I cannot believe that this year has come to an end as it is time to wish 2024 farewell and say hello to 2025 for the next 365 days. It is hard not to get emotional as I start to reflect on what I have achieved during the last year, it is fair to say I have managed to pack in a lot.
The start of 2024 saw my rail signage dream really come to life as West Midlands Trains worked hard to ensure that the accessible waiting spaces and other types of accessibility signage were in place at Witton Lane station near Birmingham in time for Aston Villa to host Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday the 11th of February.
This was quickly followed up by the same waiting spaces and accessibility signage being installed by the operator at neighbouring Aston on the 8th of May. On the same day I attended a royal garden that was hosted by King Charles III, His Wife Queen Camilla, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh who were accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester along with the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace in London.
However getting to this once in a lifetime event that I nominated to attend by the Department for Transport wasn’t easy thanks to rail operators striking as part of the long running dispute over pay and working conditions.
Rosie Dowsing who worked for ITV News Central at the time visited me at home in Hereford to find out what I thought about the possibility of not attending the party, luckily I was able to attend the event after getting a lift from my mum to reading and then taking a train and bus to the palace.
On another note, Herefordshire Council installed a number of dropped curbs on Barrie Road and Westfailing street as part of my call for there to be more accessible pavements in the county, Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) installed at total of 10 pairs of dropped curbs across the 2 sites.
WMT have installed a number of accessible waiting spaces and other types of accessibility signage at stations around the region since May last year and they include:
- The Hawthorns (The railway station near to West Bromwich Albion’s ground)
- Coventry Arena (The railway station near to Coventry City’s ground)
- Kenilworth
- Worcester Foregate Street
- Worcester Shrub Hill
It is fair to say that I have been incredibly busy this year, but it has been worth it as I have been able to make positive impact on the lives of those living with disabilities across our beautiful region.
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Before I wish all of you, my loyal readers and followers a happy, successful and of course safe 2025 it is only right that I pay tribute to the teams at Herefordshire Council, Balfour Beatty (BBLP) and of course West Midlands Trains (WMT) who have made the lives of our community better across both Herefordshire and the Midlands.
Thank you for everything that you have done for us throughout this year it hasn’t gone unnoticed and is definitely appreciated.
It has now come to that time where I take a moment to wish all of you, my incredible readers and social media followers who have throughout 2024 taken the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest posts within minutes of them being published, it has not gone unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated.
I cannot wait to see what you make of the content that I produce throughout the next 52 weeks, aka the next 12 months or if you prefer the next 365 days.
Cam
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