T in the park! Laura May's rolling review and reflection...

My 

Freewheel, music and the great outdoors are my 3 essential ingredients to a great summer...throw in some Scottish mayhem and you get yourself a great T in the park. My wheels blessed Balado airfield for the first time this year, on the festival's 20th anniversary. Here is a little review of the weekend, giving hints and tips of festival life with a few extra wheels!

"Disabled" camping

Check out our porch!

If you're someone with a physical disability who is put off camping at, (or even going to) festivals because you're unsure whether the facilities will be suitable...don't be! Whether you're a newbie to the dreaded mythological "disabled" world or have had a condition your entire life and a little nervous to venture into sleeping in a tent for a few days for the love of music, be aware that most festivals have a lot of experience in this area and, every year listen and review themselves to see what they can do better to make things even better the following year. (Just like the festival as a whole...!)

It's possible to pack a 3 friends, a wheelchair,
4 man tent and enough supplies for 4 days
of camping into a vauxhall corsa!

The members of staff working and volunteering on the campsite at T were fantastic and great fun to chat and spend time with! They also held the crucial traits of being open minded, thoughtful and one member of staff even held 14 years of experience under his belt, (Shout out to Ian, if you ever read this!) If you needed a hand with anything from arriving with no tent pegs and guy ropes (never borrow a tent off a family member!), to running and getting a towel out of your tent as you're about to get into the shower, they helped out!

Pretty awesome shower!

Yes, you read that right, the Disabled campsite at T had showers! 2 accessible, warm/hot showers to be precise that in all honesty were nicer than some hotels and hostel facilities I have used.

General campsite tips/info:

•  If you have "routines" do them! Don't make your body suffer because you're worried that other people will be annoyed for waiting, they won't. And if you take a while, do what i do and get up earlier. I assure you, there is a reason why you have these facilities and they are there for your use, so use them!
• Disabled Parking was right on the campsite, so it was quick and easy to go back and forth between the car to get extra supplies, when needed.
• There will be a wide range of different people with different disabilities. I found it really cool and interesting, some amazing stories to be shared!
• If you struggle with floor to chair/chair to floor transfers, take some strong, male,attractive friends...or, invest in a  good sturdy foldable outdoor chair that you can use as a step and leaver to transfer independently.
• The Disabled campsite at T (and like most areas where "disabled" people commune, i know this descriptions sounds demeaning, but it's the most accurate way of grouping such a large number of diverse people, if i referred to it as the "alternative" campsite, it'd sound like i was camping with Josh Widdecombe and Alt-J!) is  a very liberal, free, open community which is very nice to retreat to at the end of the day, if you get tired during or need to have a few hours to rest up.
• Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything! (Like Guy ropes...or tent pegs...!)

Getting around!

Kaleidoscope fields looking beautiful, the little hill was
pretty nice to wheel down too!

Weather/ground/freewheel!
To say we were luck with the weather is an insult to the term "understatement", but we were lucky! The sun was beating down, the ground was rock hard and probably the best conditions a wheelchair user could ask for. However, there are ways to make getting round a lot easier and yet not feel "singled out" if you're prepared to invest in a freewheel. I wrote about them a few months ago, so check them out!
How to adapt your wheels for the weather!
My freewheel allowed me to push around the entire site independently, yes my friends did push me occasionally but only because of the heat and fatigue. My lovely friend, Danielle, (who won't mind me saying this!)doesn't have a freewheel and had to be pushed around majority of the time. Which is totally fine, but sometimes and as most wheelchair users will agree, it's nice to e abel to have the ability to do something yourself in case you get into a situation where you have to. I live for the outdoors anyway so pushing around a festival for four days is my idea of happiness. For those of you who are more accustomed to tarmac, just prepare yourself mentally and physically for some off-road pushing! (It's totally worth it!)
If it had been raining and mud (like last years T) I would have struggled, but i'd have done it! Freehweels can withstand mud (to a certain extent), but so can mountain trikes...(see above link).

• Nearer the time to your festival, figure out/estimate what the weather is probably going to be like to assess what equipment would be best to take with you.

