In early September I received an e mail from the Band of Brothers asking if I wanted to put my name forward in to a ballot for tickets to Silverstone Race track to watch motor racing. I said that it would be great to go in to the draw, and on Friday, I received two tickets in the post.

I asked my brother if he would like to go, I need a driver and so it means that every so often one of my family or friends gets a good day out. On Saturday 22 September, a friend of mine and I went to Silverstone, as unfortunately my brother was working.

Neither of us had ever been, but after a two and a half hour drive, we arrived to a massive place.

We had obviously seen it on the television, but you never fully get just how big the place is. We showed our tickets and made our way to the paddock area to have a look round the place. It was whilst we were looking at a stall that two of the racers came over and spoke to me, insisting that we go to see them in their garage area. We walked the rest of the route we were doing, checking out some of the stalls and garages on the way until we reached the garage we had been invited to. It was the “MISSION MOTORSORT” team. The team are injured soldiers who do the whole racing team thing. Pit crew to driving, which is brilliant in itself as they race against the able bodied teams, as an equal.

We spent a while in with them, and then left to get a bite to eat, a coffee and to watch a Porsche Trophy race. There was an outright leader who no one could catch, let alone overtake, but the rest of the field were having battles amongst themselves. After the race had finished, we watched the teams line up on the grid and then went for a walk around the grid to see the cars, fully assembled and ready to race. We also wanted to catch up with the “MISSION MOTORSPORT” team to wish them luck, after all, they were military, and it was a 24 hour race.

Once the race had started, we watched a couple of hours then went for a coffee and to catch up with the pit crew again to see how it was going. Here I got talking to one of the team, a welfare senior, a Sergeant, who was asking lots of questions about me, my disability and how it occurred. Near the end of the conversation, he asked for my details, asking if i fancied trying to ride again, doing off roading or racing. Needless to say I wrote my name, service number and e mail address down in very clear print in the hope that I may well get to try.

We went back to the grandstand and watched some more of the racing before making our way back to the “Chucklebus”, and driving home.

An amazing day out, where I met some brilliant people, and spoke to the members of a racing team who, I don`t think anyone would disagree, were winners before the lights went green and the wheels started turning. Check them out, www.missionmotorsport.org.

In August this year, (2012), my wife was contacted by the British Legion to inform us of their intention to send us on a holiday. The lady, Lynn, asked my wife to talk it over with me and to enquire about some locations that we would like to stay at. The last holiday we had as a family was in Cornwall and was enjoyed by the family immensely. It was therefore decided that this would be the place to find somewhere to stay. My wife called a few places, went through some brochures and we decided on Perran Sands, Perranporth. It was a Haven site and they catered for people in wheelchairs.

Beaches were going to be a bit of a non starter for me but the kids would not miss out because of it.

The kids enjoyed the entertainment that was scheduled, with the youngest two meeting the characters, dancing  and generally tear assing around like kids do.

They explored the play areas outside and ran around the large mounds of sand scattered about the site. Swimming, water shutes and amusements were also getting maximum usage. This was only possible with the help of my Mother in Law, she was able to help the kids first thing in the morning whilst my wife was dealing with me. Body boarding, and visits to various attractions were also enjoyed by the kids, and days out were enjoyed by all. It has been quite a while since I have seen the kids having that much fun, they have had to amuse themselves quite alot, and my eldest daughter has had to grow up too quickly by helping my wife with our youngest daughter. It was good to see my wife being able to relax a little aswell, despite her still having to deal with me and my daily routine. As you can see, having to take a shower chair and a hoist before you think about everything else is a bit of a squeeze, makes me glad I bought the Vito, we would never have managed in the Vectra! And I will be in my powered wheelchair at the back.

Words can not being to express our thanks to the British Legion for doing this for us, or for 6 Rifles Welfare team for arranging it.