My Great Success

Sometimes, everyone feels that they are not getting anywhere with things, especially when they have been trying so hard and for so long. That was what I felt like when I was trying to get a Changing Places toilet in Clydebank shopping centre.

Clydebank is my local shopping centre, where I go a lot.  But it was getting difficult to go there because I couldn’t get the toilet in the centre because I require a hoist to get to the toilet.  I remember one time my Mum and myself asked at the information desk if they had a hoist in the toilet, but sadly, they said no.  We thought it was terrible because they just had a baby changing toilet installed but they didn’t have the right disabled toilet. So, I decided I was going to get a Changing Places toilet installed in Clydebank shopping centre.

It was back in 2018 when I started campaigning.  First of all, I wrote a letter to the shopping centre with TAG‘s help and lucky enough they got back to me quite quickly and asked to meet with me.

 

At the meeting I explained my issues and how it would make such a difference if they installed a Changing Places toilet to a lot of disabled people, including myself. The manager seemed very positive that they could get a Changing Places installed. This was a very good start, but little I did know that we had a long road ahead!

After that first meeting, I kept emailing them to see what was happening, but I just kept getting same answer, that they were waiting for all of the planning to go ahead. This took years!  I was getting frustrated.  I know these things takes while and it can’t happen overnight, but it is an important facility to have in the centre.

 

In 2020 the world closed down so; I knew that would hold everything back.

 

In summer 2022, I got email to say that Clydebank got the go ahead for the changing places and I was delighted to hear it, but it took another year and half to build it.

 

It was summer last year when they finally started to build the toilet. I was so glad to see it started.  A few months later it wasn’t finished and I started to wondering if it will ever open! 

 

I kept emailing the manager and I kept being told it was all ready, but it needed to be officially signed off. Once again, I was very frustrated. Knowing it was ready, but it couldn’t be used. Finally, on the Friday before Christmas, it opened at last!  I was emailing the manager every day that week before Christmas, then on the Friday I heard that it was open,  so me and my Mum went straight to Clydebank to see it.

That first time that I saw the Changing Places I thought it was a fantastic facility and I couldn’t believe that it was opened!

 

The facility is next to shop ability.   There is a button you press and someone will come and open it. I know that some people don’t like this way because they need to wait but, in my opinion, this is better because it is locked so everyone can’t use it because this toilet facility is for someone who requires a hoist or a changing bed.

 

Inside the toilet, it is very big with a ceiling hoist and a changing bed.  I know there is 1 hand bar but there should be 2, but I know that Clydebank is getting this sorted with a couple more things.

 

Having the Changing Places in Clydebank now is so much better for a lot of disabled people and for me   personally. It means that I can go to my local shopping centre and get to the toilet!

 

Even although it took about 6 years, I am very proud of myself that I campaigned for a Changing Places toilet in Clydebank, it is my great success!

If you wish to get some more information on this or give feedback.  All of my contact details is under contact me on this Website.

Written by Jill Clark

Kilt walk

 

It is always good to do something for charity, so when someone suggested that I should do the kilt walk, I thought yeah, it sounds like fun!

 

So, I signed up for the kilt walk or wheel in my case on the 28^th of April.

Kilt walk is Scotland’s largest mass participation walking event with over 145,000 people taking part since 2016.

 

The kind-hearted Kilt walk community have taken big strides for charities close to their hearts and together with The Hunter Foundation, have managed to raise a staggering £42.5 million to date. All funds raised have been distributed to 3,330 Scottish Charities.

I have decided to do the kilt walk for The Advisory Group or TAG for short, somewhere very near to my heart.

 

The Advisory Group has been going since 1996 to enable people with disabilities to have a stronger voice in the services they use and in their local communities.  

It is run by disabled people for disabled people, to promote inclusion and fight discrimination. It became a registered charity in 2012 and has over 500 members. There are 14 regional TAG groups across Scotland. TAG supports people to respond to issues and concerns raised by individuals both locally and nationally. But perhaps the most important work we do in making Scotland a more inclusive place for everyone to live.  

 

TAG helps disabled people like myself to make life more inclusive through campaigns or through setting up  activities in the country like football or dance club.

 

I have been involved with TAG for about 10 years now.   Over the 10 years TAG has helped me to start my campaign.  My campaign is for more Changing Places toilets in Scotland.  Standard accessible toilets do not meet the needs of all people with a disability. Over ¼ million people in the UK with a disability need extra equipment and space to allow them to use the toilets safely and comfortably. These needs are met by Changing Places toilets. A Changing Places toilet has all the right equipment in it such as a hoist, a changing bed and it is very big to move around for a wheelchair user and 2 carers.

