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Preparing for Adulthood: Independent travel - Brad’s Story
Published
As part of a series of articles in Families In Partnership, Sarah Smith Preparation for Adulthood Lead will be highlighting different elements of the Preparing for Adulthood four Pathways.
This Month’s article will focus on the personal experience of Brad with GCC Travel Training support in 2018. Brad describes the impact developing independence is having on his life and career opportunities that came about following his training.
Hello everyone, hope you are finally enjoying some sunshine.
For this issue I would like to introduce to you one of my colleague Brad Hodgson.
Brad was one of GCC’s Independent Training Trainees when the team was first created in 2017. Brad has written a powerful article below about the impact GCC independence training as had on him and accomplishing his future aspirations.
“Hi, my name is Brad and I have worked in the Employment & Skills Hub in GCC since October 2022 as a Business admin apprentice. I am now supporting the Skills Hub & Forwards Employment Team with any admin support. I have also stepped in to support the team in the absence of a Job Broker, I have really enjoyed this so far and so it is now a future career aspiration for myself.
When I was younger, I was studying at Gloucester college during the week. At the time, I couldn’t drive, and my parents were unable to help with transport every day from Lydney to Gloucester due to work commitments and childcare so, we had to find an alternative way for me to travel. We had the thought of using the bus, however I had never used the bus in the past and we were unsure on how this would work for me being a full-time wheelchair user, that’s when we came across Tim and the amazing Travel Training/Preparation for Adulthood Support Team.
Tim visited me at home with my family in the Forest to talk through the travel training scheme and did an assessment with me.
A few weeks later, I met up with Tim at Lydney Bus station and we caught the number 23 bus to Gloucester together. Tim was there to ensure that I could easily get on the bus and support me with any problems/queries or concerns. Tim fully supported me on my journeys, at first, I needed to take two buses, each route was supported by Tim and the team, my supported faded away as I became more confident in travelling independently.
I had Tim’s contact number so that we were able to keep in contact at all times for any problems that I encountered. I did at one stage come across a problem where I got off at the wrong stop, but I just called Tim on the phone, and he came and found me straight away to get me back on track.
Tim continually assessed me on my progress travelling independently, when he was happy that I was now able to travel the whole way, that’s where our travel training partnership came to an end.
I continued to travel up on the bus every day to college on my own and confidently, I got to know a lot of the bus drivers who are always happy to help. After a while, the bus routes changed, I called Tim, and he joined me on my new journey one final time to scope out the best route for myself to get to college.
The travel training I received from Tim and his team was amazing, this has really boosted my independence, and I am now able to travel independently on the bus to Gloucester. Now I am working for Gloucestershire County Council I still catch the bus 2 days a week to ensure that I am still able to do so whenever needed. On the other days of the week, I now drive into Gloucester as I now have my driving license.
A massive thank you to Tim & the team for their time, I highly recommend the service if you are looking for some support with independence training.”