Another amazing day for the campaign, but also a frustrating one. I woke this morning to news that overnight the total number of supporters had risen to over 65,000 which was amazing! After a a few appointments this morning I went to Derian House for a few hours of day care this afternoon and enjoyed the company of the staff there and later on my brother joined me again for another swimming and hydrotherapy session which we both enjoy so much. We were even dancing to the radio music while in the pool today! When mum and Ceri arrived later this afternoon, I had news to share about an email I’d received from our local MP Graham Jones. As he promised, Graham had raised my campaign in Parliament and had written to Paul Maynard MP for Blackpool North & Cleveleys, who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rail and Accessibility across all modes of transport, working in the Department of Transport. I had previously emailed and received a reply from Paul Maynard, so I think he’d remembered me. You can read his reply to Graham here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7jxgxotks4i9t5g/DeptOfTrans.pdf?dl=0 I am really pleased to get a reply, but also to hear that they will be looking into the facilities at Motorway Service Areas. Derian House is very near Chorley Hospital and as most of you will know, I had an upsetting experience there nearly four weeks ago. (You can read all about that on my update story of 24th September below if you haven’t already!) Over 130 of you wrote comments of support and encouragement to me as a result of that update alone, which shows how many people echoed my concerns. After a series of emails, phone calls and Twitter, I was able to tell you, almost a week ago, that I had received an official apology from the Hospital along with confirmation that they had purchased more keys for the Changing Place room, updated their website with information about improved access to the facility and circulated a message to all their hospital staff via their staff intranet to ensure that all staff were aware of what and where the Changing Place is, and how access can be obtained. We celebrated this small, yet significant, victory and as a result I have messaged many other hospitals up and down the country challenging them to ensure that their Changing Places are accessible and if they haven’t yet got one, encouraging them to install one! Well, unfortunately, I have to report that our celebrations were premature. I visited the hospital this afternoon (with my support worker) something which a number of you suggested I do, and sadly most of the staff who we asked about the Changing Place room didn’t have a clue what we were talking about, or weren’t able to tell us where it was. Two members of staff did however recall receiving an email a few days ago mentioning the facility and they were able to tell us where to find it, after checking. The signage to the facility has certainly not been improved. When we eventually found the room, it was of course locked, as we expected, but as before my carer rang the telephone number as advised on the notice and again, on the second call it was answered and the receptionist was unable to confirm where a key could be obtained. We were kept on hold until the answer was found and eventually someone came with a key to open the room for us. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the room was spotlessly clean; probably because it has rarely, if ever been used! But once again it took over 40 minutes for us to get access despite asking a number of staff and ringing the reception desk. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised, but I was very disappointed that having had the conversations, raised an official complaint, and received such a positive and encouraging reply from the hospital, the situation had not improved. It seems that maybe the website update, the courteous Twitter messages, the polite and the sympathetic phone calls were just a PR exercise. As with so many management and worker relationships, maybe this is yet another example of management just issuing a load of emails to staff and then assuming that’s ‘job done’ when the already overworked and time-pressed staff have no time to even open their emails, let alone take onboard all the new information. So tomorrow I will be contacting Chorley Hospital once again and will look to taking the matter further. It simply is not acceptable that wheelchair users and people with disablilities should have the hassle of a 40 minute wait to access a suitable toilet and changing facility. I did have some more good news though today, just to end on a positive note. My new friends at ‘Mobiloo’ contacted me with news that they’re in my area at the weekend for a local event and they’ve asked me to go and meet up with them to check out their mobile Changing Place facility! I can’t wait to see it for myself. No doubt I’ll get some photos to share with you! While I’ve been writing the petition total has exceeded 72,000 which is just incredible! Thanks again for continuing to spread the word. Your support means a great deal to me and my family and friends. Zack