Through the years I have managed to open a few Changing Places toilets, including Clydebank shopping centre, Queen street station, River Side Museum, Science Centre, Burrell collection and many more.

 

With my campaign TAG has helped me to make videos, to write Blogs and articles and TAG has given me many opportunities to do some public speaking.

 

I feel that it’s time to give thanks to TAG by fund raising money for TAG.  The money that I raise will help TAG to continue to help me with my campaign and run activities in the community.

 

If you wish to sponsor me please follow this link  The Advisory Group is fundraising for The Advisory Group (justgiving.com)

 

Written by Jill Clark

Creative writing course

 

I love to write. Writing is another way of communicating and as I have no speech writing helps me to express myself and get my word across more.  As you may have seen me writing in my Blogs about my experiences of things, mainly of my experiences of having a Disability.  Some of my Blogs are my reviews of places.  Everyone and everything has a story behind them/it and it is good to tell your story as it helps people to understand you better and make them aware of things.  So, I write to help everyone to understand me and things.

 

I started writing when I was about 15.  It was when I got my 3rd Communication device which it allowed me to have access to a computer (see my AAC Journey Blog for more info). My first Blog that I wrote was about my life, my Disability and about my communication device.  It was a very short Blog as it was my first time writing, but I was very proud of it.  At the time I love watching Blue Peter, so I sent my Blog into Blue Peter and I got a Blue Peter badge for my Blog.

 

 

I did a lot of writing at school for English and then I came away from writing when I was at college and then I started working at Cerebral Palsy Scotland and I started to write Blogs for Cerebral Palsy Scotland which I really enjoyed doing.  In January 2020, I lost my job, then in March we went in to lockdown, that was when I got my teeth in to Blogging.  I started to write Blogs for TAG (The Advisory Group) in the first lockdown and have been writing ever since. 

 

Even although I have written a lot of Blogs over the years, I wanted to take my writing to the next level, just to see how far I could go and maybe get a   qualification in writing. So, I started to look in to creative writing courses.  Firstly, I looked in to a creative writing course with the open university but it wasn’t for me.  Then luckily enough I found another creative writing course through open study college which seemed better for me.

 

Open study college is an online college which you can study from anywhere that you want, and it lets you to get qualifications.   With open study college, it lets you study whenever without attending classes.  You are assigned to a tutor to support you and to mark your assessments.

When I discovered the course on open study college, I thought that it would be good for myself but the down side of it was it had a cost. I was lucky enough to get some funding by help from Enable Scotland. 

 

Once I got the funding through, I was excited to start, but at the same time I was worried if I couldn’t manage it, but I surprised myself!

 

The course had 6 units, with each unit I had to read through the material and then at end of each unit I did an assessment which I sent to my tutor to get marked.

 

In the first unit, I needed to do:

·    Identify and explain a variety of reasons for writing

·    Evaluate my experience of writing

·    Analyse my writing style

·    Identify and judge a time when to write

·    Develop a plan for creative writing

 

This was quite easy as I was used to writing about myself.  I enjoyed doing this unit and I passed it.

 

For the 2^nd unit, I needed to:

·    Identify different types of genres associated with creative writing and explain these

·    Identify different types of sub-genres associated with creative writing and explain these

·    Summarise the meaning of ‘conflict’ within creative writing

·    Explain the term ‘critical analysis’ as it applies to creative writing

·    Recognise your reading preferences and critically compare the preferences of others

·    Explain the genre of life writing

·    Explain the sub-genre of a biography

·    Interpret how to plot a biography

This unit was a bit harder.  I felt like I was   out of my comfort zone but I managed it with help from the course material and I passed it.  I enjoyed learning about the different genres of creative writing like fiction and nonfiction.

 

For my 3rd unit, I needed to:

·    Apply my skills in writing in the first, second and third person

·    Explanation of the term ‘writing style’

·    Explain the nature and purpose of dialogue

·    Create a believable character and provide a character analysis

·    Summarise tips to aid writing and be able to put these into practice in a piece of written work

 

 This unit took me out of my comfort zone too, but I really enjoyed this unit. It let me explore my creative side of my writing.  I created a character which I never done before.  When I got my marks through for this unit, it said a merit. When I saw the word “merit” I didn’t know what it means so, I looked it up and it turns out a merit is more than a pass, so, I was very pleased with myself that I got a merit for this unit.

