Mr Wonderful

Mr Wonderful, we called him that because the first time we met him, he was just that, Wonderful.

He had been through so much in his life and this pulled on our heart strings but he took it all in his stride and got on with living his life. A force to be reckoned with but he was warm and he had a strong sense of loyalty and justice. James was also the perfect gentleman, the old fashioned type who would open a door for you and walk on the outside of the road.

He was an avid Liverpool FC supporter, delighted of course when they won the Premier League in 2020. He teased his team mercilessly if their allegiances lay elsewhere but they loved him just the same, they also remember sitting through many a cricket match as this was another of his passions. They all remain saddened by his untimely passing and remember him with great fondness.

 

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Download the Mr. Wonderful booklet PDF here.

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James’ life reminds us of the importance of the work we do. He had spent many a year living in hospitals, damaged by a system who didn’t understand or appreciate his uniqueness. We freed James from the system and gave him the opportunity to live his best life. His story lives on, not only in all of us but also in statute as Mr Wonderful is recorded forever in Hansard, the official record of parliament. They held a debate demonstrating that people who have survived the mental health system can go on to live rich lives in their communities.

James’ life was rich with people, not people who were paid to be in his life, but people like his family who loved him and like his team who were matched to him and who came to love him. James and his family became like family to Beyond Limits, the type of family that would argue and disagree but a family that also had the utmost respect for one another and a family who kept James at the heart of every decision.

We continue with our mission, to free people from systems, we continue to go Beyond the Limits and we do this in James’ name and in the name of all the other people who have been affected and who are still affected by institutional systems.

Plymouth Summer Picnic 2019

Independence day brought one of the hottest days of the year to Plymouth and a lot of staff and people we support were out in force to enjoy to it.

We invited people along to join us for our summer picnic and were really heartened to see so many people, it made for a great day and atmosphere. People heeded the warnings and were well prepared with colourful summer hats and plenty of sun cream. Hannah looked particularly well suited to the hot weather and she wouldn’t have looked out of place on the shores of Bermuda never mind Central Park!

People were invited to bring their own picnics with Beyond Limits providing plenty of drinks. Camping chairs and travel rugs were quickly set up and before long we had managed to take over a small area in the corner of the park, Menna provided the shelter by way of a small gazebo, which in hindsight was a great idea.

Games were also the agenda for the day and despite the heat people’s competitive nature rose to the occasion and two teams to play a game of rounders were quickly established. Gemma quickly taking control and picked out her team, Chantelle matching her and bravo we had our two teams. Everyone who took part did really well, although next time Menna you are not going in as the backstop ! Credit goes to Tom for a magnificent catch and Sarah and Michelle for some fabulous bowling.

All in all it was a fabulous day with people really appreciating spending time together and agreeing that we should meet up more often.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and to all those who contributed to the organising and setting up, the whole event was an absolute success. Well done everyone.

Rich on the high seas

Not only has Rich proved his success in the world of wheelchair rugby but now he is trying his hand at Kayaking.

Plymouth is known as Britain’s Ocean City due to its seafaring heritage and fabulous coastline and so where better to take to the water with his team.

Of course having his own sailing expert as part of his team is helpful and Michelle kept Rich and the rest of the team safe. After the safety demonstration, a three hour trip around the coast followed and Rich really enjoyed it, safe to say he is already making plans and looking forward to the next sail.

Thanks go to the Mount Batten Watersports and Activities Centre  Homepage – Mount Batten Centre (mount-batten-centre.com)

Watch a short video of Rich in action.

Ricky and his team win Best Team in Plymouth 2018!

We are over the moon for Ricky and his team. On Saturday night they won the Team of the Year award 2018. The award was given as part of the Celebrating Excellence in Care Awards, organised by the Quality Assurance and Improvement Team at Plymouth City Council.

Click on the photos to make them larger and read about how it all happened below the photos…

Nomination

It started with the nomination back in August where we dared to start believing that we might have a winning chance. We knew the great work the team was doing but we also knew the competition would be strong and the awards were to be judged by an independent panel, how would we be able to convince them?
However, we knew we had to be “in it to win it” and so we put forward our nomination for Team of the Year for the work that Ricky’s team has been doing with him around the #SofatoSweden trek. We were inspired by the story and we hoped the judges would be too.

Judgement Day

22nd September at the Crowne Plaza the evening was upon us, where should we meet, what should we wear? We did ourselves proud though and everyone had their finest outfits on. Ricky looking sharp in his suit. We started to believe we had a real chance.

