Between December 2015 and March 2016, I spoke at 8 training events for Children and Young People's Services at Cheshire West and Chester Council, for staff in  education, health, and social care on key working and person centred planning approaches. 

I shared my  family's journey  of raising a child with additional needs and explained that where we  felt supported, things worked well. Together we identified where improvements could have been made.  I explained that ours was a success story but it had been hard work and we had encountered many challenges along the way.!

Council staff found it really helpful to hear a "real life example" of a family going through the process.  I felt it was really important to use our own experience to help other families.

I have posted blogs from some of the training events.

Testimonial from Rachel Niestroj, Children and Young People's Services...
Andrea's contribution to the training was invaluable and received very positive feedback from the delegates. We would have no hesitation is asking Andrea to speak at similar events again.

I recently spoke at a Peer Support Event for Cheshire Centre for Independent Living in Crewe. 

Aimed at people employing PA's (personal assistants), Martha Jackson spoke about all the aspects of how to be a good employer. I shared our journey of disability and employing PA's, and explained how having PA's has enabled me to remain independent and helped me continue to live my life.  

This was the first of a series of events and I look forward to speaking at the summer event later this year.

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I was privileged to be one of the guest speakers at The Red Shift Radio Spring Community Hub Day on 20th April in Nantwich, Cheshire, 

The event brought together businesses, charities, community groups and colleges, enabling us to network and build relationships.

​My talk entitled "Overcoming obstacles on wheels" demonstrated that even when you have a disability, and you need to use walking aids such as a scooter, and walking frame to help get about,  with your "wheels"you can still live, work and enjoy your leisure time.  Disability need not be a barrier.

I shared our journey as a family and talked about  how circumstance (personal  and professional) had prepared me well to help and enable others, particularly those with a  disability. I explained that to this end, I set up my own business,, Enabling Ability as an International Motivational Speaker.

I also had the privilege of being interviewed by Steven Bebe on Red Shift Community Radio. 
Hear my interview by selecting the whole URL text (highlighted in italics & bold) underneath, using the left click.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Once it turns blue, select 'Open URL' by right-clicking on the highlighted text.

https://soundcloud.com/redshift-audiocasts/business-day-to-day-hub-day-special-enabling-ability


Feedback from Community Hub Attendees 

...Inspirational. Thank you for sharing your story.
.........Very powerful.
..............A great, inspiring presentation. Thank you.