Dream believer

I am a singer/songwriter. I am a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy, and I also have mild learning difficulties. However, this doesn’t stop me from following my dreams, and I love to raise awareness about disabilities in the arts. I studied performing arts at South Thames College. I am one of the founding members of the 1st Chancers, a disabled band. We started in the summer of 1997 as a group of young people who wanted to sing and make music together. The staff at Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability (HAFAD) encouraged us to make progress as musicians. We have spoken on BBC radio about disabled issues and music. It’s a real challenge as a disabled band to market ourselves. I would love to be in the mainstream so we could inspire more young disabled people. We are currently hosting music workshops in special needs schools in London.

In 2006 I started fundraising to turn an empty room at HAFAD into a recording studio/enterprise. What I found difficult were the initial stages of looking up what funding was available for a project like ours. I learned a lot about paperwork and complicated policies. The Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds, which provide budgets for young people to control and decide how money should be spent on positive activities and youth facilities in their area, gave us funding to open the music studio, complete with all instruments and equipment needed. I have also worked as an usher at the Shaw Theatre, which was a great experience, but finding the right theatre to work in took a lot of interviews. I feel as though potential employers saw my wheelchair before they saw my skills and my personality. My job involved meeting and greeting and also booking tickets. I learned a lot about what it entails to work in the arts as a young disabled woman. I am determined to prove that I can do it. Anyone looking for work in the creative arts, I advise you to believe in yourself and not to give up.