BY THE RIVER FOR PAPILLON.

February, 29th only comes round once every four years as we know and this is a leap day I won’t forget nor want to because it’s the day I took the PM challenge laid down by Eddie Mair on Radio4’s PM programme.

You know the background to my involvement with Papillon House School for autistic children by now and how they need £38,000 for playground equipment for what one mum describes as “rainbow” children – Very clever and positive as autism is on a spectrum of severity and a rainbow has a spectrum of colours in it if I have that right. I know there are seven colours that I have never seen so forgive me if my description is not accurate.

The tandem ride I did today was thrilling, exhilarating and liberating. At first I thought I may fall off because it wobbled a bit especially when stationary but once we got going it was really great and I did the whole five (not four as it turned out) miles and I was so happy, sitting up there cycling away to my heart’s content.

The BBC sent a car to get me and I nearly had a funny five minutes when the driver said he didn’t know Rosa was coming, then told me we were going to the stock yard at Hampton Court when I thought we were going to Bushy Park! However all turned out well after a check with his HQ and Rosa was a good girl, lying quietly in the footwell of the car. We met two people from the blind society, one who lent the tandem and the other who showed me what to do regarding riding it. That was the hairy scary bit! I thought: “I love autistic children but oh! Shouldn’t I have stayed at home, offering to play tracks on a cd for people for fifty pence a go? It’d have been much safer”! Once Paddy O’Connell got on and we got going though it was steady and trouble free and the others in the film crew and the producer had a job to keep up with us. As I use an exercise bike regularly, I think I was the only one, apart from Paddy, who wasn’t out of breath! The wind in my hair, the feeling of motion without the worry of banging into anything or whether I’ll be mown down by a silly motorist who isn’t looking where he’s going or being ploughed into by some buggy-wielding woman yapping on a mobile about inconsequential tosh or having my toes trampled on by some arrogant bloke who thinks he owns the pavement and the road was indescribably good and only another blind person would truly understand my joy at this all-too-rare experience of mobility and freedom which even Rosa can’t give me since we are a team. Of course Paddy and I were a team but he is human and could tell me things that Rosa can’t and instead of being in Busy
Epsom, we were in a quiet park where I could only hear birds and us chatting and the tandem’s wheels going round.

Rosa had a lovely long walk with a lady who provided the tandem, courtesy of a blind association in, I think, Kingston. I’m not sure if the poser was filmed but if not, it must be a first for the old girl not to have starred in the show and to have taken a back “basket”!

One of the pupils at Papillon House was there, together with his mum and brother who provided me with a laugh when his mum asked him to shake hands with me and tell me how old he was. Instead he said:
“How old are you”? Well age is only a number so I proudly told him I am fifty-seven!
Sadly, nobody said, on cue:
“You don’t look it”!
However I could forgive them anything, even if one of them had said:
“You look eighty-seven instead”!
Everyone from the BBC was out of breath, cycling to keep up with us and I cycled five miles for these gorgeous children for whom I would do absolutely anything without the slightest hesitation. They have so much to teach us about what is possible and how all of us bring our own brand of uniqueness to the table of life. I have such admiration for their parents, such respect for the teaching staff at Papillon whose positive attitude encourages and supports the parents in times of stress and difficulty and although I have only been there once, the school has a loving and welcoming atmosphere and they let me in without all this worry about what I disrespectfully refer to as “elves and safety pins”! Most of all though I adore the children – All children and I admire these “rainbow” children more than I can say. I know from experience what a dull day means as mine has no colours in
it and, challenging though these children are, what a dull world it would be without them in it to show us what they can achieve given the right support at the appropriate time.

Paddy told me we passed the river Thames, or that he could see it as we went by and as the river of life flows, my legs went round and round as I cycled, it occurred to me that these children should not be left to drown in a sea of confusion and difficulty but should be helped to the shores of understanding where some may bask on the banks of their brilliance and I am proud to have played my part in helping their lives to improve. Just as I rode on that tandem today, we can all work in tandem – Able bodied and disabled – To enrich this world and make it a better place. All of us only have a little time to make a big difference and, if I ever get the chance, I’d do it all over again, having allowed everyone sufficient time to save up of course before I dare ask for sponsorship again.

(the end)

(copyright June Bowden 29th February, 2012).