Hello everyone!
I have been super busy lately with my charity work so I haven’t had much chance to blog or vlog my travels; however I visited Kidz to Adultz last week to research new disability equipment so thought I would do a quick blog to tell you how it went…
On Thursday, I went to Kidz to Adultz Middle, which was held in the Coventry Building Society Arena, previously known as Ricoh Arena. We pulled into the car park, which was free and easy to access at around 9.10am and walked across the entrance road into the arena for the event opening at 9.30am. On entering, the event marshals were set up on the right to welcome visitors and scan pre-booked QR codes. I was also given a tote bag with a show guide in.
When we entered the hall, the first stall I came across was Jiraffe, we spoke to a rep before moving on and making our way around the perimeter of the stands. I spoke to a very helpful woman from Delichon that gave us a demonstration of a few of their all-terrain buggies. I was really impressed with the Delichon’s, our charity are currently going through the process of purchase for a few of their buggys so it was really helpful for me to see how they work, fold down to go in a boot for transit and for my parents to sit in one and see how easy it is to push around, which really made me giggle!
After Delichon, I moved around to SeenIn, this is a company that makes adaptive clothing, I already have a few pairs of their slippers, so while I was at the stand, I took the opportunity to order another pair. I cannot praise their lovely staff enough; they were on their knees making sure I got the right size slipper as their designs had changed since I purchased my last pair. I cannot wait for these to arrive!
Next we spoke to Emily on the BundleBean stall; I have known Emily for a little while now and have purchased quite a few of the amazing BundleBean wheelchair cosy’s on behalf of the charity. We discussed the new products that they were showing and she showed us their new designs. I was very impressed and my next job is to order the new wheelchair fleece leg wrap and the UV Jersey Cotton Cover.
As we walked around the hall, I spoke to many stall holders, including Pods Play, Phab, Bendrigg Trust, Rahana Life, McElmeel, Innova Care, Lecky / Firefly, SOS, Centrobed, Whizz Kidz and AAT. I also saw staff from my old schools, old school friends, young people our charity supports and people I’ve worked with in the past. It was so nice to see some lovely familiar faces and have quick chat and life updates with so many people.
When I exited the hall, I had a quick chat with Carmel, who is a Senior Manager at Kidz to Adultz Team at Disabled Living. I have known Carmel for many years and message quite regularly, she is a lovely person to know and chat to and she made me feel like a VIP. We spoke about Kidz to Adultz Exhibitions as I had previously wanted to attend the North convention, however due to parking at the venue, it just wasnt suitable for me to park a distance away and walk. Carmel had tried to overcome this issue for me but unfortunately, it was just too far in bad weather. We spoke about how this problem could be resolved and the possibility of finding a different venue to hold the event in the future to make it more accessible.
I had a great day overall, putting faces to names, learning about specific equipment and forming new working relationships. I cant wait until my next disability convention, heads up, its already booked! Roll on July at ExCel London!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you enjoyed it and it gave you a little bit of information.
