A wonderful day at insport Series: Plas Menai
Written by Marigold Joy
This was the first time that Plas Menai had hosted such a day and linked up with a few other charities to make it complete. I have volunteered at both Plas Menai and with SEAS – a charity that helps people with disabilities, their support workers and family onto the water through a wonderful array of water sports and activities supported by some of the top water sports instructors in the country. For me, equally important, is that at SEAS they are some of the KINDEST instructors in the country. This attribute “kindest top instructors in the country” I feel can also be applied to the team at Plas Menai too.
So the day’s adventures began with a warm welcome, an introduction to all the incredibly friendly and competent volunteers and staff at Plas Menai for the day and an opportunity to choose an activity. And then the adventures began. To be led out of your comfort zone, the very nature of trying something new and perhaps a little more daring and out of the ordinary, by the kindest top instructors, you are taken on a wonderful journey through a new experience. This day could feel nerve-wracking, incredibly uncomfortable, stressful and at the worst, scary, however this was a day of smiles because with the support of the kindest top instructors everything felt reassuringly safe. If you did in anyway have a sense of trepidation they were all sensitive enough to immediately pick up on this and offer the right sort of reassurance to make that smile in your heart and soul return in an instant. I witnessed one such occasion when one of the senior instructors at Plas Menai, Ollie did just this with a young man who was hesitant about going on the water. After his kind and sensitive pep talk from Ollie, he went out with the support of the excellent SEAS team as well as the rest of the on water Plas Menai instructors and he had a fantastic day in the end trying all sorts of activities. So it was a day of a wonderful combination of knowledge, understanding, adventure, sense of achievement at trying something new, huge heart felt fun and making memories.
For me it was a day amongst friends – old friends and new. Old friends were the SEAS and Plas Menai teams, new ones were the people who’d come for the taster sessions – they may have become new friends for just say 20 minutes when I was aboard a yacht with them, but sharing that experience meant we bonded quickly and were friends for that time we were together. Other new friends I met, those friendships will grow into the future, so although I’d gone there to volunteer and give up my time as it were, I also got a huge amount back – we all did.
I have hidden disabilities and I perceive things first and foremost and most strongly as a feeling so I want to talk about my feelings during that day. It was only much later when I spoke to others and heard their analysis of the day that I saw other perspectives too. This was the first time such a day had been trialled so there were naturally things learned from this new experience going forwards – realising that it would take people with disabilities perhaps longer than non-disabled people to put the appropriate weather and sports clothing on, for instance, which would mean that perhaps the arrival time for those taking part could have been earlier. Working out the ratios of disabled participants to support workers on each activity – all understandable things to work out on the day to make things run slightly smoother going forwards – I add slightly smoother because of the expertise of all those on the day, the day ran incredibly smoothly anyway – I felt.
I met a couple of my fellow volunteers – Charley and Clark in the carpark – both wheelchair users. We are also known as The 3 Amigos – that’s the name on our WhatsApp Group. I met Charley and Clark this year at SEAS and we have, I suppose, for want of a better phrase become “partners in crime” – we hang out at SEAS, have so much fun and plot and scheme to boldly go where no North Walian people with disabilities have gone before – we are currently hoping to set up a wheelchair ruby club with Charley and Clark taking the lead as player coaches.
Our first experience of the day was to meet Marcus in the carpark. Marcus and Clark instantly recognised each other and Charley and I were duly introduced. So Marcus was “Mr Disability Sport Wales” we had secretly planned to stalk and track down that day too. So new friend number one. Marcus was fantastic from the off, so enthusiastic, friendly and encouraging – we all looked forward to talking to him later.
So The 3 Amigos set off down to the team meeting that takes place each morning at Plas Menai where the amazing (and kind) instructors plan the day. The weather is always changeable and however much planning you have done before, you have to respond to the weather on the water that day and adapt accordingly. Today was one of those days – strong winds and squalls predicted – not exactly ideal weather for getting the timid on the water for the first time, but with all the expertise of Plas Menai and then SEAS on top, an expert plan was made and everything was still able to go ahead on the water. Yachts were to be sailed with the small sail at the front for instance to make them stable and comfortable in bigger and changeable winds. “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only improper clothing” I heard Billy Connolly say once in one of his sketches when he was waxing lyrical about the wilds of Northern Scotland and the weather there…and that so applies for time on the water. Plas Menai has the most amazing array of clothing for all weather when their guests come – Plas Menai even has warm drying rooms to hang out in with the wet clothes if you ever get especially cold – in reality a rarity, but again Plas Menai plans for all eventualities. This last part “planning for all eventualities” is so key for leading a water sport activity and this comes as second nature for both SEAS and the team as Plas Menai as they are such trusted and experienced instructors.
Ali at Plas Menai led the meeting – she’s such a warm and welcoming person and so inclusive too. We all worked out the plan for the day’s activities on the water - together – drawing on everyone’s different expertise. Something that Charley said to me over and again during the day was how friendly and welcoming everyone was on the day – so key for that happy experience of gently and safely leading people out of their comfort zone to try something new and perhaps a little more daring than they usually would.
I was outside on The Straights and was set up to be on one of the yachts. Both SEAS and Plas Menai teams worked expertly together as they had in the initial meeting, all with a warm welcome for those that had come for the taster sessions, all listening to see what different things they all wanted to try – it was their lead and we (SEAS and Plas Menai) all followed and facilitated – as is the case at SEAS – those with disabilities choose what water activity they would like to do and the volunteers facilitate. Both the team from Plas Menai and SEAS were expert at sensitive reassurance – the first step to the winning smile you hope to achieve in any taster session.
You bond in an instant when you do something together – that’s what I find - and so we all bonded in an instant over the adventures of the morning – whether it was powerboating on a whole variety of boats or sailing. Laughing our way through the challenge of a rainy squall and then relaxing into the gentler sail when the sun came out.
The afternoon I came inside and met all the indoors activity teams. Again, first and last impressions through the whole afternoon were of warmth, welcoming enthusiasm and support. I learned so much more about the world of wheelchair basketball and there was so many development opportunities on offer for both Charley and Clark by the end of the day with the fantastic Canaerfon wheelchair basketball club which has now carried forwards. Likewise our contact with Marcus has grown - the seed of a wheelchair rugby club was sewn that day too.
