Rachel Hewitt

Introducing the wonderful and super knowledgeable Russell Harriman who would like to talk to you about his passion for Formula 1 racing and all things car related!

How did your love of cars, especially F1, come about?

My brother’s Robert and Peter introduced me to F1 when I was little and my love has grown from there. It’s not just F1 I love, it’s all cars. It really is my number one passion!

This sounds like your perfect day out – Tell us more!
I found out about the event on a YouTube video and I asked my Mum if I could go. Mum kindly bought me two tickets, one for me and one for my support worker Andrew. I bought a programme when I got there so I had something to read and look back on.

What types of car did you see there?

I saw loads of different cars from rally cars, F1 cars, junior dragsters and some super cars.

I got to see Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 car which made me feel super excited – I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been to an F1 car in my life! I also met a reserve driver for the American Haas team called Oliver Bearman who filled in for Carlos Sainz Jr when he was poorly.

Are there other races you’ve been to that you’d like to share with us?

A really memorable trip I had with another support worker (Kate & Dave) was to Chateaux Impney in Worcestershire. This is a Hill Climb race where lots of different sports cars (usually old cars) race one at a time, to see who is the quickest from the bottom to the top of the hill. It’s a really big event and when we were there I couldn’t believe who I saw – I pointed out to Kate and said ‘Isn’t that Fuzz from Car SOS?’ We all watch that programme and agreed it was definitely him. I went to meet him and found he was a really nice chap and very friendly. He gave me a signed Car SOS cap and I had my photo taken with him. This photo is in pride place on my bedroom wall.

Now time for some random questions!

What’s most important to you?

Having good friends is the first thing that comes to mind. I used to be very nervous and shy, but now that I have some good friends I feel so much better. My friends helped me through a difficult time when I was poorly in hospital not so long ago. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I was scared at the time, not knowing whether I would get over it, but with help from my friends and family I’m nearly fully recovered!

Which football team do you support?

The Villa! My brother Robert got me supporting them. I’ve seen a few of the games live but mainly watch them on tv with my flatmate Jon.

Thank you, Russell, for generously sharing your incredible story with us! Your extensive passion and knowledge about everything related to cars is truly remarkable. We barely scratched the surface!

If you’ve been inspired by Russell’s story and would like to share your own, please do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!

For more information please contact Kate on: KButtrick@heartofenglandmencap.org.uk

A great event hosted by Stratford Pathway! Trying to attend some of the bigger community bonfire events can be very challenging for people with a learning disability – Transport can be difficult to arrange and for some it may be too overwhelming. Our tailored bonfire party was a perfect way for us all to be involved and to experience a traditional autumnal event – A beautiful warming fire, toasted marshmallows, hot chocolate, twinkling sparklers and of course some good old fashioned campfire songs!

Heart of England Mencap is at the centre of a major new national project with an ambitious vision; to make the UK the best place for people with a learning disability to live a happy, healthy life.

We are one of two organisations selected by the Royal Mencap Society (RMS) to help drive change through its ‘Beacon’ project.

The aim is to create a more inclusive society for people with learning disabilities to live in, empowering people with learning disabilities to drive the change needed and play a meaningful part in their community.

People with a learning disability are among the most stigmatised, disadvantaged and excluded in society. The barriers they face to living fulfilled lives are played out at every level, from national policies to individual perceptions. This impacts every aspect of their lives:

• Economic: Almost a third of households that include a disabled person live in poverty compared to 18% of the general population

• Social: 85% of disabled adults, aged 18-34 feel lonely

• Physical: Only 43% of PWLD do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, compared to 67.4% of people with no disability

• Psychological: 40% of PWLD have suffered with mental health problems – twice as many asin the wider population

COVID-19 has further exacerbated these inequalities, with services reduced, paused or even withdrawn in some areas.

RMS has secured funding to test its new ‘Beacon’ – a community-led approach over the next three years. With the support of the Pears Foundation, Heart of England Mencap has been recruited to play a major role as one of two network partners recruited to join the programme.

And work is already underway. As a project partner, we have begun by establishing a focus group, led by the people with learning disabilities who we support and facilitated by our staff.

By creating an easy-read questionnaire, the focus group is gathering feedback from local people with learning disabilities, asking for their input on how services can be improved.

The plan is for new activities and community involvement to then be made possible – not just for the people already supported by Heart of England Mencap, but for the wider learning disability community too.

Preliminary research carried out by the charity pointed to a need for more evening and weekend activities, more exercise-based activities and more book clubs that help people to understand scenarios and stories using pictures rather than words.

“We’re really excited to be part of the Beacon project and to have the opportunity to empower people with learning disabilities to play a meaningful role in their communities,” Helena Wallis, Chief Executive of Heart of England Mencap, said.

“And it’s about sharing our learning and insight with RMS and the wider network too, so that we can really start to drive change on a national level, in a society where people with learning disabilities are still disadvantaged more than anyone else.”

Kate Buttrick, Programme Coordinator for Heart of England Mencap, added: “Our vision is that our focus group will grow in numbers across our services and be accessible to the local community as well.

“The type of activities and opportunities it will help us to enable will of course be dependent on the feedback we gather, but as an example we’ve just increased the number of accessible bikes we have and will soon be launching an inclusive cycling programme open to anybody locally. That’s a great example of the sort of opportunity we’re told is needed, and we want to answer.”