Since last Tuesday we’ve been in Istanbul. I’d been mentally writing this post all week, excited to share one of the few bits of international work we’ve done since the start of the pandemic. But this won’t be the blog post I was planning because just hours after we left, Turkey and Syria were hit by a huge earthquake which has caused massive loss of life and left many more homeless.…

Over the last couple of weeks, the Touretteshero Team has been resting and relaxing, the Christmas holidays being the only time each year that we all stop together. This has given me a chance to think about everything we’ve done together this year.…

Eleven years ago today, I collected my first wheelchair from NHS Wheelchair services. I’d been nervous about using one, but within hours it was clear what a difference it would make to my life, safety, and independence.

My first chair was basic, made of steel, very strong but super heavy.…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve used drawing to help me explore my surroundings and make sense of the world. When I struggled to learn things in primary school I was encouraged to draw instead of write, and when I don’t understand something it’s to drawing I still always turn.…

I’m sad today. I feel worn out and worn down. I’m frustrated by the physical reality of my body and with how I’m dealing with it. In the last few weeks my energy levels have plummeted for no obvious reason, and they were already pretty low.…

I’ve been a wheelchair user for over a decade.
I’ve lived and worked in the same area for over a decade.
Dogs have existed for over a decade.

In all this time I can’t recall a single occasion when I’ve rolled through dog poo – until this week, when it’s happened twice!…

My social media timelines are currently full of posts about the Edinburgh Fringe. It hadn’t been on my radar until recently, because for a Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) artist like me, the risks of COVID are still significant, so watching or making theatre hasn’t yet felt safe.…

As a disabled-led company with clinically extremely vulnerable people in our team, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions since the start of the pandemic. In our first public statement about it back in March 2020 we said:

“Our primary focus is to maintain the health and wellbeing of all our staff as best we can… So, for the time being we’ll be winding down all non-essential work in order to help make the next few weeks and months as simple as possible for everyone.”…

The pandemic has had many hidden impacts, from the NHS treatment backlog, or the 13,000 children who have lost a parent to COVID, to the isolation experienced by many clinically vulnerable people and their families.

Over the last few months, I’ve been increasingly aware of a very personal hidden effect of the pandemic.…

In 2018 we took my stand-up show to Portland, Oregon, for two weeks. In Portland cannabis is legal, and for the time I was there I was able to buy and use cannabis gummies that had a massive impact on my pain levels, tics, sleep and wellbeing.…