Mild/constructive criticism

• There were ATM's in the arena, however none of them were accessible and i had to get my friend to get my cash. That's totally fine, but having a chair level ATM would be great for next year!
• (Someone else's' observation) Apparently all campsites had a first aid station, the disabled campsite however, didn't. May also be a good idea to have one of those put in for next year!

Shuttle bus

T also put on a shuttle bus for disabled campers that went around the arena, with stops at the disabled campsite, King Tuts wah wah tent, Radio 1/nme stage, main stage (and another i can't quite remember!) The buses were really reliable, (if not always in sync) and the drivers we extremely helpful! 

Stages

All the stages had disabled viewing platforms or at least particular areas for people with wheelchairs to watch in a safe environment. Like most festivals, it run on a "wristband" system, which makes total sense but was a little awkward when there is three of you, as there was only two "platform" wristbands between the three of us. There were families who had booked way in advance who all had wristbands, so if the platform if your place to be and you know you definitely want to go, go ahead and book as soon as you can so you can have access to benefits similar to this. Luckily, i didn't really spend to much time on the platforms...

At a lot of concerts and events, i get told off and i'm made to go and sit on the platform...luckily at T, the staff within and around the arena were extremely open and happy to let people like me do what we wanted! I enjoy being in the crowd and feeling as well as seeing the music and when it came to Sunday at 4pm...there was no way i'd be sat on that platform! My cousin and his friend promised to stay mildly sober until then so i could get a piggy back. Why? You ask. Two simple words...Frank Turner! Yes, my shorts fell down, and I have had acupuncture because it caused my tendinitis to flare up, but it was the happiest gig ever!  It was always was going to be my highlight, but what Mr T says about forgetting about your crap, leaving it at the gate and sharing space with a few thousand people who just want what you want! Forget about all our different lives, dreams and ideas and live in the moment, having fun! What can compete with the kindness/craziness of cousins offering their best friends to undergo excessive physical exercise to facilitate your frank needs, other fans pulling your shorts up, and complete strangers giving G (chief piggy back-er!)  a rest by giving you a piggy back? Not much really! 

T in the Park was pretty damn well happy and fun! If you're prepared to throw yourself in and enjoy a weekend of living life to the full, go for it...regardless of "ability". We are all human, and at festivals i think the best of what makes us who we are comes out. Enjoy! :)

NCS: Outdoor adventure week in Scotland...

I turned up at the Bolton Lads and Girls Club a few weeks ago, dressed for physio for a "chat" about becoming a volunteer and helping with outdoor activities. I'm pleased to say that my application was accepted and next week I'll be having my boundaries training so I can start my role as an "outdoor adventure volunteer". While we were chatting however, ideas sparked in people's heads and before I knew it I was enrolling to be a participant on NCS. (National Citizens Service) I've heard bits and bobs about it since it began around a year ago. From what I'd initially heard about through the press, I'd had an array of negative/positive thoughts on how it's giving kids who don't appreciate the world in the way some of us do the pretty much free opportunity (£30) to spend a week doing outdoor activities that i'd happily pay £££'s for...I've heard a few stories too. A few of my friends are outdoor instructors and they've not had fantastic experiences with some groups but still encouraged me to try and volunteer or be a participant...(it was way back in the summer when I had these "suggestions") I pretty much shrugged it off at the time...I didn't really know what I'd be doing now or where I'd be heading...then a few weeks ago the opportunity flew in my face and I just knew i needed to take it, especially as I've found that I actually want to pursue all this outdoor adventure lark...

This is me being a role model...of fun of course!

Although I'd be a participant, I'd pretty much be a volunteer only my CRB hadn't come through so I still had to follow the rules of a participant...make sense? It'd be a 5 day residential at the Belmont Centre in Meigle near Dundee. About 120 16/17 olds would be going up from Bolton from all types of backgrounds and for different reasons, along with a group of young people with learning difficulties. I had to cancel a few things I had planned....but just knew...that I needed to do this. Not because it'd be an excuse to be doing what I do best but also because It'd be me doing it alone. I wouldn't have my Back Up bubble or Calvert comfort blanket (as i like to call them) I'd have to do more things for myself, constantly explain and make people aware of spinal cord injury, share more ideas with the instructors about how to do things and well...have the confidence to actually do something without the reassurance of my usual people...!

