{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"We got an opportunity to talk to two young Scouts, Eddie and Penny, who are also members of the Kidz Board at Whizz-Kidz \u2013 a charity for young wheelchair users","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEddie has had an amazing time as a Scout. He was given a lot of opportunities that he tells us he\u2019s been very grateful for.\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/15526/kidzboard-portraitscandids-063.jpg","width":2756,"height":4134,"altText":"Eddie sitting in wheelchair smiling wearing Equality Hurts No One t-shirt, jeans and trainers with grass and trees behind","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHi Eddie! Shall we start with you telling us a bit about yourself?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m Eddie, I turned 20 last week. I\u2019m studying law at university. In my spare time, I like to do a lot of Scouting activities like kayaking and archery.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s your experience been like with Whizz-Kidz? And how did you come to be on the trustee board?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMy experience with Whizz-Kidz has been absolutely amazing.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI needed a new wheelchair about three years ago and I was looking for places I could get one. I\u2019d never heard of Whizz-Kidz before I applied for equipment from them.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey told me they had some clubs too and invited me to come down and see what\u2019s going on. So, I went along to some of the clubs and got involved.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout six months later, I was in the hospital, and the vacancy had actually come up on the Kidz Board. I wasn\u2019t completely sure I was going to apply to be honest because I was in the hospital and was quite unwell at the time.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen I got discharged from the hospital, I realised I really wanted to be doing something and this seemed really interesting. So, I got in touch, and I got the role.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019ve really enjoyed it. It\u2019s been incredible. The places I\u2019ve been to and the people that I\u2019ve met \u2013 It\u2019s been a really incredible experience.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat age were you when you joined Scouts? And can you tell me a bit about your experience there?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI was in Scouts from the age of six till about the age of 12. And then I left and re-joined at 15. I\u2019ve been there ever since and now I\u2019m in Network and I\u2019m a leader.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, so I got my first job through Scouts. I worked at Scout Adventures.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s been your favourite part of Scouts?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019ve learned so much! Especially at Scout Adventures, I learned a lot as it was my first job. I got qualifications from it. I learned to live more independently and learned how to really be a teenager.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause, being disabled, I always felt like part of me was missing out. But when I went to Scout Adventures, it was a very enclosed environment. It was just like me and like 20 other teenagers and it felt like I was really part of something.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019ve just completed my Scouts of the World Award Badge. I did a 100-hour project, plus a 14-hour discovery weekend, plus my presentation. I set up a Facebook social network for young people with disabilities. We even had people from America.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe did Zoom meetings every other week and we worked on some campaigns. It was really something where I take my personal interests and use them to gain one of the top awards in Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom your personal experiences, do you feel that Scouts has been supportive of your disability?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAbsolutely. I went to the Meadows Explorer Scout unit in Edinburgh. With our Scout leader, a lovely woman named Allison, we went to the Monopoly run in York.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEverything was fine going down there, and we had a great day. When we were going back, we went to get on the train and Allison had booked assistance in advance.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen we got there, it turned out the train was not accessible. So, what they wanted to do was separate me by putting me on a separate train from everyone else and I\u2019d be alone.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe all needed to travel together because of the ratios of leaders to young people anyway, but Alison was absolutely amazing. She made sure that we could all get the train back together. She really fought for me.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EShe wrote a very strongly worded letter afterwards, and we got an apology, and they actually set up a meeting with me to apologise.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYou know, they really fought for me with everything I did. They always tried to make everything inclusive and when things went wrong, they would always, always make sure it was sorted out.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIs there anything you think your leaders could have done better to help with your disabilities?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI don\u2019t think there is, honestly. They were amazing \u2013 absolutely amazing. I couldn\u2019t fault them at all.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow can we encourage other young people with disabilities to join Scouts? And would you encourage them?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI think there needs to be more visibility for disabled people in Scouts. When I joined, I didn\u2019t know of anyone else who was disabled and a Scout. I thought I was the only one.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI have met some amazing people since who are Scouts and are also disabled. But I think with things like posters, advertisements and the website \u2013 they need to make sure that they are including disabled people and not just abled people.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are your plans for the future after you graduate uni?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s a difficult one. I have been thinking about this a lot recently. I\u2019m currently doing an integrated Masters in Law.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m going to be doing four years at uni and then after that, I want to go back and work at Scout Adventures as a senior volunteer. I absolutely loved my time there and ever since I left, I\u2019ve just missed it so much.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe environment was incredible and to be able to do that work. It was so incredible. After that, I want to get a training contract and go into law, but I definitely want to go back to Scout Adventures.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWe next spoke to Penny, who found her particular group more difficult to fit in with.\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt should be noted, as Penny acknowledges, that Scout volunteers aren\u2019t disability experts and are considerably time poor. However, as Scouts, we\u2019re good at keeping an open mind. We\u2019re always looking for opportunities where we can listen and learn \u2013 Disability History Month is a perfect time for that.\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/15525/kidzboard-portraitscandids-082.jpg","width":2756,"height":4134,"altText":"Penny sitting in wheelchair smiling, wearing glasses, khaki dress and brown ankle boots with grass and trees behind","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us a bit about yourself, Penny.