Gerraint’s blog October 2020

October has been a busier month for me, and I’ve really enjoyed it. On 7 October I was involved in All Wales People First’s all day Birthday Bash, supporting any members who needed it and hosting my Hootenanny in the evening.  This was a roaring success and went on from 7.30pm until the early hours.

On 15 October Growing Space, a charity for people with mental health challenges and learning disabilities and/or autism, held a virtual employment event called ‘Be Bold, Be Brave’.  This event aimed to raise awareness of employment opportunities for those with learning disabilities and/or autism and I represented the Engage to Change project and met quite a few young people at the event.

The following day I had a meeting with Learning Disability Wales to plan one of the workshops for their Annual Conference entitled ‘Everybody’ in November. Their conference takes place over two weeks (9 – 20 November) and they have 25 free online sessions, ranging from film making to a Welsh Government session on combatting loneliness and isolation – something for everyone! I’m speaking at the opening session on loneliness and isolation on 9 November and really looking forward to it.

On 11 November I will also be co-facilitating an Engage to Change workshop at the conference alongside Sam Williams who is the Communications Officer and Angela Kenvyn who is the Project Manager.

I’m also taking part in the Social Networks project’s coffee morning and I’ll feedback on all these events in next month’s blog.

I’m still doing Gerraint’s Fun Hour on Tuesday afternoons, after a short break, and I’ve been looking at putting together some new material for future sessions too.