Community Care Magazine Photo Shoot

Yesterday, about 13:00 a photographer came to my home to take my photo for the interview I gave to Community Care Magazine on 3 September 2009.

I was expecting the same type of quick photo shoot from the photographer that came on Monday for the Ilford Recorder. However, he practically brought a whole photography studio with him including a Nikon D3, lots of lenses, external flashes, light umbrellas and more… It was so wicked!

After some tea and a chat, he took lots of photos of me: me using my new MacBook Pro 17", me in the dining room and me in the garden, et cetera. The guy seemed much more of a better professional, freelance photographer than the other guy who came on Monday; and this photographer was much more interesting and nicer too.

By the time he finished, it was about 16:00: Well over two hour of taking photos of me... I really enjoyed it and it was an amazing experience!

Stay tunes for the article soon…

First Week at Uni

On Monday (07-09-09) night me, dad and my two carers stuffed me and everything into my van and left to move into my accommodation at uni. Sadly, we left quite late from home at about 22:30 and arrived at 00:30, as we had some unforeseen troubles.

When we arrived, dad got out to find out where my room was going to be. Ten minutes later, he came back and said we had to drive around the other side of the uni where the porter’s lodge and my room was. As dad was taking some of my stuff into my room and I was getting out of the van w/ my carers, two fit girls looking like they’ve just come from a party walked up to me and asked if I’m moving in. How did they guess? Possibly, by the giant suitcase I had. I replied yes (trying not be sarcastic or say something stupid in front of them) and then walked off as they said, “Welcome to Surrey! We’ll see you tomorrow…” Indeed, I thought to myself. Nevertheless, by the time we put everything into my room and I finally got to bed it was like 02:30; and that night it was bloody freezing, but I couldn’t turn the heater on b/c it started smelling when I did, so I switched it off.

Promptly at 07:30 that morning (Tuesday, 8 September), an alarm started sounding very loudly and scared the hell out of me, as I suddenly woke up. It was the damn fire alarm! Brilliant. So, my dad and my carers quickly got me into my wheelchair, tossed the duvet on me and manually pushed me outside as I was so cold and in no state to drive myself. A few minutes later, the Estate Manager said it was just a fire drill and that I could back to my room, which after that it was really difficult to sleep anymore.

That being said, since I’m very tired I will just give you a quick breakdown of this week’s happenings:
Tuesday (8 September): In the morning, I met w/ the Disability Advisor and my new Learning Support Assistant (LSA) / note-taker, who is lovely and very experience as an LSA. Also, in the afternoon, my LSA and I met w/ my course tutor (the great guy who interviewed me and offered me a place) and course leader. After chatting for a bit, course tutor took us on a tour of where all my classes will be. It was fantastic!
Wednesday (9 September): Just took it easy. Dad and Sarah visited too, which was nice. Also, that night I watched England’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Croatia in the Student Union bar. Excellent game w/ a 5-1 win to England!
Thursday (10 September): From 11:00-15:00, I met w/ my LSA to show her how to use my computer and other DSA equipment. About 16:00, I then went for a walk into Farnham town centre, which is just breathtaking w/ every kind of shop you could ever need…
And Friday (10 September): Got up quite late and went for a walk around campus. Set off back for home around 15:30 and got home at 19:00 b/c all the motorways were completely blocked b/c there were so many accidents, but thankfully I got home okay.

Overall, I utterly love UCA Farnham and it’s such an amazing place! I cannot wait until freshers’ week next week and to get started on the course…

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference

As the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference on 5 September was in Bradford (about 4 hours away from London) this year, we decided to drive up the day before on Friday to rest overnight in a hotel to be ready for the conference the next morning. Everyone (mum, dad, Sana and Sufian) came w/ me to Bradford except Sarah b/c she needed to take of Granddad since he is not that strong enough to travel all that way. We stayed at the Hilton Bradford Hotel, where the conference was being held.

Upon arrival in Bradford at about 15:00, we all just went to our rooms and fell on our beds b/c we were all really knackered. My room was very nice; it was the Executive Suite and had its own lounge w/ a dining table. After Dad got some dinner around 20:00, we all had an early night.