The Awards

And so, it was time for the winners to be announced, a lot of worthy winners for each category and it was clear the judges had their work cut out trying to pick just one from each. The anticipation was mounting but then there it was, Beyond Limits were called out, we had won it, Team of the Year Award to Ricky’s team for their inspiring support. A fantastic moment and everyone went up to the stage and the award was presented to Ricky.

Thank You

Thanks to Ricky’s team for the fantastic work they have done and continue to do. Thanks to Ricky’s family for trusting us with the support of Ricky every day. Thanks to the judges from the independent panel for recognising the work of the team and for voting for us.

The Last Word

And finally, the last word from the Director of Beyond Limits, Doreen Kelly, “It continues to be an honour and a privilege to do this work, Ricky’s team have proved what can be done when you dare to dream and have aspirations for someone. The work they do every day to support Ricky to have a meaningful life is incredible, I am so proud of them and delighted they won the award for Team of the Year, they really do deserve it”.

Ricky is riding to a new adventure…

Hot after Ricky’s last adventure which saw him complete a 50km trek across Sweden, the team and Ricky were not resting on their laurels and set off looking at what the next challenge should be. Upon discovering that Ricky had never had the opportunity to learn to ride a bike, it wasn’t too difficult to work out what they should do next.

For most of us, learning to ride a bike happens when we are young and the joy of finally getting rid of the stabilisers is a milestone to be celebrated, for someone like Ricky who has been denied so much because others who were responsible for his support did not believe in his capacity to change and grow, it is only recently that he is able to celebrate this achievement.

Uncertain of how Ricky would take to the challenge or how long it would take to master the art of riding a bike a short challenge was planned, however in pure Ricky style he went into it with all guns blazing and surpassed everyone’s expectations. So the team are working hard to on the next trip, you can find details here

https://adventuresbeyondbarriers.com/m2k2019/

Keep riding Ricky, we are behind you all the way.

Ricky walks the walk in Sweden!

The idea for a trek started at Ricky’s planning day in October 2016, Ricky had been supported by Beyond Limits for a year and things were going well and so we were trying to work out what else could be possible.

Training

Over the next 12 months, Ricky was doing 5km starting at a very slow speed and eventually reaching 5km an hour. At the beginning, there was very slow progression. It was not easy for the team and Ricky’s family to change their expectations of Ricky and feel confident to support him in moving forward with this trek. This created some barriers which hampered Ricky’s progression in the first year. We posted some videos of Ricky training earlier in the year.

During the second year, Kieran set out a training regime for the team with planned progression leading from 5km to 25km over the year. During this year, the team pulled together and Ricky progressed beyond the team’s expectations training in all conditions; freezing temperatures, snow, ice, hail, rain, and even some very high temperatures. During the training Ricky and his team found themselves suffering with blisters and aching limbs. Despite this, everyone pulled together and persevered with the weekly training treks.

Kieran selected Swedish forests as a location for the trek and Ryan came along and organised the route, travel and accommodation.

The team left for Bristol airport on the 3rd of October at 5am for the flight at 10.30am which took 2 hours to reach Copenhagen. we got off the flight and jumped on our train to Stockholm.

We all went and got the cars. One team took Ricky back to the house, an hour outside of Stockholm to a place called Lilla Vaxtunavagen and the other team went shopping for essentials. Both teams were going to bed around midnight.

Sofa to Sweden Day 1

We left in the cars at 9.30am and started the walk on Roslagsladen trail at 10.30am. To begin with, we were met by a very steep muddy path and from here on-wards, Ricky was leading from the front all day across very difficult terrain. It was certainly a shock to the system for the team who were used to walking on flat tarmac around Burrator Reservoir!

The team had split into two due to mum Gill suffering from illness and this split was consistent with the remainder of the trek. The team were continually walking for 4 and a half hours until Ricky’s crew were met by the support team (Grandad Dave and Cousin Cath) for lunch at Wira bruk at 3.30pm and the other crew met shortly after.

The first group arrived back to the accommodation at 5.30pm, and the second group at 6.30pm. the team were well looked after by the support group who had prepared dinner for everyone.

Mum Gill became ill and retired to bed shortly after dinner. Everyone else followed not long afterwards to get an early night ready for the remainder of the trek the following day.

Sofa to Sweden Day 2

We got up and left about half an hour later than planned. We began walking at 9.30am and made really good time during the first 10km due to the flat tarmacked trail. After this first break at the 10km mark, the trail soon became more complex and slowed the team down quite dramatically to approximately a third of the original pace. At points it was necessary to make a three man chain to help Ricky up steep rock parts of the path.

Day 2 was certainly harder for the team due to sore feet, aching limbs, hunger and the difficult terrain. We met the support team at Bergshamra for lunch, 7km from the end of trek. We were wished well for the last section of the trek and Ricky continued to munch a doughnut once we were back on the walk.

