Senses:// Re-engineered

Work has been so cool! Spent Monday checking up schematics for train station platform and footbridge designs to see if they comply with the regulations aimed to satisfy the Disable Discrimination Act. Might sound boring but its amazing how much care and considerations have been put into the rules to ensure people with difficulty in movement can have access to the train station platforms. Lifts access to platforms, ramps will need to be below a specified gradient, even handrails will need to be fitted a certain way to ensure that people with partial disabilities can make use of the train station. This is especially special for me since I have had personal experience in travelling with people with physical handicap. For voluntary work I have had the pleasure of being assigned to a particular gentleman in an elderly visit programme: Jeff, ex-army, full of life and a very classical sense of humour. I would not be surprise to see him in an episode of Dad's Army. During our times together, we have form an interesting friendship and he was often kind enough to show me around different towns and cities. Even though confined to a motorised wheelchair, he took me on many adventures to many places. It was interesting to see the world through his eyes and his thick glasses. During a trip to Heaton Park in Manchester, even thought it was equipped to deal with disabled people, one of the lift on the leading to the platform was inoperable and we had to resort to boarding a train in the opposite direction, cross to the other side at another station before getting a train back to Manchester. As a twist of fate, several stations down the line didn't have the facilities to cater for disabled passengers which meant we had to stay on the train for a couple more stops before we could disembark, cross to the opposite platform and board a train back into the city centre. It would have been pretty much impossible for the disabled within the area to utilise the public transport and there was no end of complaints from Jeff for days that followed and quite rightly so!

I guess I have spent quite a lot of my time try my best to make a difference in the past but this project is almost like a godsend! Having hundreds of pounds donate to Oxfam, saving someone's life by putting him into the recovery position and raising the alarm, years worth of voluntary work are waned in comparison because the work I will be involved this summer will last for a long time and will serve many people for years to come! To actually make sure that new train stations will be capable of catering for people who are weighed down by their disabilities and offer them to chance to go out and enjoy the world, to see new things and new places just like Jeff had shown me. Honestly, it feels good to get up in the morning!