 

For my 4^th unit, I needed to:

 

·    Critically compare different writing styles

·    Analyse the genre and elements of the short story

·    Demonstrate the skills needed to plot and write an excerpt from a short story, novel and life writing

·    Evaluate the importance of locations in a novel

·    Evaluate the skills needed to write a play

·    Critically analyse different script layouts

·    Demonstrate the ability to write a scene from a script for a stage play

·    Summarise the important points in editing and proof reading and be able to edit a piece of your own work

 

I liked doing this unit too, I liked learning how to write drama and writing a scene for a play. Again, this was out of my   comfort zone.  And also, I liked learning about editing and proof reading, this would help me in my future writing.  I got a pass for this unit too.

 

 

 

For my 5^th unit I needed to:

 

·    Apply your skills in writing poems in several forms, for example, a sonnet, rhyming verse and free verse

·    Analyse the genre of writing for children

·    Apply your skills in writing a poem for children

·    Apply your skills in writing a short story for children

·    Summarise the requirements of non-fiction writing

·    Analyse journalism and be able to write a news story

 

I really enjoyed this unit, but when I saw this unit, it worried me because it had    poetry which I never done before.  Even although I have been writing for years, poetry seemed really difficult to me, but I surprised myself and managed to write a poem. Another reason I liked doing this unit was I got to learn a bit about journalism and wrote a news piece and wrote a children’s story that I really enjoyed doing. For this unit I got a merit which I was shock but proud!

 

For my 6^th unit I needed to:

·    Produce a scene for a radio play, applying the required skills

·    Demonstrate the skills needed to write a short story or a poem for radio

·    Demonstrate the skills needed to write a script for TV

·    Explain how to write to meet the requirements of a brief

·    Summarise the structure of a radio feature

·    Apply your skills in preparation of a piece of work for submission to a publisher

I liked doing this unit too.  Again, it was out of my  comfort zone but I managed it.  In this unit I learned to write a radio play and plots for a television show.  I got a pass for this.

 

Overall I really enjoyed doing this course. I surprised myself what I can write and I could go out of my comfort zone with in my writing.

 

Like everything it had ups and downs.

 

The ups were: I had a tutor who I could email anytime when I needed help which it was good to have as I liked to make sure what I was doing when I wasn’t sure, I guess that is a part of learning.  The other upside of it was my reader. Even although I can read some words, I find it difficult when I have lots of reading, so my friend told me about this reader called Free Natural Reader, where you copy and paste text in to the reader and it reads the text out.  The reader helped me a lot throughout the course.

 

The down sides were: I found it challenging when I had to write a large amount of words like with my 1^st unit needed to be 2000 words. This was quite difficult for me because when I write I don’t think of how many words that I am writing, but I did it. I learnt that if I did have a number of words, I needed to go in to more detail about the subject.

Another downside of the course was the timing.  Even although I could do the course anytime I want, I had just a year to compete the course, so I was a bit stressed that I wouldn’t compete it in the year. I use my head tracker for my writing, it is really tiring so I need time when I am writing. However, I managed to  compete the course before the year was up.

 

 

When I competed the course, I was very proud of myself and I was glad that I started the course.  I feel the course has made myself a better writer and it taught me that I can write anything if I put my mind to it.

 

Looking at the future, I don’t know what is next but I am quite keen going on to journalism or be a freelance writer, but who knows!

 

 

 

Written by Jill Clark

Writing poems in a number of forms

 

I love

I love my going on holiday to Orlando Florida.

I love spending time with all of my family, my friends.

I love music especially country music especially Nathan, Dolly.

I love  Mr. Blobby lots and always will do.

I love songs called wagon wheel, flying without wings.

I love to drink a lot of coca cola.

I love to drink a lot of cappuccinos, tea.

I love going to my guides, being a leader.

I love writing about my life experiences very much.

I love to campaign for things like changing places.

I love going swimming with my carers very much.

I love going to the Gym every Wednesday morning.

I love to communicate with every one a lot.

I love getting my nails done every few weeks.

 

A rhyming verse poem

The cat

The cat in the hat is in the van with the man wearing the hat.  The man in the van is cutting the cat’s hair.

 

 

A free vers poem

Inclusion is

Inclusion is being a part of a group.

Inclusion is when you feel belong to everywhere.

Inclusion is when somebody invites you.

Inclusion is when people communicate with you.

Inclusion is when places make sure that they have the Right access for everyone.

Written by Jill Clark 

A children poem

 

When you get older

 

 

When you get older, please remember.

When you get older, please remember the people who helped you throughout your childhood when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember all of the skills that you learn at school when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember to look back on the fun stuff that you did when you were a young child.

