I travelled up to Loughborough and spent 3 days there to begin training for my campaign with Scope. After feeling a little unwell on Friday, it was touch and go whether I would actually make it but I am so glad I did!
Day one
I left at roughly 7:30 in the morning, and after a long 4 hour journey we managed to reach the Burleigh Court in Loughborough at 11:30. The hotel we stayed in was amazing, and I later found out that Team GB Paralympians had previously stayed there! It was so accessible and all staff were really friendly.
We started the weekend off with a meet up with everyone, getting to know each other and then had some lunch in the restaurant. Afterwards, we had our first session which was "Planning a Campaign." This was really useful and a great way for us to get started! It focused on our objectives and aims, different tactics and how to target our audience. It was so useful to hear from other disabled campaigners and all our ideas just seemed to bounce off each other.
Later on, we had a 1-1 with a member of the Scope team to talk about our campaign and what they could do to help. I found this particularly useful as it meant that we weren't on our own through this.
The day ended with a fabulous meal at the restaurant hotel and an early night in bed. Safe to say by around half past 8, I was knackered and in quite a bit of pain. I only wished I could have stayed a little bit longer!
Day Two
So this is where the training really stepped up! We had 4 training sessions which where spread out over the day, including a guest speaker. It included training like "Using Social Media" and how to spread our message across a variety of platforms, and how we can utilise the use of social media to our audience. Another speech, that was particularly useful was the "Making a change with your story and video." This was definitely one of my favourite session as it focused not only on our story as a disability campaigner, but also from the perspective of the interviewer. It meant that we were able to use these skills to be a competent and good interviewer when gathering testimonies for our campaign.
After a little lunch break, we then had two more sessions which included using persuasive techniques and how to influence people. My all time favourite session had to be from the external speaker- Bal Deol. After hearing her story and her journey of campaigning, she is officially my new idol! So Bal had discovered that she was being over charged by taxi firms, for simply being a wheelchair user. This led to her being involved in an investigating with the BBC whereby they were able to provide evidence to prove that she was right!
Over the course of a few years, she was able to propose a new legislation which meant that it is now illegal for taxi drivers to refuse to take wheelchair users which has been passed. Her story was so inspiring to prospective campaigners, and she has achieved so much at just 25 years old.
Towards the end of the day, my pain levels started to increase. I was so exhausted but so excited for all the good things to come. Unfortunately, I had to leave dinner a little bit earlier than I had hoped as I was just in too much pain in my hips and spine.
Day Three
So this was our final day, and the weekend definitely flew by. Our first session of the day was "People, Power and Parliament" with another guest speaker called Skye Yarlett. She was brilliant and really engaging! This session was particularly useful if your campaign involves changing any legislation, and how to get the most out of your MP.
At this point, it had now been official that I was going to collaborate my campaign with Chloe, a fellow Scope participant who lives just down the road from me. We both have similar ideas in what we want to achieve, and for us to share the work load around our conditions we have decided to join forces. After all, two heads are better than one!
It isn't about changing everything in society, it is about making a difference no matter how small.
-Sophie xx
(Photo Credit: Scope Team)
(Photo Credit: Scope Team)
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