The next day, we got up around 07:30 and got ready quickly, and then ate some breakfast in the restaurant. About 10:00, we then headed downstairs to the conference room where everyone was registering. Once we registered and mingled for a bit, we went into the main conference room for the start of the National Conference.

The beginning presentations of the conference were a follows:
1) Welcome from Philip Butcher, Chief Executive
2) Keynote address by Terry Rooney, Member of Parliament for Bradford North – who had a very strong northern accent and was very funny.
3) Research – Paving the way for treatments by Dr. Marita Pohlschmidt, Director of Research
4) Accessible support and information by Lyn Inman, Director of Care and Support, and Abby Mardon, Director of Marketing and Communications
5) Tesco Charity of the Year – Pulling together by Mark Horrocks, Director of Fundraising
6) Campaigning – Join us in the fight for special healthcare by Robert Meadowcroft, Director of Policy and Operations
7) President’s Awards and Prize Draw by Sue Barker MBE, Charity President. This was the best part of the day where I received my award from Sue herself!
And 8) Close of morning session by Professor Martin Bobrow, Chair, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

Once the presentations were done, it was time for lunch, which was quite nice. Following lunch, I attended the Trailblazers workshop as I am their London Regional Ambassador and I decided not to attend the second workshop b/c I was getting quite tired and we needed to head home. However, before we left I had a quick chat w/ Joe’s (the wonderful volunteer who worked at HQ for a few months) mum (a Regional Care Advisor in Leeds for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) and said my goodbyes to everyone at the charity.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I cannot wait for next year’s conference!

Ilford Recorder Interview

When we made the trip to Bradford on Friday, 4 September to attend the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference, I received a phone call from the Ilford Recorder who interviewed me about receiving my President’s Award for 2009 Young Person of the Year. I discussed many things including my passion for volunteering.

After I was done, the guy said that he’d send a photographer on Monday to take my photo and when he came around on Monday morning (7-09-09) he just spent barely 10 minutes taking my photo in my garden in the rain; and that was that.

When I got that from uni tonight, I read the article in the Ilford Recorder from yesterday. It’s pretty good and a big thank you to Dave (my brilliant Connexions Advisor) for contacting them to call me. Though, they wrote the wrong uni that I’m attending; it’s actually University for the Creative Arts at Farnham not University of the Arts London. Well, that’s the media for you; they can’t ever get anything right…

Will try to upload it later.

Community Care Magazine Interview

On the evening of the 3 September after I got back from the office, I gave an interview to “Community Care” magazine about Social Care in the UK over the phone. I was talking to the reporter for over 30 minutes and I think it went quite well. She seemed somewhat impressed by what I said and asked if a photographer could visit me to take my photo as well. Will keep you posted of details.

Last Day at The Office

On Thursday last week (3 September), it was my last day at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ (Southwark, London) before I went off to uni…

I just wanted one final chance to say goodbye to all my friends at HQ before I got too busy at uni and needed to finish up a few things at the office. However, for a change Sarah drove me to the office and Sufian (who was my assistant for the day) came w/ me too.

Upon arrival, I helped Bobby (Trailblazers Project Manger) upload my videos of The Walton Report Launch on to Trailblazers website, which took most of the day. Thankfully, we finally got them to work and are now available to view on the “Video Blogs” part of our website.

Furthermore, I chatted everyone in the office and had a good time, as always – working hard of course.

Also, I was asked by the charity if I’d like to be interviewed about Social Care in the UK by “Community Care” magazine. I jumped at the opportunity because this is where my advertising empire starts!

Overall, I am sad that it was my last day at the office, but it’s not like I can’t work for them again. There hopefully is nothing that will stop me from continuing to work w/ the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign / Trailblazers for many years to come…

Uni Update

10 Days 17 Hours, 59 Minutes and Counting until I start freshers’ week at uni… HURRAH!

That being said, I’m getting my key to my accommodation on Sunday morning and will be moving in to my ground floor penthouse at uni on Monday night. Wish me luck…

DSA Equipment

I’m so excited b/c today I received delivery of my new DSA equipment for uni that's mine to keep forever including a brand new MacBook Pro 17”, multifunction printer, Final Cut Studio 3, Adobe CS4 Design Premium and so much more. I cannot wait to start really using it… FANTASTICO!

Snow Leopard Arrives!

