Claire Morgan 26/07/2021 Member StoriesNews

May 2021

I’m working from home today – it’s been so busy.  I mentioned last month that we’d received funding for 15 iPads and we’ve been busy setting them up, delivering them to people with a learning disability in the Caerphilly area and showing people how to use them.  It will help more people to feel included I think and it’s really positive.

I went to Cwmbran to do some clothes shopping the other week – there were long queues for some of the shops.  I think we’ll take a train trip to Cardiff on a nice day.  I get my second jab towards the end of May and I’ll feel safer then.

The Relationships Training is still going strong on Insight.  We talked this week about why it’s hard to have a relationship sometimes and what the barriers are.  I’ve designed the training with Lisa from Innovate Trust.

I met a new friend through TRAC (Teaching, Research and Advisory Committee) and we’ve been for coffee. We’re going for food next week when things open up!

July 2021

It was great when things opened up and I felt like I needed to be out all the time just because I could!  But I ended up with flutters in my chest and went to the GP. He said it could be anxiety but sent me for blood tests and an ECG to be on the safe side.  There is a possibility that I may have some inflammation around my heart but the GP thinks it’s more likely to be anxiety and has told me to take things easy and do breathing exercises.  It hasn’t helped that I have a viral infection too and I’ve had to give up my personal training for a while.

Feeling anxious has made me realise that I can’t go at 100 miles an hour.  I need to take things more slowly and stop trying to cram everything in because restrictions have lifted.  Work is busy at Caerphilly People First and we’ve started holding focus groups each week and looking at learning disability pride, hate crime, mate-crime and physical activities such as football and basketball.

I’ve actually done quite a bit since lockdown has eased. I’ve been to Tenby with mum for a weekend, to the cinema with my friend and to Cardiff for a night out over the past couple of months. I’ve got another night out in Cardiff planned for a few weeks time too – table karaoke! I can’t wait! I enjoy being busy and hate being stuck in the house.

I suppose I’m also worried that I need to do as much as I can now in case there’s a further lockdown later in the year.  I have to find a balance between going out and socialising and doing all the things we haven’t been able to do for such a long time and not overloading myself physically or emotionally.  We need to remember that Covid hasn’t gone away and we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.