When you get older remember the game that you loved playing when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember the food that you loved to eat when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember the places that you used to go that you loved to go when you were a young child.

When you get older, remember all of great holidays that you used to go on with your family when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember all of games like board games that you used to play with your family and friends when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember all of the teddies and dolls you used to hug and played with when you were a child.

When you are older, please remember all of the television programmes that you used to love watching all of the time when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the books and magazines that you used to love reading when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the sport that you used to love playing or doing like, football or swimming when you were a young child.

 

When you are older, please remember all of the birthdays and birthday parties that you had with your family and friends when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the great Christmases that you spent   with your family when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the songs that you used to love sing when you were.

When you are older, please remember all of the Easter eggs that you used to get when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the things that you used to make when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the clubs that you used to go to when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of your Halloweens that you had and what or who you used to like dress up as when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember the films that you used to love watching when you were a young child.

 When you are older, please remember all of the stories that your Mum, Dad and your gran and grandpa used to tell you about their childhood when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember all of the time you spent with your sister or brother and what advice that they have given you when you were a young child.

When you get older, please look after yourself

When you are older, please do not forget where you came from.

When you are older, please do not forget your family!

When you get you are older, please do not forget your good friends from your childhood.

When you are older, please be kind to everyone that you meet.

When you are older, please remember to help anyone that is in need that you know especially all of your family.

When you are older, please remember to be grateful of everything that you have in your life like a warm home, running water, lots of food on the   table and a lovable family and great friends who excepts you for who you are.

When you get older, please treat nice everyone that you want to be treated by other

people.

When you get older, please include everyone in your life like disabled people.

When you get older, please remember to give your advice that you were given to everyone that needs it.

When you get older, please understand that people are just the same but in the different way.

 When you are older, please understand that everyone has their own needs and make yourself aware of them.

When you are older, please do not take everything for granted, like your home and going to the toilet.

When you are older, please remember to take care of your family the same way that they took care you when you were a young child.

When you are older, please remember to say please and thank you when you are asking somebody for something and when you are given something from someone.

When you get older, please remember to go down memory lane once in a while by talking about your childhood and   looking through old pictures.

When you get older, please remember to be good at communicating with everyone.

When you get older, please remember to enjoy Christmases and your birthdays as the same way that you enjoyed Christmases and your birthdays when you were a young child.

When you get older, please remember to be not afraid of anything.

When you get older, please remember to not be afraid to speak up for yourself and for others if it needed.

When you are older, please remember to not be afraid to campaign about what you do believe in and never give up.

When you get older, please remember don’t change yourself or anyone.

When you get older, please remember to not to be afraid of the person that who you are.

When you get older, please remember to do things what makes[SB1]  you very happy in your life!

When you get older, please remember to still hug your teddy like you did when you are a young child.

When you get older, please remember to work hard and find a job that you are very happy in.

When you get older, please remember

 

 Written by Jill Clark 

---

 [SB1]A really good article with a good tone; it would be beneficial to also include subheadings to help the reader navigate the piece.

Sunshine and her best friend Clobby

 Here is a piece of writing that I wrote for my creative writing course.

Like every little girl Sunshine love to play with her friends at school but sometimes, this is quite difficult for this wee girl as Sunshine is a bit   different from all of the children in her class.  Sunshine is 7 years old with long red hair and she has the most beautiful and the happiest face. 

 

We all know that everyone is the same but in the different way. due to Sunshine being really poorly when she was a little baby. Sunshine has a Disability. 

 

A Disability is when someone is when someone has 1 nose or 1 arm. A Disability is when someone cannot see. A Disability is when someone cannot hear. A Disability is when someone cannot walk or talk. 

 

With Sunshine’s Disability she cannot walk or talk so she uses a really cool pink wheelchair and Sunshine uses a special computer to talk. The special computer talked out.  So, when Sunshine uses the computer with a head switch Sunshine can talk to everyone and tell everyone how she feels or what she wants.

 

Sunshine has a lot of friends, they are called Gemma, Alison, Sharon, Kim and Kara.  But she has only 1 best very friend called Clobby.

Clobby is a pink and yellow teddy bear which comes to life when no one is around except from when Sunshine is around that Sunshine has since she was a baby.   Sunshine feels that she can tell Clobby everything and anything.  Clobby is always there for Sunshine and she takes that teddy everywhere that Sunshine goes especially when she stays away from home, like to Disneyworld in Florida and when Sunshine goes in to hospital.

