June has been the most exciting and entertaining month of the year so far:
Disability Horizons
As always, my workload at Disability Horizons continues to pile up nicely. i’ve had a few articles published this month. In fact, I hit a milestone of 30 articles, plus my additional sponsored pieces which is amazing!
I’m still waiting on answers from four interviewees. Plus I’ve just finished prepping for an interview with author, TV presenter and fundraiser Katie Piper.
I’ve also been offered the exciting opportunity next month to visit a holiday park in Norfolk and review their accessible caravan. I’ve never stayed at a holiday park before so will be a nice change of scenery.
In addition, I’m continuing to help prepare for our upcoming secret project. Also, I’m hoping to start working on some original news reporting style work. I’ll find out more soon – so watch this space!
AccessAble
I have been a bit thin on the ground with ideas lately on AccessAble content. However, we have begun a new mission to encourage local authorities to fund more access guides in their area. As Hampshire Champion, I’ve been given the task of emailing Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton councillors to discuss the benefits of access guides.
So far Southampton City Council have agreed to meet with us. A member of the AccessAble Buisness Development team will arrange the meeting which I will then attend – exciting times ahead!
Blogging opportunity at Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Last week, my friend shared a link to a job application for journalists, bloggers & vloggers to be given the opportunity to receive unlimited bursaries to attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and review some of the acts with disabilities and impairments. I have applied for the opportunity as I have the skills and motivation, I am disabled plus I’ve never been to the Edinburgh Festival. I’m still waiting to find out if I’m successful then I’ll need to work out the logistic of travelling and staying in Scotland.
Drama Production
I have continued my drama classes at the West End Centre and we have been devising our summer production which will be performed on Tuesday 9th July at 8pm. If you would like to come see our performance, you can BOOK YOUR FREE TICKET HERE.
Alton College Reunion
On Saturday 8th June, I went to a college reunion for Treloar students who attended the local mainstream college, Alton College. The event took place on the Treloar campus in their social club. There were former students and staff from 2004 – 2015. It was the first event of its kind and it went rather well. Several people made speeches sharing their accomplishments since leaving college.
There were also tours of the campus but I didn’t bother as I’m there frequently for my physio and, soon to be, voluntary work.
Live Music
This month I had a double trip to Wembley Stadium in six days. Firstly to see Spice Girls then to see Bon Jovi. Very different atmospheres, vibes and styles but both still good in their own ways. Full reviews can be found in my blog roundup below.
Films
The film of the year has finally been released; Toy Story 4. And yes, I saw it on its opening weekend. Without giving any spoilers, it was amazing. There was happiness, sadness, laughter, love and heartbreak – everything that comes with a Toy Story film. I was rather surprised by the ending but understood why it had happened.
TV
There has been so much TV to watch this month. Firstly, I binged watched series 2 of Killing Eve in about 2 days. It was incredible but very gruesome at times. I was quite glad I can’t see a lot of it to be honest.
I was looking forward to the fifth season of Black Mirror on Netflix when it released at the beginning of the month. However, I discovered the audio description wasn’t available. I reported it to Netflix and had a rant on social media. A week or so later the AD was available. This was good news but was still frustrating that people with sight loss couldn’t watch it as soon as it was released like everyone else. I hope this isn’t the same problem for next month when the new series of Stranger Things and Orange is the New Black are released. In terms of my thoughts on the new series of Black Mirror, I was quite disappointed. There were only 3 episodes; The first episode was boring, the second episode was too predictable and the third episode was just strange.
I also finished watching the BBC drams Years and Years which had an extraordinary cliffhanger. Roll on series 2!
As well as the fictional drama, I’ve also been following real drama at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. BBC has done a tremndous job broadcasting every game and for the England games, they even synced the radio commentary with the TV pictures which is perfect for those, like myself, who need AD to follow the full game. My prediction will be an England vs Germany final with England winning on penalties… hopefully!
Books
I think it is fair to say I’ve failed my new year resolution to read classic literature. I just found it to hard to follow as an audiobook. Instead I’ve been reading books by Sophie Kinsella and JoJo Moyes.
Blog post roundup
In case you missed any of my blog posts this month, here is a roundup of them:
- Music Interview: Avalanche
- 5 reasons to become a volunteer
- Music Interview: The Radio Broadcast
- 15 facts about Hampshire
- Review: Spice Girls at Wembley Stadium (night 3)
- My future with a catheter: One year later
- Review: Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium
5 Favourite Blog Posts
Here are my 5 favourite blog posts I’ve read this month:
- Eye-opening statistics and a Hopeful progression #ForAccessibleHomes by Fi Anderson at Life of an Ambitious Turtle
- GIFTED – Accessibility Review of Bear Grylls Adventure – Birmingham by Lucy Wood at Four Wheeled Wonder Woman
- Bearing up – Tribunal and Results by Shannon Weston at Little Sea Bear
- Seeking help can be hard by Ellie at My Life My Way
- I am reconsidering my options. Is a degree really something I want to do? By Emma Lucy Fledglings at Musings of a Trainee Battleaxe
