All fired up with a burning desire to help

Please no jokes about men in uniform or hosepipes, for a change this evening was actually something serious that I was involved in. County Fire Brigade had asked for my input as a visually impaired person to help give some feedback on how the service could be improved. With representatives from a broad spectrum of disabilities we met at Cornwal College along with staff from stations throughout the county, and yes there was food provided, yay!
Unlike some of these consultation events, there was a genuine interest in the expectations and needs of the vulnerable and those with disabilities in the community. Myths were dispelled on both sides and with a short presentation from each disabled person, I hope the Fire Service now understand more about the extra danger for us.
Both enjoyable and informative, I hope to be involved with more of the workshops in future as their plans move forward.

Oh my god I can't believe it, I've never seen Ronson and Allen this far from home.

'Stop me if you've heard this one before', but it's nice to 'Smile' at the 'Littlest Things', like Mark Ronson and Lily Allen playing at the Eden Project!
My sis and I were privilaged again to have free tickets to one of this years Eden Sessions gigs. The Lovely, wonderful, beautiful, kind, generous (I do hope they are reading for next year) people at the Sensory Trust gave us some tickets to assess the arrangements. It was Bretts first gig and he seemed to like it, sometimes wagging in time to the music. Luckily the weather held out and it was a pleasant evening all round. Much better than the reports on the previous nights gig with Amy Winehouse. Living up to her surname she turned in a shambollock performance, shouting at her stage hands, pissed up swaggering and at one point hitting herself on the head repeatedly with the mic. Ronson and Allen were a much more polished affair, with some pleasing trademark horniness. The evening flew by, possibly helped by the intake of some Rattler. For those that don't know, this is the devils own arse juice, a locally made cider of some 8 percent. In fact there were quite a few Rattlered up revellers bouncing around.
Brett as usual got loads of attention being the people whore that he is, being in the family enclosure made sure he had the kids fussing over him, and at one point eyeing up a nice ladies ice cream.
We will be back at Eden next week for our look around the garden that we had an input into. And of course are looking forward to next years sessions, come on Eden planners, where are the really big acts like Scooch?

Watch the video of Oh My God here

Track of the day = Mark Ronson - Just

Strike a Pose

Picture of Rhi, Me and Kez



Today was the re-meeting (if thats a word) with Kezia. She wanted some photos of us to accompany the article she was working on from last month, or so she says. I think it is a cunning ploy to get some snaps of us without paying for our official photos from the fan club, if she thinks I am going to sign them as well she has another thing coming.
Seriously though, she brought her photography student friend Rhi along to Truro to meet us for photos. As before we had a drink and also some food in Weatherspoons, for students this is obviously the equivilent of a Michelin star restaurant.
We had a chat and were snapped whilst we waited for the food. Some more snaps were taken as we walked back to the car, this showed us in more 'natural' poses.
We were a little late in arriving as Brett was having a bad ears day. He couldn't decide on whether to wear them up, down, or one up one down. In the end he went for the traditional and formal ears down style.

Track of the day = The Beatles - Paperback writer

Volunteer Week

This week is volunteers week, so I thought I would take the opportunity to thank all those people that give up their time for Guide Dogs for the Blind. I do a fair amount of volunteering myself, so I know the commitment involved. Any sort of volunteering where something is given back to the community is wonderful, but I have a special respect for those Guide Dog volunteers. Be it a simple thing like giving up a day a year to help fundraise, or the months of commitment given by puppy walkers. My thanks goes out to you all.
If you have any spare time and would like to give something back to your community then find out more below.
Timebank for volunteers.

Track of the day = The Beatles - Help!

Eden Projects

Had a brilliant email this morning from the Sensory Trust inviting Brett and I to the Eden Project. As per last year we have free tickets to the Eden Sessions to look at accessability arrangements, this year I will be with Brett so will be a different experience. The Sessions are where music acts come and perform in an open air venue at Eden with the biomes providing a visual backdrop. Last year I saw Snow Patrol and with the lovely free tickets I watched Muse, who were outstanding. This year I had a choice of acts and in the end went for Lily Allen on the 18th July.
The Eden project have a very positive approach to disability issues, and I have also had input into their new sensory garden. Unfortunately I am unable to attend the next phase of the gardens development next month. My sis has booked tickets for the family to see weed smoking bog lurker George Michael on the same day. I hope to get a chance to have a look whilst at the Sessions. Below are some photos of the gardens progress.







Track of the day = System of a Down - BYOB

Heartlands

The above picture of my mum and me is going to be used in the big bid grant application for the Heartlands Project. Lottery funding is being sought of around 20 million for the project to regenerate the area in Pool. It is an important area for the mining history of Cornwall and this will be preserved whilst creating new facilities and open areas for the public.
I have been involved in the consultations regarding acessability for the site along with others with disabilities. The picture taken at one of the meetings shows me destroing the planners scale model with my huge flappy hands. If Brett had got his paws on it I dread to think what would be left of their hard work. This did allow me to fulfill my Godzilla fantasy though.
Find out about Heartlands here.

Track of the day = Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground

Journalistic Ambition

Today we met up with the lovely Kezia for an interview over a drink in Weatherspoons in Truro. Kezia is a Journalism student at Falmouth. She wanted an interview to go towards her course and hopefully with an aim of getting it into print in the local magazine. The interview took nearly an hour and covered most aspects of someone losing their sight and day to day living with sight loss. Its good to see that students are interested in aspects of disability and are not all Jeremy Kyle watching Pot Noodle addicts.
I hope to put the finished article up here when I get a copy so watch this space.

Track of the day = Linkin Park - Papercut

Radio Gaga

Picture of me and Tim


Picture of me and Rosie


International superstardom beckons for Brett. We had a very good piece on the highs and lows of blindism and guide dog ownership broadcast on local radio. We met Tim from Atlantic FM and Rosie from Skyfield Media in Truro. The interview was conducted in Costa coffee in the centre, we then did a bit whilst navigating the streets. Tim asked some questions that should be enlightening to the general public as we had coffee. what was impressive was that Costa coffee had menues in braille and large print. In Cornwall you are lucky to find such things, electricity is still a novelty in some parts. Brett was a little star struck at meeting a local radio celebrity so I did most of the talking. You can listen to the interview here.
Brett was asked the strangest question so far by a lady in Marks and Spencer. She was curious what the medalion was on his collar, he likes to wear it 80s stylee with his hairy chest. when I informed her that it was his guide dog identification she responded that she thought it was some sort of Christian symbol. I should have seen it coming, but my joking comment of `I dont think he has a religion` was met with a humourless `well, what about you?`. I was reliably informed that god loves us both, despite being an evil non believer. Do people actually adorne there pets with religious items? I wonder if the same could be said for groups such as the Ku Klux Klann,, hmm, dogs in white hoods, scary...

Track of the day = Donna Summer - On the Radio