Articles in Blog Posts

Articles in Blog Posts

Reflections On Disability: 1956 vs 2022

Ben Clark

Written by Liz Hobbs.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

The fight for disability rights and inclusion is nothing new.  Back in 1950 the wife of my great grandmother’s stepson (Rosalind Chalmers) contracted polio.  As a result of this she suffered from its lifelong effects and disabilities.  In 1966 she wrote an article called ‘Victim Invicta’ about how disability affected her and her family’s life.  She contracted polio when her children were just 5 weeks old and 2 years old.  14 years on she was paralysed, used a wheelchair, needed daily personal care, couldn’t look after her children and had to constantly rely on others to help her.   It also talked about how things should be improved for disabled people.  ‘Victim Invicta’ was published in a book called ‘Stigma – The Experience of Disability’.

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Quotes from Ann's Trustee Blog

My Journey As a BuDS Trustee

Janneke

Written by Ann Hedges

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

“I have been a BuDS Trustee since 2018, and it is a role I have found very rewarding. Having left work, I found that I am able to continue using skills which I have acquired over many years in my work with BuDS. 

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Finally, It All Makes Sense! ADHD And Me

Ben Clark

Written by Janneke Elford

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

Some people have described as a workaholic, I thought I was, and had been all of my working life. My workplace was a constant source of stimulation and I didn’t see or understand my patterns of intensity, compulsion and hyperfocus on tasks. I thought being a workaholic was a good thing, especially for my career. However, this led to bouts of bad mental health and burnouts several times over a long period in my previous employment, and being in a workplace that had a severe lack of empathy was a disaster waiting to happen. To be honest being made redundant from that role was the best thing that could of happened, as it led me to BuDS.

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A qote from the blog, reading "Working within BuDS has taught me to never settle when it comes to accessibility. To speak up and challenge those who aren’t as understanding as they should be, and to have a voice and know my legal rights."

My Experience of Working Within BuDS

Ben Clark

Written by Juliet W.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

Our current Grants Fundraiser Juliet sadly left us earlier this summer. However, before she left, she wrote us an excellent blog post on her experience of working within BuDS.

If you would be interested in becoming a member of the BuDS team, we have positions currently available. Find out more by getting in touch.

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A graphic created by the R4W digital team for this article

My Role as a Reach4Work Project Coordinator

Ben Clark

Written by Katie C

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

I returned to BuDS five months ago, as Project Coordinator for R4W Digital Team. As nervous as I was, I jumped straight in, both feet first and feeling like I had a lot to learn, and many adventures to go on. I received the loveliest warm welcome back, not only from the R4W Digital Team but the entire BuDs Team. There really is a lot more to a website, than what you see on the screen, and being part of the R4W Digital Team has been so incredibly interesting and rewarding. There is a great deal of work to do, and an exciting phase 2 development plan for the rest of 2022, and into 2023. Including continuing to maintain and update the Reach4Work and Bucks Workability websites. With an ongoing and exciting development project, creating an Events App to help make local events more accessible, for disabled people.

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My Journey Into Learning Disability Nursing

Ben Clark

Written by Ann H

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

Background

It was the summer of 1975. I had left school and was waiting to go the local technical college to do my A Levels. I was bored and lonely. I lived in an isolated vicarage, in a rural location. I had no friends in the village as I had not gone to the local school. There were few bus services. To make matters worse my grandma who lived with us, had had a fall and was now permanently in a long stay Care of the Elderly unit.

My long-term plans were sorted as long as I got the required exam results. At that time to get into a London Teaching Hospital, you needed to apply years in advance. I had secured a place to do general training at Guy’s in August 1977. I was born there, and mum did her training there, so there was an important family link.

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