play park

Crathie Opportunity Holidays

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Now that the first term of school is nearly finished I can finally reflect back on our busy summer holiday. We packed a lot into our six weeks, making the most of our time off for adventures.

Our initial main holiday plan had been to travel somewhere by ferry but alas it wasn’t to be this year as it would have required more planning than time allowed to find accommodation that we could have ‘made work’. Instead we stayed closer to home when I found the most beautiful little cottage nestled in Royal Deeside which was perfectly suited to us.

Crathie Opportunity Holidays have four specially-adapted cottages centred around a courtyard and right on the banks of the River Dee. It has everything we need including a profiling bed, hoist and wet room for Quinns and laundry facilities for me! It made a perfect base for exploration. We made the most of our week with a couple of days in Aberdeen and a trip to Cairngorm. There were also a couple of quieter days close to our Crathie House exploring the Balmoral Gardens and swimming in the river.

Camera looking down on Quinns sitting in his gravity chair in the living room of Gairn Cottage.
Quinns smiling beside his profiling bed in Gairn Cottage. Anita is sitting smiling on the bed.

Dad and I both have history with Aberdeen, and Big Sister is hoping to have a future there, so it’s always lovely to visit. We met up with friends to explore one of my favourite places, Aberdeen Art Gallery. I’m so pleased that a renovation around 2021 included a Changing Place toilet so it was an obvious choice especially with Quinns’ love of art. The exhibition was a brilliant exploration of the wonderful world of Automata. There were buttons, cranks and activities for everyone to enjoy.

Quinns is reaching out to push a red button to make an automata work.
Anita is hoisting Quinns in his sling onto a purple adjustable height changing bench.
Quinns is reaching to push a red button to make interconnecting wooden slats move.

A trip to Aberdeen wouldn’t be the same without a visit to Duthie Park. On a previous visit we found it to have not one but two pretty-inclusive playparks with highbacked swing and multiple wheelchair accessible roundabouts. And this time we were even more delighted to discover a newly-installed wheelchair-accessible swing which Quinns absolutely loved!

Quinns is smiling as he being pushed in a colourful wheelchair swing.
Sign from the Rotary Club of Aberdeen Bon Accord on the side of a wheelchair accessible swing in a Duthie Park.

The Cairngorm Mountain Railway has been on my to-do list for Quinns for a while now. We know how difficult it is to climb mountains with him (not impossible just challenging!) but this way he could experience the change in altitude and perspective with little effort from us. Thankfully we visited there before the wildfires ravaged the landscape and have since watched in disbelief at what happened.

We were very impressed with the service on the Mountain Railway. Quinns was boarded first into the front of the carriage by a really friendly member of staff. The visitor centre at the top is across multiple floors and we had a different route from everyone else to find lifts. It was amazing to get out onto the top of the mountain although it was pretty cloudy and very windy!

Quinns smiles as he sits waiting for the mountain railway train to start moving up Cairngorm.
Quinns and Anita smiling but looking very windswept at the top of Cairngorm mountain.
The wheelchair accessible carriage on the Cairngorm mountain funicular.
The giant purple and blue letters spelling out Cairngorm at the top of the mountain.
The back of Dad and Anita's heads looking out at the view over Cairngorm as the train descended.

We spent a fair bit of time at the visitor centre; eating in the restaurant, visiting the exhibitions, buying a tiny giraffe in the gift shop. The main attraction was the viewing platforms of which we wanted to make the most. Quinns enjoyed being outside the first time, tolerated it the second and refused the third trip out!

The views were spectacular from the front of the train on the way back down. We would definitely recommend this as a trip to any wheelchair users. The only improvement for us would have been a Changing Places toilet on site as the nearest one was in Aviemore at Tiso.

With Aberdeen and Cairngorm about an hour’s drive away from our cottage it was also important to have a couple of more restful days around our cottage. We were just a short walk from Balmoral and with our accommodation we got free access to the grounds. So across the bridge we went to explore the castle exhibition, gardens and learn about capercaillies. There were no sightings of Royals though as they have usually flown south for the winter.

The kitchen garden at Balmoral Castle.
Quinns and Anita smiling in front of Balmoral Castle.
Anita in the background taking a photo of Balmoral from the top of a set of steps. Quinns is in the foreground unable to get up the steps.

We also spent a day by the river. Big Sister, of course, in her happy place swimming while Quinns battled the tree I’d parked him under to shade him from the sun. And with happy children I got to sit on a rock and read a book.

It was difficult to get Quinns’ wheelchair right down to the river but Big Sister instead brought the river to him, by filling bottles of water to pour over his feet, which he found hilarious!

Anita reading her book by the River Dee.
Quinns ticking his tongue out in concentration trying to grab the branch of tree he's sitting underneath.

The holiday was as relaxing as it could be thanks to the Crathie Opportunity Holidays cottages. Sadly, there are very few facilities like these in Scotland but they make such a big difference to our lives. Imagine the adventures we could have with more provision of suitable holiday accommodation!

Swings and roundabouts

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From behind the camera my smile mirrors Quinns’. This was the very first time Quinns and Big Sister played together on the new accessible roundabout in our local park. 

Quinns and Big Sister enjoying the new accessible roundabout in our local park.

Back in October 2018 I posted a blog called Park life. I described my sadness at the lack of accessible play equipment and my dream of accessible roundabouts in every play park. 

Once the sadness of that day lifted the rage came. I realised Quinns would have very little chance of experiencing standard play equipment during his childhood. Only by travelling to play parks miles away would Quinns have the opportunity to play unless I took action. There was no time to waste.

Our local park was the best place to start. I got the Community Council on board with the idea first then we approached the Council. Anyone I spoke to about the idea of accessible play equipment was totally on board but there was no funding. Once the local community was involved the fundraising campaign absolutely rocketed and we soon made enough for a roundabout.

But it couldn’t stop there. One accessible roundabout doesn’t make an accessible playpark. As a family we sought out play parks to visit for research and awareness raising. By sharing the joy of Quinns’ and Big Sister’s park experiences we got everyone hooked on the story. There was no reason other than a lack of play equipment stopping Quinns having fun. We joined friends and had wonderful days out.

Five year old Quinns smiling while being pushed in a high backed swing by his ten year old big sister.
Quinns loving being pushed by Big Sister in the new high backed swing in our local park.

It all took an enormous amount of energy from us and from the many many others who helped us. We would hear about parks that had recently been renovated and make a point of visiting. It was frustrating to find that even although work had just been carried out in these parks there was still no equipment for Quinns to play on.

I often question why we had to go to so much effort to make it happen for our park while companies were spending money on inaccessible equipment for other parks. Although we had a lot of fun along the way it shouldn’t have been so much hard work to realise Quinns’ right to play.

After “The Big Push”, our final community fundraising event, we had raised enough for an accessible roundabout, high backed swing, tables and perhaps most importantly paths. Pathways would not only benefit wheelchairs users but so many others. The most common complaint about our park was the difficulties people had pushing children around it in buggies. 

Most of the work on our play park has recently been completed and it is amazing!! I confess I smiled so much on our first visit I forgot to take Quinns off the roundabout until he was pale with dizziness! There is so much joy to be had in our local park now that we can pop past for a quick spin anytime!

The biggest thank you to everyone near and far who supported, contributed and helped make this dream a reality for us and many others in our local area. We couldn’t have done it without you.