Today, I received my Mac Box Set software, which includes iLife ’09, iWork ’09 and Apple’s new operating system Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)… I can’t wait to install it in my new Mac that will arrive on Tuesday. HURRAH!

The Walton Report Launch

Yesterday, I went to the launch of the Walton Report at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) next to Regent’s Park in London. This is the final report from the inquiry of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Muscular Dystrophy (chaired by Dave Anderson MP) that looks into specialist care for muscle disease and related neuromuscular diseases.

It was named after Lord John Walton of Detchant (Honourary Life President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) who was a part of the APPG evidence inquiry sessions from December 2008 to July 2009, and is one of the three people that founded the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign 50 years ago.

Upon arrival at around 10:40, once I got into the building at the RCP I was dying to go wee having gotten up quite early and being stuck in London traffic, but the bathroom was one floor down about 8 steps below. So, I had to use the glass lift to go down about just 3 metres, but the bloody door wouldn’t close making the lift unusable. 10 minutes later, after many members of staff attempted to solve the problem w/ no resolve, my dad tried to tell the lady that my wheelchair was too big for the lift by having me in and out of the lift and showing her the magnetic lever, which she finally half-hearted agreed with. At that point, my dad held down the lever w/ his foot to see if I could drive over the lever with my wheelchair and see if the door would close. However, when I went over the lever the damn lever broke, so I had to reverse out of the lift quite precariously that was interesting to do. Then, the half-hearted lady said she’d show me where another bathroom was and Lord Walton took the lead and was very helpful, trying to get someone to tell me where the bathrooms were. We ended up going onto using a different lift and we left Lord Walton in the reception area. The lady really had no idea where she was going and we ended up going on the wrong floor before we actually found a bathroom in some backdoor corridor and I said to Dad, sarcastically, “Welcome to the Royal College of Physicians…” once we got to the bathroom, as he laughed. When we left the bathroom, the lady had suddenly vanished, so we had to find our way back, which we did. Yet when we went to a different floor, she said she was looking for us and told us to go down to the basement level, but that was the wrong floor; and we found ourselves being told by a brisk fellow this was the wrong floor, who was guarding what looked like a giant storeroom for champagne. At this, my dad said, “My goodness, physicians do drink a lot…” to which the guy pretended he didn’t hear and continued filling out paperwork on his clipboard. Thankfully, we finally found our way back to the reception area, though this scenario took over half an hour (and is often the story of my life). All before the actual event had even started – fun times!

Anyway, after I chatted to all of my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign in the reception area, we went for a photo call in the gardens of the RCP around 11:30. Once that was done, we all went to the first floor into a beautiful, domed conference room. Dave Anderson MP, Chair of the APPG for Muscular Dystrophy, then gave the Welcome Address and then passed it onto Lord Walton, who gave a very moving and interesting speech. It was followed by a speech from the Director of Policy and Operations of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Robert Meadowcroft, about the key facts of the Walton Report and what needs to be done now, as well as comments from Sir Michael Rawlins, the Chairman of NICE. That concluded the first half of the event because it was time for the best part of the day, Lunchtime…

During lunch, I met the Chief Executive of the Snowdon Award Scheme and we had a very insightful conversation about Higher Education and Trailblazers; hopefully Trailblazers and his organisation can team up to do some good work together. Dad and I left the reception area once we finished the conversation and quickly made our way to the lifts to head back to the conference room before the rush started.

The second half of the event was more interactive part of the day with a panel discussion, which I really thought was quite fascinating and surprisingly I found Lord Walton to be quite a witty person (and I was laughing in tears from all the humourous things he was saying throughout the day). Concluding remarks and the next steps to be taken, presented by Mr. Anderson concluded the event.

Finally, Phil (Chief Executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) gave a passionate speech and made the closing remarks. What an amazing event indeed!

Overall, I really enjoyed the day greatly and thought it was a brilliant experience; and it was a pleasure to represent Trailblazers at the launch too. I especially enjoyed meeting all my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and meeting with Lord Walton of Detchant, Baroness Thomas of Winchester and Dave Anderson MP. On a side note, sad yesterday at the launch Joe, our wonderful intern at HQ, told me that he’d be leaving soon because he is only on a short-term contract; very sad news indeed, although I wish him all the success and happiness in his future endeavours. Anyhow, we just need to now get some clout among politicians to bring the Walton Report high up on the political agenda, which can make a real, positive change for the better for people w/ Muscular Dystrophy and related diseases right away…

Find out more about the Walton Report.

