GOLD GAISCE AWARD

PORTFOLIO

THOMAS BRUTON NOVEMBER 2016

THIS IS ME

My name is Thomas Bruton. I am 26 years old. I live with my parents on a

farm outside Leixlip. I attend Rosse Court Training Centre. I use a powered

wheelchair because I have quadriplegic cerebral palsy. I have no sight in my

left eye but can see a bit with my right eye if I use glasses.

I really, really, really love sport. I enjoy

swimming, ice skating, sailing and bowling. In

the past, I have played boccia, wheelchair

hurling and even tried skiing once. I was Rider

of the Year for the Riding for the Disabled in

Ireland (RDAI) and was one of a team to give a

demonstration at the Horse Show in Dublin.

I love to go to cricket matches and rugby

matches. I enjoy going to watch greyhound

racing in Harold’s Cross and Shelbourne Park. I

also go to gigs in the 3 Arena to hear my

favourite groups and go with my friends to

Buskers in Temple Bar for a night-out.

Left: At the recent Ireland-New Zealand rugby match at the Aviva Stadium; Right: Bowling at a Lighthouse Trust summer school social outing, summer 2016. I am a very competitive bowler!

Horse riding as part of Riding for the

Disabled in Ireland (RDAI).

WHAT MOTIVATED ME

Every summer, I attend the Lighthouse Trust Summer School in

Donaghadee, Co. Down. It is a summer school especially for

children, and young people with cerebral palsy. One year, we

had a volunteer working there. Her name was Alex and she was

doing the bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. She volunteered in

the summer school because she needed some hours for her

Community part. Alex told me about the Award and I was really

interested but I thought I could not do it where I live. I really

wanted to do it. My mum told me about the Gaisce (President’s

Award). Through Mrs Eager, who was the Deputy Principal of

Wilson’s Hospital School and knew about Gaisce, we made

contact with Marion Irwin-Gowran. Marion told us that I could

do it as an individual and became my PAL.

The more I heard about Gaisce, the more I thought that I must do it. I started

with the Bronze in 2011. My Adventure Journey was to go to Glendalough to

stay in the hostel. I looked at the monastic settlement and the accessibility.

My mum and my sister, Liz, came with me as I needed them to push my

Alex Palmer, who first told me about her Duke of Edinburgh award and inspired me to do the Bronze Gaisce.

At the lake and walking around Glendalough for my bronze Gaisce, summer 2011.

wheelchair and take notes for me for my Adventure Project. I loved staying in

the hostel. I enjoyed the challenge so much that I decided to go for the Silver.

I am really, really keen on cricket. It is my favourite sport. My Dad was always

telling me about a match which took place in 1969 where Ireland beat the

Windies (West Indies). They were the best team in the world, at that time. I

got in touch with David Skelton who is crazy about cricket and he put me onto

Ger Siggins who is the sports reporter in the Irish Times and who is also mad

about cricket. He gave me a lot of useful information. I contacted Sion Mills

Cricket Club where the match took place and arranged to go with my mum and

dad to see the grounds. You just can’t imagine my excitement when I realised I

would meet Ossie Calhoun who was the wicket keeper on the Irish team in

1969. Ossie was really helpful to me and he and John Browne (Hon Sec of the

Cricket Club) gave me lots of information. I loved finding out about what

happened on that day and it was fun putting together the project. I had to

include a bit about the history of the village of Sion Mills. I asked my Dad to

take photos of the grounds and my Mum took notes for me and my sister, Liz,

put the photos into the final version of my project.

I emailed a copy of my project to Ger Siggins and David Skelton. The next thing

was that I got an email from Cricket Ireland asking me if they could put it on

With Ossie Calhoun at Sion Mills.

their website. Then I got an email of congratulations from the Irish Cricket

team who were playing in Abu Dhabi. I couldn’t believe it! I was thrilled that

nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

The presentation for the Silver Award was in Trinity College on 5th December

2013. I had found the Silver Award quite a challenge and, on the way, I said to

my mum and dad that I thought that I would not go further. At the Award

ceremony, a lady spoke about her Gaisce Journey and how she had found it

hard too. She said that anyone would got Silver should go for Gold. That was

it! I told my mum and dad that I would try for Gold, if they would help me.

MY GOLD GAISCE JOURNEY

Swimming with North Star swimming club for my gold Gaisce, 2016.

I decided to try to swim 10 lengths of the pool at St Raphael’s, Celbridge for my

Physical Recreation. I already knew how to swim and I knew if I got help at the

turns, I might just do it. Since I was 3 years old, I have been a member of the

North Star Swimming Club. Marian Lee and Valerie Haugh are the two

instructors. They, along with volunteers who come each Sunday, encouraged

me to stick with it. They were brilliant! Thanks to them, I was able to do 18

lengths.

With my French teacher, Sarah.

