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Gillian and I from the Shetland Access Panel travelled down to Falkirk to attend the CIVICUS Learning Exchange event organised by SDEF. Living on a small island at the most northerly point of Britain does have its drawbacks; due to our mostly inclement weather, you can never guarantee being able to get off the island on the day of an event, so we had to travel down the day before. The boat to Aberdeen takes up to 14 hours (on a good day) and adding on the time & energy needed for trains and transfers etc, we had decided to hire a car after a 55 minute flight to Aberdeen.

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We stopped off at Forfar to meet up with the Access Panel there, and were made very welcome. The volunteers there are doing a great job- very organised and motivated. It was good to meet folks face to face, and we gained a lot of useful ideas.

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We had agreed to meet with David Wills, a Training Needs Analysis Consultant at SDEF HQ at 10.00 on the Friday morning. Elaine gave us directions but being unfamiliar with the area, we thought we had better leave early in case we got lost en route and ended up in Carlisle or somewhere equally exotic. Of course Elaine's directions were very accurate and it did indeed take us the 15 minutes she had predicted, so we were sort of kicking our heels for a bit but Elaine took pity and made us coffee! Joined by Nick from Ross & Cromarty and Henry and Iree from Falkirk, we had a really good chat about training needs and how Panels could be helped develop.

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Then onwards and upwards to the Falkirk Wheel where SDEF had booked a meeting room for the event. Elaine had put together “goody-bags” of typical & traditional Scottish products for delegates to take away; whisky miniatures, Irn Bru, Tablet, Macaroon Bars, Edinburgh Rock, deep-fried Pizza... but hang on a minute- what message does that send about the health of our nation?! �Well... it�s sadly a pretty realistic assessment! Can you think of any non-perishable delicacy that isn�t mainly sugar-based or overloaded with salt or fat?

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Anyhow, there was a sumptuous spread of sandwiches, salad and chocolate biscuits awaiting us, along with various other Panel members to meet or meet again; the East Ayrshire Monty Python Appreciation Society, Agnes from Aberdeen and Ron Skinner our Convener, whose joke about Swedish Models I shall not repeat! (he was talking about his new chair- honestly!)� �And Elaine had even remembered to take Iree�s water bowl!

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The delegates arrived, Ron made a welcome speech and we started our presentations. Our “sweated-over” Powerpoint Presentation went ok and we had included a few photos of typical Shetland scenes like, fishing boats, ponies, St Ninian's Isle and Gillian's brood at sea in a yoal. Phew!� Agnes told us of some glowing achievements they had made regarding making taxis more accessible and user-friendly, and running signing courses- a real go-aheid bunch doon there! Henry, having the minor disadvantage of not being able to read from a script, was plugged into a Walkman which gave him his cues for each slide. Some great work with RNIB and Scotrail going on there! And Iree didn't interrupt once. Tom, Alan and Jim from East Ayrshire described how they were developing communications with all the disabled groups in their area and the local Press as well, publicising good practice.

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A short break for coffee, then we had the chance to exchange information with the delegates from India and Lebanon. We are so much further on regarding disability rights, and should maybe remember that next time we start whingeing? �A successful event, with exchanges of e-mail addresses and promises of keeping in touch.

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The day was rounded off with a trip on a canal boat which was lifted 150 feet in the air, giving a marvellous view. For anyone who hasn't seen The Wheel or knows nothing about it, as I didn't, it is one amazing piece of engineering! The interactive working scale-model in the Visitor Centre was fascinating - explaining exactly how it all worked. And the giftshop was really well-stocked too. As we disembarked, Elaine's parting words rang in my ears; “For goodness sake keep an eye on Henry when you�re near the edge of the water- Iree loves water in any form and might just make a dash for it- with Henry in tow!” �(You may have guessed by now that Iree is a Guide Dog?) �Luckily, she managed to contain herself and there was no emergency change of clothes required!

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We followed the wagon train of cars into Falkirk for supper then set off our merry ways home. Well, ours wasn�t quite so merry- as we passed the hospital for the third time, we realised we mustn't have listened to the directions properly and began to think we were destined for a night in Falkirk, until we met Elaine out for a walk with her Mum's dog and she was able to send us on the right way, between fits of giggles, having seen us go past a couple of times! Our journey back to Aberdeen the next day passed without any wrong-turns or detours, apart from a pit stop at The Horn for bacon rolls, and we managed to catch our flight ok. And it wasn�t even delayed for once! A thoroughly enjoyable trip and we were able to take back some good ideas for projects our Panel could consider in the future. {By the way, I was joking about the deep-fried Pizza!}

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Karen Angus

Shetland Access Panel

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