Where to start…?!

Hi readers, Kerry here today, until Emily is back.

I don’t know where to start. There’s loads going on in my head right now. I’ll share a bit, so you’ll see why I can’t decide what to write.

First, before we began PFD team meeting last week, a colleague said she loves pouring Worcester sauce into plain crisps, then drinks the dregs. I’m still struggling to get my head around this!

I’m also thinking about Care and Treatment reviews. Do people with a learning disability always get good advocacy support, like people who know them…?

Access wasn’t a good subject for me last week. Even applying for an Access card isn’t accessible. Nor can we find a suitable accessible bowling or skittles alley for PFD events, with members still missing bowling after the Weymouth centre closed.

I also want to tell people what goes on behind the scenes at PFD, the other important stuff, not just Friendship Club and Speaking Up. We’ve got good ideas, so it’s how, with our small team, we put them in action. Like recording podcasts, maybe an Our View one?  Creating our own Dorset Assembly (see The Assembly, ITV), interviewing interesting people about their lives or work.

The Social Finance Advocacy Fund is still in play after budget announcements, so this week we’ll push it by writing to the Department of Health and our MP’s.

On top of all this, I had a shock on Friday. An unexpected message on my phone, after a routine blood test. Apparently, I’m pre-diabetic. I felt wobbly. After getting asthma this year, now this is a risk, on top of my physical disability. Friends I reached out to were great, and I know my fabulous support workers will help me manage this.

So, now a long, slow deep breath as this week starts…!

The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by People First Dorset - a charity led and run by people with learning disabilities with support from staff