Sylvia Endmyre knows a bunch of disabled people for whom no challenge is too far whether its skydiving, bungee jumping or flying in gliders
When my son Francis had his accident eight years ago it was obvious our lives would change forever. He loved the outdoors and fell badly on a skiing holiday in France. It left him in a coma for six weeks and when he came out of it, I was told he’d be tetraplegic for the rest of his life.
This means he has no use of his limbs. He also can’t talk and uses a Wizard Board communicator to speak to me – it works well but everything I do is devoted to his support.
I’ve never been one to take things sitting down. So, once I accepted how Francis’s new life would affect things, I decided to start a group to help other families get their loved ones out into the open.
We’re called Friends in Need, we're based in Livingston and we take disabled people on accessible trips outdoors. They’re not just any trips though: we like a bit of adventure and we’re up for anything challenging.
To give an example, Francis always wanted to ride a motorbike. That’s probably always going to be impossible for him, so we got the next best thing – a motorbike with sidecar. We put out an appeal in the West Lothian Courier and someone came to the rescue.
He loved it. Being out in the open with the wind rushing against him was a thrill he said. But more than that, it’s really important he has regular activities that he finds challenging, otherwise life becomes boring and that leads to depression.
Phil, who is disabled from the waist down, flew in a glider last year while Derek, who is also tetraplegic, has done a parachute jump. And we’re regulars at The Experience, Kibble’s indoor karting centre. The karts can take two and they’ve been specially adapted for use by disabled people.
There’s around a dozen families at the core of the group with new people joining every month. Fundraising remains an issue. We see ourselves as a disability group but we struggle to raise cash, and because it’s mostly for adults, it’s not as easy to get support.
We’ve just applied for charity status and, since I’ve given up my job now, I’m looking to put more effort into raising awareness of what we do. The cause itself takes up all my time, so trying to find cash is just a bind: it’s a full-time post on its own.
People do want to give though – it’s really just about how best to capture their imagination. We’re novices at that side of things; we’re really good with care so now we just need the right people on board to guide us towards raising cash.
Hopefully all these elements will be taken care of when we get our board in place. It's essential we pick the right trustees carefully. We need their experitise but we also need dedication to the cause and commitment – and all for no salary. It's a really tough ask.
