Returned

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 01 July 2007 20:13:06

We're back.

Friday saw the last day of the conference. The highlights were Bill Byerson leading us all in song. He is a minister in Liverpool but, more importantly, chaplain of Liverpool Football Club. He used to be on their books as a player. He joined during the Bill Shankley era, the beginning of Liverpool's glory days.

Then, after lunch, the staff and clients at the Farm did a performance of the review that they'd done for the Countess of Wessex the week before. She is the patron of the charity and a great supporter of their cause. Seeing one of the girls do a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream was very special; another Thea, a girl with learning difficulties, read a poem she'd written; Joe reading a story about the horses he looked after and then sang a great duet with Zoe, one of the staff.

However the highlight was the gys from the Computer and Media Project who performed several "dance" routines. Seeing the staff perform with the clients who are Autistic and suffer from severe learning difficulties was amazing. The sheer joy on their faces was a great pleasure to behold.

Going around the agriculture project on Friday had shown me how much the clients are in touch with the animals. Seeing one of them interact with the cows and sheep, knowing each of them and seeing them approach him without inhibitions was wonderful. We were told that the clients could tell when there was something wrong with an animal before the staff realised.

Yesterday we spent the day at the National Railway Museum in York. I must say that it was very good but also very tiring. The biggest shock came as we walked around their warehouse containing items that they don't have room to display. I won't say what it is, we'll post a pic later in the week.

Despite the reported floods across much of South Yorkshire and the Midlands we made it home in one piece. However not without incident.

As we joined the M50 we noticed that FW's car was not responding to the accelertor commands. As we drove up hills it lost speed and power. When we drove up the steep hill near home we had to drop down to 1st gear and really struggled to get up it. Looks like it needs a visit to the garage.

Now we just have to get back to normal again.