I went, as I go everywhere, with an open mind.
I'm glad I did. I'm so used to the Back Up mentality of people being prepared to encourage each other with the openness and willingness to see something that may be perceived as tiny, as an achievement. Not many able bodied 16/17 year olds on half term really think like that. Ok, that sounds mean and generalising but that is one thing I learnt last week...that maybe I do appreciate things a lot more than people who are perceived to "have it all" do. It made a part of me a little sad that not everyone can enjoy the world in the way I and so many others do but it also reassured me in my acceptance of the fact that different things make different people happy and that's ok. But the group I was with, as a whole and  despite initial challenges and difficulties, I think got a lot out of the week...maybe, when I see  them tomorrow to carry on our project, things may have sank in about what they achieved as the week went on.

I'd say a little proud highlight was our hill walk...at the end of the walk, you come to a quarry that is beautiful but in order to get there you have to climb quite a few large steps in woodland. Going up, the instructors and other leaders carried me, but coming down the steps, the whole group helped to carry me down and it as a genuine process of communication and teamwork. We didn't really talk too much about it afterwards but at the end of week review, it was mentioned and I think as a modest team, we were all maybe a little shocked and proud of what we can do when you work together.

As the week went on, I realised just how comfortable I am in this setting, and I was right, without Back Up. I was worried that thoughts and feeling I've had for a few years have been romanticised by the fact that I've just achieved so much thanks to that charity, but this week made me see that my ambitions of going into outdoor education and adventure aren't some silly dream because I made a big impact on a  few kids...na, it's me. It's what I want to do.

Me and my Back Up under 13's course group I co-led this summer
down at Calvert Trust, Exmoor.

The day that this all really fell into place was the final day of activities when Chris (one of our leaders) and myself decided to go rock climbing with the independence group who were the group of young people with learning difficulties. As the week had gone on, my love of adapting things had grown even more..I'd had to be open and honest with instructors and try different things and when we got them right I was able to achieve so much. This was the same with the people of various abilities. Some could or only wanted to do "very little" and some wanted to and were able to do a lot. Either way, this group got so much out of working as a team, encouraging one another and having a go while the instructors and leaders worked together to adapt equipment and activities for them. I loved helping out with this and I must say, my first go at climbing outdoors (you know properly, since my injury...not protesting up trees like i used to at primary school!) was pretty immense!

Think I was doing a spot of gardening..

I was extra careful however, as the harness wasn't designed for people with no feeling/sit down all day and I didn't want to end up on bed rest because of an extra ten minutes of climbing, but I got halfway which is pretty cool!

I'll be honest though...there was this play area...and i could have sworn I've dreamt about it! When we'd all finished climbing, the leaders and myself really encouraged everyone to go and have a go on the park...so erm...we did!


I discovered that those "disabled" swings are pretty well damn swingy! And without sounding like some kind of weirdo, I genuinely haven't felt the feeling of swinging for 7 years...it doesn't matter how old you get, it's the best feeling in the world! It then turned into a "let's see what we can get Laura on" hour and i ended up on round-a-bouts, fell off the zip-wire, discovered that you can't have a fireman's lift when you've got two rods in your back and almost fell off this bizarre see-saw invention! Coming back in the little mini-bus on that day, there was just a genuine buzz of happiness and pride of what everyone had achieved and enjoyed and once again, I was glad I'd made the decision to go on that little adventure...I met a few people and made some new connections that will lead to some more!

The morning of the best day that was Thursday, i remembered that i needed to get in touch with my parents and Back Up to sort out a few plans for that weekend's volunteer training...my emails came through as well, so i ran through them as quick as I could, sat on a car park in the middle of scotland in between an audi and a Land Rover...(that was the best place for signal!)...and an email from Vancouer Adaptive snow Sports came through asking me if i still wanted to go over and volunteer this season...i replied that i did...and well, that's the next adventure that truly is forming...