Claire Morgan 22/11/2024 Member Stories

It’s been a while since I shared what I’ve been up to. In June I won a MIRROR award for my Welsh language work with the media. That was nice, although I wasn’t able to attend AdFest and pick up the award on the night.

There have been some big changes for me this year, especially over the last few months. The changes needed to happen because my support arrangements weren’t working for me anymore. My health hasn’t been great either, but I’ve been working hard to lose weight and been doing well. I’m pleased about that.

Right now I’m in quite a lot of pain after having a fall at work. I think I must have blacked out and fell down the stairs. I got sent to the hospital as I had a stiff neck after the fall. I’ve got a bruised eye and my leg is in a support boot. I’m taking this week off work to rest and recover. The steps would be too difficult with this support boot. I’m enjoying having more volunteering hours at work though. It keeps my mind busy. I’m looking forward to going back. I can travel independently, which is good – I use my bus pass for work.

I’ve also been busy doing GCSE literacy and numeracy and that’s going really well. Still going to Gateway events some evenings too. I can’t use my bus pass to get there as there are no buses in the evenings. The bus service where I like still isn’t great unfortunately.

Some not good news is that someone I know passed away recently. I feel really sad about that, especially because I can’t go  to pay my respects at the funeral. I’d really like to go but I have no transport to get there.

One of the biggest recent changes is my respite. I started a new place last week. Things broke down at the old place.

Last week was short taster, and I’m looking forward to spending a few weeks there in December. During the taster, I went to see a big firework display, went shopping, had my hair done, and had help with personal care.

I feel like I have lots of choice while I’m there. I can choose what I do and I don’t feel like I have to go along with what other people want as there are plenty of staff to support everyone’s choices. Within reason maybe. For example, me and someone else went in the same car to go shopping, but we went our separate ways with our own support staff when we got there.

I went swimming too. It helps with my weight loss so I enjoy doing that.

When I think about the good changes that have happened for me recently, being able to speak up for myself has been important. It hasn’t been easy to get the changes which were right for me. For a while I kept hitting barriers. People weren’t listening. I think I only got to where I am now because I can use my own voice and speak up. I feel sorry for people who can’t use their own voices and who are not listened to. In this day and age it’s important to have your voice heard and be equal.