\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMy full name is Penelope, but everybody calls me Penny. I\u2019m currently studying for a dual degree at the University of Leicester, but my third and fourth year will be at the University of Strasbourg.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019m pretty normal, I guess. I like to read. I like to go out with my friends. I\u2019m really enjoying being able to do that now, because of the chairs that Whizz-Kidz have given me.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s your experience been Like at Whizz-Kidz? And how did you come to be on the trustee board?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI got involved very, very young.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen it came to the time for me to start school, I still couldn\u2019t walk. My mum took me to the doctors, and they said \u2018your child will be fine. She\u2019ll be running, jumping and walking by the time she\u2019s five years old\u2019. Evidently, that wasn\u2019t true, because I\u2019m sitting in a wheelchair right now.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey refused to give me a proper wheelchair because they thought there wasn\u2019t any point. So, they gave me an adult wheelchair that could fit me, my brother, my teacher and a dog in it.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI literally couldn\u2019t move at all; I couldn\u2019t even reach the wheels. The wheels fell off all the time, which meant that sometimes my brother would literally have to pick me up during primary school assemblies because none of the teachers would.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, then my mum found a leaflet for Whizz-Kidz. They paid for me to go to a massive kind of wheelchair showroom, there were at least 2000 wheelchairs with different types of wheels, all strapped on the wall.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe guy showed me all of the different things that I could get. He measured me and told me which type he thought was best for me, but he told me I can decide whatever one I felt was best for me. As disabled people, we don\u2019t really get a lot of choices. To have such an important thing to decide as a five-year-old and to have an adult trust you to do that was such an empowering experience.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd from then, I\u2019ve done everything you could possibly do with Whizz-Kidz, which led me to join the Kidz Board in 2018. But as a Whizz-Kid veteran, that was really the only step left to take.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s your experience been like with Scouts?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI joined right after I got my first rescue wheelchair. I wanted to join for a while because my brother was a Cub and I wanted to do everything my brother did.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI was like, \u2018Now I\u2019ve got the right chair, I can finally do it.\u2019 As much as I\u2019m grateful that Eddie had a wonderful experience, I can\u2019 t say the same about my own.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EObviously, Scouts is run by local people in different areas. In the area that I joined, the Scout leader for Beavers did let me join, but whenever it came time for me to get a badge or to partake in activities, I couldn\u2019t ever do it because they weren\u2019t going to adapt it for me.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the reason for that was, if it\u2019s adapted for me, then supposedly I wouldn\u2019t be working as hard as everybody else to get my badge. Sometimes they would be like \u2013 you can try, but we\u2019re not going to help you.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, I have a few memories of actually getting badges, like the ones where you learn to tie all the different knots and I learned basic first aid, I managed to do those things.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI had enough tenacity to get all the way up to Cubs, but at that point \u2013 Cubs do more trips out of the Scout hub than Beavers.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the Beavers hub wasn\u2019t accessible by itself, it wouldn\u2019t have a disabled toilet. So, anytime that I wanted to attend a session, I had to make sure I didn\u2019t drink anything for three hours before because I didn\u2019t want to risk needing to go.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen I got to Cubs, and they started doing more trips out, it really kind of dipped even more for me, because they didn\u2019t check if anything was wheelchair accessible or if there was a different way of going about things.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd I completely appreciate that the whole point of Scouts is that you complete set challenges, but if there is no physical way for somebody to complete a challenge, then what was the point of even letting me in?\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you think Scout leaders could do to better support people with disabilities?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EObviously, I\u2019ve not been with Scouts for a while \u2013 Eddie said that Scouts have included inclusion and diversity modules in the training. But even if Scouts are taking steps to change attitudes, which is great, it should also be remembered that the physical places that we went to were also a barrier.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are your plans for the future, after you graduate?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI have volunteered for 13 years now, and I can\u2019t see myself stopping.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI would really appreciate the opportunity to stay in France after I complete my degree because I think it\u2019d be a great opportunity. Plus, the city that I\u2019m staying in for uni in France is close to my family abroad. So, it would be nice to see them more often.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAs we\u2019ve now learned about two very different examples of young wheelchair users\u2019 experiences, we should ask ourselves, what type of experience have the disabled Scouts that we know had in our groups? And if we don\u2019t know, we should ask them ourselves. \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWe promise to keep working toward an organisation that is truly diverse and includes everybody. Thank you, Eddie and Penny, for sharing your stories with all of us.\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"03 December 2021","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Activity: Disability detectives","url":"/activities/disability-detectives/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"Inclusion and Diversity","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/inclusion-and-diversity/","newWindow":false}],"id":50859,"nodeName":"What\u2019s it like being a young wheelchair user in Scouts?","title":"What\u2019s it like being a young wheelchair user in Scouts?","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/15526/kidzboard-portraitscandids-063.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd1b7b2a50","caption":"Eddie Whizz Kidz","type":"jpg","size":2548160,"width":2756,"height":4134,"altText":"Eddie sitting in wheelchair smiling wearing Equality Hurts No One t-shirt, jeans and trainers with grass and trees behind"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"What\u2019s it like being a young wheelchair user in Scouts?","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"Read our interview with two young wheelchair users in Scouts","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDg1OSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2021/november/what-s-it-like-being-a-young-wheelchair-user-in-scouts/"}