Uni Update

19 Days, 14 Hours, 42 Minutes and Counting until I start uni (to freshers week that is)… FAB NEWS!

UCA, All The Way!

Today, I officially enrolled as student at University for the Creative Arts (Farnham Campus; UCA Farnham) on their BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Communication course beginning September 2009… HURRAH!

The Snow Leopard is Here…

Just ordered the Mac Box Set that includes Apple Inc.’s new operating system Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, which will ship by 28th August. WICKED!

Uni Update

Just received an e-mail from my uni w/ my user name and password to enroll for my course via online registry on Monday (24/08/09)… HURRAH!

Day w/ Trailblazers

Today, I went to the office after a much long break due to my flu to help Bobby with the Hotline for students, as is part of our Education Campaign for Trailblazers.

Upon arrival at about 11:00, I just went to the Education Report for about a hour, while waiting for the other Trailblazers. Then around 11:50, once the other Trailblazers arrived, we went into the Conference Room where phones were set up for us to answer anyone who called on the Hotline between 12 and 3; and Bobby told the three other Trailblazers (Zoë, Kim and Matilda) and I what to say to the students calling our Hotline. Sadly, no one called our Hotline, but we still had a good time regardless.

So, we just started discussing some ideas about our next campaign on Leisure Facilities while Bobby went to get sandwiches for lunch. When he came back, we shared his ideas with him and then had some lunch, having a lot of fun too.

During lunch, I also had a quick chat w/ Phil (Chief Executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) and discuss some thoughts w/ him. Always an interesting conversaition w/ Phil...

After lunch, Bobby told us about a new grant that would be available for Trailblazers to do a project that is worth about £10,000 or so. We, Trailblazers, decided that we should create a film, which we all thought would be very interesting. However, I am keeping the details under wraps until all lights are go.

In addition, as nobody called the Hotline, Bobby suggested that the Trailblazers use the Conference Call phone to all answer a call from a mock caller and Zoë’s brother was pushed into it after Bobby’s voice sounded too old or something over the speaker on the phone. This was all so we could take a video of all the Trailblazers looking like we were doing lots of work and to add to the Trailblazers website. LOL!

Before I knew it, it was already 3 pm and almost time to go home. Though, Bobby asked me to take a quick video why I wanted to be a Trailblazer or something like that and we went off to find a good location to record it in the office that had a decent backdrop. In the end, we ended up in the kitchen and I shot my video; although I don’t think it was very good since I was just pulling it out of the air, but hopefully it was okay.

Also, subsequent to the Trailblazers leaving, Bobby gave the Trailblazers a Flip Video Mino to use for uploading interesting videos onto the Trailblazers website, and I cannot wait to start using it…

Once I finished my video in the kitchen I said my goodbyes to everyone at the office and headed home before London rush hour started.

All in all, it was a great day w/ lots of laughter, interesting discussions and a bit of hard work too! I’m definitely going to continue to work w/ Trailblazers and the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign for many years to come…

DSA Equipment

On Monday, I found out that I will receive my DSA equipment for uni including my brand new MacBook Pro 17” on 1st September… HURRAH! It has taken a bit longer to arrive because it is a special order w/ fully loaded new Mac, but I can’t wait for it to arrive. Photos coming soon.

Sectumsempra!

This afternoon, we went to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (IMAX 3-D) at the BFI IMAX Cinema in London, which is directed by David Yates and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton and Helena Bonham Carter.

It was a visually stunning, amazing film that I enjoyed! However, I just now think of the of the films as completely separate entity than the books and review these films as though they’re just film w/ nothing to do w/ the books, as there's no use comparing the fimls to the books…

Must see in IMAX 3-D! *** THREE 1/2 STARS ***

T Minus 30!

OMG! There are about 30 days left until I start uni… HURRAH!

Time Is Running Out

Time is going so fast and I bet this month is just gonna fly right by too…

Uni Update

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from my uni telling me that I can officially enroll for my course via online registry on the UCA website from 24th August… BRILLIANT!