Yesterday was BBC Children in Need day. Schools and workplaces held collections in the lead up to an evening extravaganza of celebrity-led TV fundraising. The money raised will fund life-changing work across the UK.

Children in Need has been around since 1980 – just like me – headed up by Pudsey, the eye-patch-wearing-bear, who I recently learnt was only allowed to smile in 2007 – that’s almost thirty years of non-stop frowning.…

The Conservatives have been in power for over decade now, and right from the start they’ve been promising a big announcement of a plan to ‘fix’ social care. As a Social Care user this has always made me very nervous because politicians, especially the Tories, understand very little about the reality of disabled people’s lives.…

Today, out of the blue, there have been a series of announcements about travel in London that are seriously concerning many disabled people. Moving about this vast city as a disabled person can be tricky with a transport system that’s already far from equal.…

In a matter of weeks life across the world has changed dramatically, and like most people I’ve been trying to adapt to the uncertain times ahead. While many people are focused on navigating the challenges of home working, home schooling, increasing social restrictions and living with uncertainty, I, like many disabled people, have been focused simply on survival.…

Over the last decade, just existing as a Disabled Person has felt like a political act. Everything I do is directly affected by the political decisions of people who’ve never met me. There’s the social care support that means I can get washed and dressed in the morning, the Access to Work – support that’s enabled me to continue doing the job I love, the NHS-prescribed wheelchair that means I can move freely, and the medication and catheters that help me manage my pain and sleep at night.…

The other day, out of the blue, I got a call from a researcher asking if I’d be up for contributing to a radio segment on balancing work and Tourettes. I couldn’t do it because I was in rehearsals for ‘Not I’, which we are taking to New York in January.…

I’ve been working in Belgium this week. When I got back to the hotel this evening after a busy day I glanced at my personal emails, and I saw one that totally threw me.

It was from the care agency I use for my essential and personal care requirements, saying:

“There are some updates in relation to the allocation of your weekend care.…

I’d had a really disrupted night. My pain level was exceptionally high and didn’t respond to any of the things that usually help, so I’d been awake since the early hours desperately trying to get comfortable enough to go back to sleep.…

I’ve just got back from performing at the Brilliant Shambala Festival. Shambala’s got a very special place in my heart for several reasons – it’s the first place where I ever went on stage. It’s where I learnt the value of sharing my tics and experiences with other people, and it’s where I first felt the immense power of shared laughter.…

Earlier this year we held the Festival of Rest & Resistance at Battersea Arts Centre in London. On the lead up to that event we commissioned an artist to design and make a brand new chill out space at BAC. That artist was Rhiannon Armstrong and it was a pleasure to see her work fill that space, creating new opportunities to rest and relax in a well established arts venue.…