the Cam River)), I haven’t lost my spirit of adventure (much to my Support Worker’s distress 😟) |