Fur, fins and fuel powered transport fill Lees Stay-cation
Lee who lives in our supported living service in Corby, was supported to go on a holiday to Birmingham with support workers; Erin, Deborah and Jordan. With a house booked in Dudley on the outskirts of Birmingham, the team had planned, activities for each day of his break which focused on Lee’s interests in animals, motorbikes and aeroplanes.
Here the team talk about the trip and how it went;
“The trip to Dudley was a busy one with a visit to ‘Toys R Us’ to collect a big new shark and a whale followed by a visit to McDonalds where he enjoyed his favourite meal; burger and chips, and a short walk, all whilst waiting to pick up the keys to the house.
Once at the house Lee helped carry his stuff and in and unpack. We then chose to get kebabs as Lee wanted a take away. The first day had been busy but Lee was very understanding and kept calm the entire day.
Day Two and a trip to the ‘Sea Life Centre’ accompanied by Erin and Deborah. Lee had been speaking a lot about how excited he was to see all the fish, star fish and maybe even some sharks. So, when we arrived Lee was ecstatic and just wanted to see it all straight away. First were the penguins which were being fed as we watched, then we moved our way through the centre and saw a great variety of different size and types of fish in tanks finally reaching a rock pool area. This area was full of star fish where Lee could reach in and give them a touch!
The last area was the tunnel of fish, sharks and sting rays where Lee got to walk through with them swimming all around him. He was very taken back to be able to see his favourite animals all up so close and personal and couldn’t stop laughing, he absolutely loved it.
We left through the gift shop where the assistant working there gave Lee a Sea Life medal and then helped him chose three new small shark toys to take back with him.
Day Three was the Motorbike and RAF Museums with Erin and Jordan. On arrival, at the ‘Motorbike Museum’, we took a stroll to where all the bikes were, hundreds dating back to when they were first invented to the modern-day superbikes. Lee lead us, through it all, pointing out his favourites and enjoyed hearing Erin and Jordan read the descriptions out.
The last room was a great surprise, full of jet cars! These are one of Lees favourite forms of transportation and he really enjoys seeing them on tracks and watching videos of them. We spent a lot of time talking through the jet cars and motor bikes.
With lunch enjoyed at a local McDonalds’ we moved on to the ‘RAF Museum’. When we arrived, there were a lot of large passenger aeroplanes and fighter jets docked outside the entrance. Once we walked into the hangers we were met with different aircrafts spanning the previous decades. There were three massive hangers full of vehicles and even a couple of bi-planes, which Lee got to go up to and see in person. He then spotted across the hanger a massive helicopter which he loved looking over and sharing with us all the different parts, such as where all the lights were.
Day Four was the ‘Dudley Zoo’ with Erin and Deborah. Walking around the Zoo Lee kept choosing which animals he wanted to see. We loved watching how the animals zoned in on Lee and would move through their enclosures to see him. Making our way round we saw a whole range of animals such as monkeys, birds, tigers, lions and goats! Lee particularly enjoyed watching the sea lions swim about and play with each other.
After quite a few very active days, we headed back to the house for a little chill out time the headed to the local ‘Harvester’ where Lee chose a bacon cheese burger and chips. He enjoyed his meal out and enjoyed sitting with us all talking about all the activities he had been up to over the previous few days.
Day Five and time to head home. Lee was excited to get back as he wanted to see friends and show everyone his new toys. He really enjoyed himself and spent a lot of time laughing!