Simon & JJ from Feel The Force Day are on the radio / podcast.
Richard talk to Si & JJ, they are a local charity that puts on a Comic Con (although they have much more on now) for Disabled people. The event has a worldwide reach, is the only one of its kind in the world and has people flying in just for the convention. We talk to them about the beginnings, the trials and tribulations, how they get things done and also recent events that have been well publicised here in the East of England. All of this mixed in with some Space themed music! Enjoy.
Over the weekend of the 12th of August – the garage used as temporary storage space for Feel the Force day was broken into for the second time in a year.
Last time they trashed the place so the guys thought it was bored kids. This time they took ALL of the tombola prizes, ALL of the new touch table equipment, some stands and equipment and then trashed the place…as you can see from the pic below.
We really need your help as FTFD are facing a pretty big shortfall in funding as a result of these muppets.
You can help by sponsoring the run (the money goes directly to Feel the Force Day) via our Just Giving Page or by donating to the Feel the Force Day Just Giving Page
Gordon Hartman realised there were no parks where his daughter Morgan, who is disabled, could play. So he decided to build one.
Hartman and his wife Maggie asked other parents where they could take their daughter – somewhere she would feel comfortable, and others would feel comfortable interacting with her.
“We realised such an inclusive place didn’t exist,” says Hartman.
So in 2007 he decided to build it himself. A former property developer, he sold his homebuilding businesses in 2005 to set up The Gordon Hartman Family Foundation, a non-profit organisation that seeks to help people with disabilities. Then he set about creating the “world’s first ultra-accessible theme park”.
Sharon here asking for you to Please help spread the word:
Another plug for the sponsored run for Feel The Force Day – 6 of us are running 5 & 10k races at the #rundisneyfrance half marathon weekend at Disneyland Paris in September (21st – 26th) – we are doing this at our own expense to raise money for #FTFD. Last year 2 of us raised just over £1,000 which enabled the team to put on the biggest event for disabled guests so far.
This year, sponsorship hasn’t been so good and with just under 6 weeks to go until the run we are desperately trying raise awareness of the cause, the run and what Feel the Force Day is about. The Run 4 Feel the Force Day team has been trying to publicise it as much as we can to get some sponsors and every penny counts.
That explains what Feel the Force Day is and why its such a great cause and why the 6 of us – including the amazing Jonathon who has cerebal palsy, Mandy who is Jonathan’s carer and bakes for FTFD, Sharon (me) who raises funds for Feel the Force Day along with fellow East Kent Costume Club friends Samantha, Ben and Sam’s son James are all running for this great cause (at our own expense) ..
Every single penny raised goes straight to Feel The Force Day allowing them to put on fantastic events.
1 in 4 people feel awkward talking to people with a disability. One of the reasons FEEL THE FORCE DAY exists is to make it possible for guests with disabilities to enjoy a sci-fi convention / comic con in the same manner as (and I hate to use this word) a normal guest. Not all disabilities are visible and some are very visible – so the amazing team at FEEL THE FORCE DAY put on an event that EVERYONE can feel comfortable at. FTFD events are accessible for wheelchairs and scooters of all shapes and sizes, aisles are wide to allow guests with walking aids to pass, tables are at a height that chairs and shorter guests can access. There are sensory rooms and touch tables for guests with visual or hearing problems, quiet rooms for guests who are anxious, autistic and have other issues with noise and crowds. Guests are encouraged to touch props and costumes – it is a festival of sound and vision, touch and taste – something for all the senses – even if that means very quiet and one on one experience. These events are UNIQUE and only possible through donations from rundraisers like this run and volunteers.
So if you can share, encourage someone to sponsor the team (even if its only £1 every single penny helps), and to raise awareness of this amazing cause – I and the rest of the #teamftfd runners would be SO greatful.
If you happen to be attending the Run Disney France event come and say hi 🙂 there are lots of us running and a bunch of guys from Run DV would love to be cheared along.
Thank you for reading this very long post and thank you for your support
Department of Health Report into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities – sounds serious right?
Happy Days is an event designed to enable people with learning disabilities the opportunity to meet people from health related services at a fun event. Happy Days was held at the Peterborough Town Hall and had over 250 people attend, providing much greater reach than had previously been achieved and allowed the services to better understand their audience.
In 2014, Feel the Force Day worked with Peterborough City Council to bring Happy Days into our Peterborough event. By introducing stands from Happy Days, Feel the Force Day enabled people to access those support services in an environment designed for fun instead of trying to introduce fun in an event designed for health services.
As a result of the success achieved through the integration between Happy Days and Feel the Force Day, both have been cited as best practice within the Department of Health Report into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities, which updated on work being done to bring greater health equality to people with learning disabilities.
Read the full article here on the Feel the Force Day Page, where you can also download a copy of the report from the Department of Health (Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities: Progress Update) in easy read and full pdf format.
We talk about them a lot on this site, on twitter and facebook but What is Feel the Force Day?
One of the reasons FEEL THE FORCE DAY exists is to make it possible for guests with disabilities to enjoy a sci-fi convention / comic con in the same manner as (and I hate to use this word) normal guest. Not all disabilities are visible and some are very visible – so the amazing team at FEEL THE FORCE DAY put on an event that EVERYONE can feel comfortable at.
FTFD events are accessible for wheelchairs and scooters of all shapes and sizes, aisles are wide to allow guests with walking aids to pass, tables are at a height that chairs and shorter guests can access. There are sensory rooms and touch tables for guests with visual or hearing problems, quiet rooms for guests who are anxious, autistic and have other issues with noise and crowds. Guests are encouraged to touch props and costumes – it is a festival of sound and vision, touch and taste – something for all the senses – even if that means very quiet and one on one experience.
Feel the Force day was thought up by two lovely chaps – Simon and JJ.
The lovely SimonThe also lovely JJ
They know about the daily struggles that people with disabilities have as Si’s brother Matt is in a chair and JJ works with many people with lots of disabilities including the lovely Jimmy who is blind and deaf.
Matt fundraising for FTFDJimmy
A group of us are running to raise money for Feel the Force Day – 6 of us are spending a weekend at Disneyland Paris running a combination of races and hoping to have run almost 100 km between us over the weekend.
This includes 3 of us who are running the 5k – at 8pm on the Friday night, followed by the 10k – at 7am on the Saturday morning.
Last year 2 of us managed to raise over a thousand English pounds for this amazing cause and we would love to raise a similar amount this year.
The money we raised was ploughed straight into the event – 6000 people attended the event last year and thanks to the donations they receive and the money we raised it allowed the low ticket price of £4 and all carers attended free. When you consider big comic cons and events in London and elsewhere around the country charge approx. £20 per adult (and carers have to buy a ticket) child tickets are not much cheaper and there are little to no facilities for guests that may need extra help or accessibility.
We are SO passionate about this cause and so are the people who are running alongside me. If you can help in anyway please head over to our just giving page – http://bit.ly/run4ftfd17 and share this post if you can to help us raise more money.
If you still need a BIB .. get in quick as of just now (11:57 am UK time) there are only 63 x 10k and 33x 5k bibs left !!! Kids races are sold out #run4ftfd#rundisney
A set of Bibs was released last night at 10:30pm UK time – and there are not many left … so if you need a bib get to it right now, there is no news if another batch is likely to be released – this may be your last chance.