Clobby the teddy is the same as Sunshine in the way that he can’t talk much himself, he only says Clobby!  But Sunshine and Clobby understands each other.  No one else can hear Clobby talking except from Sunshine. it is like that they have a special super power between them. It is really, really cool.

 

As Sunshine talks through a special computer.   Like every computer it breaks down and Sunshine don’t like it because she can’t talk to her family and friends or she can’t do her school work.

 

When Sunshine’s computer breaks, she just wants sit and hug Clobby and tell him what she is feeling and her thoughts.

 

Sunshine has a big sister called Feefee, Feefee is 2 years older than Sunshine. The sisters do get along with each other but like all sisters or brothers they do like to   annoyed each other but the sisters always are there each other.  As Sunshine has a Disability Feefee does watch out for her little sister. 

 

Sometimes Sunshine and Feefee don’t agree on things.

 

 Feefee thinks   that it is a lot of Rubbish that Sunshine still has Clobby, Feefee always says to Sunshine “you are too old to have a teddy, Clobby isn’t a real person, he is just a stuff toy” Sunshine really hates it when Feefee says that and it really hurts Sunshine’s feelings.

 

 

Sunshine wishes that Feefee would see how important Clobby is to Sunshine, but sadly not everyone sees how important little things are to people in this world.

 

Sunshine and Feefee lives with their loving and caring Mum and Dad.  The family always is out and about doing fun things like swimming, bowling, going to the cinema, going shopping, going out for dinner and going on family’s holiday to Disney world.  The family really loves spending time together.

 

One day the family were out at swimming then they went out for dinner because they always get really hungry after they have been swimming.  Sunshine decided that day that she isn’t taking Clobby with her that day, so she left Clobby sitting on her bed where Clobby always sits when he isn’t out and about and Sunshine told Clobby that she will see him later and Clobby said Clobby Clobby Clobby Clobby which Sunshine knew that means OK Sunshine, have a nice time see you later.

 

The family went off to the swimming pool and then to an Italian restaurant.  The family had a great day.  Especially Sunshine as swimming and eating Italian food are Sunshine’s favourite things to do.

 

Sunshine   was starting to feel really tired towards the end of the family ‘s dinner because swimming always makes Sunshine feels tired.  Sunshine said to her Mum through her special computer “I am really tired Mum; I want to go home and see Clobby.  Feefee buts in and said “Clobby is a just stuff teddy, he isn’t a not really person” Sunshine just looked at Feefee and said “whatever sis!”

 

The family went home in the car. When they were nearby their house, they could see a lot of smoke and wondered where the smoke was coming from as we got nearer they realized that the smoke was coming from their house. 

 

The house is a up and down stairs but as Sunshine is in a wheelchair Sunshine’s bedroom is downstairs with a bathroom.

 

When Sunshine and her family drew up in front of the house the family realized that the smoke was coming across the back of the house so Sunshine ‘s Dad went around the back and he saw that it was Sunshine’s bedroom on fire!

Sunshine’s Dad ran back around to the front and shouted “IT IS SUNSHINE’S BEDROOM, CALL THE FIRE SERVICE” 

 

The fire service came really quickly and mangled to get fire out and Sunshine’s bedroom was all smokery but Sunshine wasn’t worrying about the bedroom or her bed or her television or her alexa because Sunshine knew that she could get her bedroom decorated and  buy all of the things.  The only thing that Sunshine was really really worry about was her very best friend Clobby.  When she heard her dad shouting it is Sunshine’s bedroom Sunshine just cried and cried, the only thing that she could of think was her Clobby.

 

Once the fire service got the fire out. A nice fireman came to Sunshine and gave her Clobby and the fireman said “he was asking for you” Sunshine said to the fireman through her computer “thank you very much he is my very best friend”

 

Clobby was all black and smelled of smoke and Sunshine just hugged him and said “you are OK”

 

Once the family got Sunshine’s bedroom decorated Clobby was still all black and smelling of smoke so Sunshine ‘s did put Clobby in to the washing machine for a few hours and once Clobby came out of the washing machine he was back to his colours and smelled nice.  Sunshine was very happy to see Clobby back to himself and they lived very happy together even when Sunshine got older.

 

The End.

 

 

toilet day

 today is world toilet day, it seems very daft celebrate toilets but going to the toilet is a basic human Right and everyone should have access to a toilet everywhere but sadly a lot of disabled people finds that very difficult because of they need special equipment such as a hoist. So, this world toilet day I would like everyone thinks themselves lucky that you can get to a toilet anywhere they go because it is very difficult when you can't and believe me I am talking from experiences!

happy toilet day everybody from The Toilet Woman