Dear Diary,
I’ve had such a whirlwind couple of months that my feet haven’t touched the floor, but my wheels certainly have! Here are a few of the highlights from the last couple of months.
November got off with a bang on bonfire night as we went to see the Rugby world cup at the MKM stadium. We watched some great rugby, ate some warming food and really enjoyed ourselves. It is a shame the whole experience was nearly ruined by the lack of accessibility! Having to use an unmarked “back door” that we seem to find by accident, then having to use a service lift to reach the right level for the accessible seating area. Yet again it seems that lip service and box ticking has been paid to the accessibility for the stadium. I would love to see the original plans for the stadium and see how they have managed to get away with what seems to be less than bare minimum.
A few days later and we were back at the MKM stadium, this time on official RedFez business. We were exhibiting at the Tech Expo, part of the events around Tech Week Humber. We got to give away plenty of fezzes and meet up with friends old and new. We also met a fellow wheelie who was struggling to get a placement for his IT college course as accessibility was an issue, of course. Long story short, we offered a placement with us as we can cope with a wheelchair user in the office.
November also saw another chance for me to flash my wheel lights as we attended the Abba tribute night at Beverley Minister – great night all round, such a good night I forgot to take many photos!
The end of November was frustrating more than anything else. I took part in a photoshoot for an article in a local business magazine about not letting my disability get in the way of owning and working in my own business. Just as we were finishing the shoot, I was informed that the lift had broken down and they didn’t know when it would be fixed! Little did I know that I wouldn’t be able to work in my own office for most of December.
Thankfully we have a fellow Business Culture member on the ground floor at Craven Park (Evoke Technologies) and they just happened to have a spare desk. One thing it did teach us during the time working apart for nearly a month is that it doesn’t work for us!
We had our health and safety risk assessment done with Hull College for our potential work placement candidate and unsurprisingly we failed because the lift wasn’t working. At this stage we had no idea when we would be able to fulfil our duties as a training provider.
It was not quite the end to 2022 I was expecting but we made the most we could out of a bad situation.
2023
The search for an accessible office space started in earnest in January. We made a list of requirements, essential and potential. I felt like I had a very specific shopping list, and I couldn’t deviate from it. Ground floor offices with easy access seem to be in short supply in Hull. After many phone calls and site visits later, we had narrowed the search down to 2 locations, both of which happen to be the sister sites to the office we currently occupied. We had our hearts set on the one nearest to our home as the commute to the other location meant negotiating our way across several major pinch points on the city roads.
It all came down to accessibility in the end, our preferred location had narrow corridors that my wheelchair couldn’t fit through, so it instantly ruled itself out of the running.
On wheeling through the door for the first time at Louis Pearlman Centre, I was certain that we had found the new home for RedFez. A ground floor unit, with its own private entrance with parking right outside. Close to the breakout room and restroom facilities including a disabled loo!
We also decided that we should change accountants, accounting software package as well as getting ready for our financial year end, and a VAT return. Added to the fact we had just taken on substantial client and moved office meant things like this blog had to take a back seat!
At some point I blinked and ended up in July, celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with a picnic at an English Heritage site. In the pouring rain! We discovered a very important point at the same time, my wheelchair is not suitable for off roading on damp and muddy grass. The result of a reversing handbrake turn on one wheel ended with a very bent wheel! At this point I should give a big shout out to the team at Independent Mobility for straightening the wheel on such a quick turnaround so I can remain mobile until the replacement arrives.