The last section was pretty slow going with lots more forest trail than gravel road but we could feel we were getting very close to the end. 3km from the end, we turned off the Roslagsladen trail and enjoyed a relaxing walk, all of us together in one big group all the way to the house where we were greeted by Gill, Grandad Dave and Cousin Cath taking videos and shouting congratulations. We ate one of the best stews ever, packed up and headed to Stockholm for the 6 and a half hour night train north to Ornskoldsvik.

Sofa to Sweden Day 3

In the morning we went to collect the hire cars and drove another hour north and inland to Bergsjo to our cabins on the lake where we would stay for two nights to live in the wilderness and wait to experience the northern lights.

After Ricky had had a rest we all went into the nearest town to have a coffee and go to the coast. Ricky walked down to the coast and climbed a big rock where we sat and enjoyed some snacks in the sun by the sea.

We then headed back to the cabins and had a Cousin Cath roast together and then spent the evening relaxing for the first time on the trip playing cards and looking up at the clear sky packed with stars.

The following day we had breakfast together and then went out on the cabins rowing boat and took it all the way to the other side of the lake with Ricky enjoying the water and getting out on the other side where we shouted loud echoing calls back to the other side.

Next we went up to the northern city of Umea to eat together and watch the football. On our way back we stopped along the road to get out of the cars to witness the surreal and majestic northern lights above our heads.

Later at the house we made a fire in the garden and stayed up talking until we each wanted some sleep.

In the morning we sat together and Ricky spent hours smiling, comfy in the house while it rained for the first time on our trip.

Once the rain had stopped Ricky had a wash in the hot Sauna at the bottom of the garden by the lake, something most people had done that day as the house had no running water due to a clogged pump and a dry well.

Now it was time to go back up to Umea to begin the long 18 hour journey back down to Copenhagen for our last meal and night out together. We ate well and went to a local bar where Ricky had been on a previous break where we saw Copenhagen’s answer to the beach boys ducking under oversized hanging beer labels and giant pretzels.

In the morning Ricky, Grandad Dave and Hamish walked down to a café where Ricky had been before so they could have a coffee together down by the canals. Others went to visit the famous little mermaid statue before packing for the last time ready to fly home.

What a trip, lots of sore bodies and sore feet. It really was brilliant that totally exceeded all expectations.

Now time to start planning the next one !

Ricky’s story has made it into a podcast!

PBS Matters is a podcast from The PBS Special Interest Group. This is a group that brings together practitioners, educators, researchers and students interested in Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). PBS are part of the UK Society for Behaviour Analysis.

Hamish O’Brien and Georgia Mitchell are the PBS leads for Beyond Limits and they attended a Positive Behaviour Support conference where they came across Paddy Behan who was presenting at the conference. They got chatting and inevitably the conversation turned to the work they have done with Ricky. Their work epitomises PBS (getting people a good life) and Paddy invited them, along with Ricky’s Nan, Carol, to go on the show and tell Ricky’s story.

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Follow this link to listen to the podcast or search for PBS Matters in your favourite podcast player.

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For more information about PBS Matters visit their website.

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Sofa to Finland

Well, after many delays due to Covid here it is, finally. From Sofa to Finland is the sequel to from Sofa to Sweden and the idea was to cycle around the Turku Archipelago. For those of you that have been following the story, you will know that Ricky is blind but he doesn’t let that stop him from having a great life.

Ricky never had the opportunities in life that most of us take for granted. He never learnt to ride a bike as a child and up until about 5 years ago, he wouldn’t even sit on a bike. He started like most of do, just sitting and getting comfortable and then progressed to getting pushed around.

With his team encouraging him he finally managed to ride tandem and so of course, it was time to plan a challenge. They cycled over 200kms round one of the oldest archipelago trails. A momentous effort, especially in the searing heat. I wonder where Ricky’s adventures will take him next.

Thanks to Ryan for organising the trip, Hamish for his stubborn determination and believing anything is possible for people and David Bray for supporting and making Ricky comfortable with his first bike.

See the whole route on the trail website: The Archipelago Trail | Visit Pargas (visitparainen.fi)

Staying safe and Staying healthy

We have added a new section to our website called Useful information.

We think part of providing good support is giving the people we support information to help them stay safe and stay healthy.  We have started the Useful information by adding some pages about bad people who pretend to be friends. Soon we will be having pages about health checks, healthy food with recipes and activities to keep you fit.

Follow this link to visit Useful information

 

Our first pages are:

Keeping safe from loan sharks

Mate crime – how to spot it

Information about Cuckooing and County Lines

How to deal with cold callers

What to tell the police when calling 101 or 999