I’ve been supported by Thistle since January 2006, when I moved into my own flat. Before that, I lived in Currie Respite Unit after leaving home at 18. I’ve been on Direct Payments since school and wanted to get my own place. When I got my flat, there was nothing there. The walls were painted a horrible green, the fireplace was ancient, the garden was overgrown… it just wasn’t well looked after. But now it’s a home. The whole place has been done up thanks to Colin, my Team Leader at Thistle.
I found Thistle through my social worker. She brought me information on all these support providers, and from what I saw Thistle looked the best. My team is Colin, George, Kate and Peter. Being independent is important. It’s taken a while for my mum to get there, but she’s come to accept me as an adult now. She does still nag me though! She phones me up every day and nags me about something… I see her quite a lot, mainly unintentionally in Sainsbury’s! I also see my granny who’s 90. My mum and granny are just five minutes’ away from each other, and then another five minutes down the road is my dad. I see him near enough every Saturday for football – I watch Hearts with him, but I’m really a Rangers fan.
Life’s busy… I’m in the Lung Ha theatre group. That came about by accident. I was at Thistle one day and this big, bald Australian bloke asked me to be an extra as someone hadn’t turned up. So I did, and he asked me to come along to Lung Ha, and five months later I was in my first role at the Traverse. That was four years ago. I do a workshop every Tuesday, and when a production comes up I audition. I was recently in Huxley’s Lab, playing Professor Huxley. There’s also football; I help out with the Joppa United under-14 team. I was originally Goalkeeping Coach, but now it’s just a bit of everything! I also have a DJ slot at Radio Lollipop for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Some Saturdays I go to the nightclub Mood because they have good wheelchair access and decent staff. My team always complain about the music being so loud – Peter even takes earplugs with him!
The best thing about my team is that I always feel in control. Colin and I have one to one time as often as we can. We set a date every month, and if I want a chat in between times I just need to say. It’s a new thing that Colin started, and it’s the way forward.