For my Personal Skill, I chose to improve my basic French. My teacher is Sarah

Cahill. Every week, she came to my house and I told her about what I had

done during the previous week. Sometimes, it was more in English than

French but I kept it up, even though it was a real challenge. Sarah was really

patient but even so I found it quite difficult. This was definitely my greatest

challenge. If it hadn’t been for Sarah’s encouragement, I might have given up.

Now, I have a few pen pals who speak French and, with Sarah’s help, I email

them every week and then they reply.

I found it difficult to think of a suitable Community Involvement. I wanted to

do something which interested me and was worthwhile. I go with my mum to

St. Peter’s Church in Dunboyne where the Rector is Rev. Janice Aiton. I asked

Janice if I could help the Churchwardens and she said yes. There are six

Churchwardens and each of them does 2 months per year, but I am there

every week. My job is to be a Meeter / Greeter. I say hello to everyone and I

have learnt most of the names. I try to be extra friendly to new people. I hand

out the Hymn books, Prayer books and weekly Service Sheets. I sometimes do

special collections. I bring the basket with the collection to the Rector at the

altar. One of the Churchwardens pushes my wheelchair for me. One of the

parishioners is Belgian and speaks French so I always greet him in French. One

week, I knew we were going to have a group from Wales. My sister, Liz, was

home for the weekend and I asked her advice. She put me onto a website

where you could learn very basic Welsh. I learnt how to say Hello (sounds like

‘sit-mi or shoe-mi’) and Welcome (sounds like ‘cree-so’) in Welsh. The Welsh

people were delighted. I told them how I did it and they said I should learn

more before their next visit. I really love my work helping the Churchwardens.

It is my favourite part of the three Gaisce Activities and I have continued it

even after I had completed my 52 weeks. I think I like it because the six

Churchwardens I work with are so much fun to be with and have taught me a

lot. I have also met lots of people and they are all so friendly and nice to me.

Four out of the six church wardens with me at the Christmas Tree Festival where I was running the raffle to raise funds

for the local Social services and the parish, November 2016.

For my Residential Project, I stayed in Cuisle, Donamon, Co. Roscommon. This

is a holiday centre run by the Irish Wheelchair Association. I love it there. The

staff are great and we have outings and discos and generally have fun. It is my

place and I can be independent of my family there.

MY ADVENTURE JOURNEY

Sailing with Elizabeth and her dog Barnaby, Sailability, Belfast Lough, 2014.

Finding my Adventure Journey was not easy. I wanted to find something that I

was able to do but was also a challenge. My sister, Liz, looked at cycling for the

disabled in the Peak District in England but I decided that I would not have to

do much, as most of the pedalling would have to done by a companion. Out of

the blue, I was contacted by Sailability in Carrickfergus. Sailability is an

organisation which promotes sailing for people with disabilities. I had sailed

with them for several years but this summer, they had received funding to

organise a certified sailing course. The organiser, Geraldine Duggan, asked me

if I would be interested and I said yes, immediately. The course was held in

July over 5 days (Monday to Friday), mornings or afternoons. I chose

afternoon, as I could do a stretching exercise programme to help me sit for the

two and a half hours of the course.

I sailed on a Hawk 20 called Arica, another called Tamarind and on the Sea

Rover. My mum came with me to take notes and also, when there was not

special seating, to help me balance. I learnt what to do before setting sail:

check the forecast, especially the wind strength

check the tides as the first three hours and last three hours are the

strongest in a twelve hour period

check life jackets are working properly; know where the manual cord

is: check all have gas cylinders: they have to be serviced every two

years

check that clothing worn is appropriate: bring sun cream and water.

When on board before sailing, check the contents of the safety box. It should

contain an emergency blanket, first aid, kill cord and flares.

When sailing with others, it is important to answer instructions by saying

‘ready’. At sea, we were told that we should consider the following:

Boat trim – look up and set sails according to the wind

Sail trim – small movement to keep sails trim. Tell tales should be at

right angles. Tell tales are ribbons on sails.

Boat balance – look down and check that boat is flat

Sailability training course, summer 2016. Photographs by Mike McNeice.

We learnt how to read the tides, winds and currents and to adjust the sails

accordingly. I was able to use my hearing (which is very good) to listen to the

sound of the sea and be able to identify the currents and tides.

Sailors call ropes ‘sheets’. It is very important that there are no knots in them

as then they would not run smoothly. Some sheets are used to unfurl the sails

e.g. the jib sheet unfurls the jib sail. To make things simpler, each sheet is a

different colour, but there is no standard so this can vary. Sheets are very

important as you can’t raise a sail without one. My job was to check that he

sheets had no knots.

We learnt what the sails were for and how to set them e.g. a jib is for turning

and a main sail is for power. The main (large) sail is winched up by the halyard

(a type of sheet) first right up to the top of the mast to raise it up and then the

jib (small) is unfurled and raised.

One day, I realised that I could sit

independently for a short time because I

could balance myself and correct my

position, if necessary. I had not been

able to do this before.

We were told easy ways to remember

what to do, e.g. ‘A floppy sail is not a

happy sail: bring it in to make it grin’.

We sailed on Belfast Lough where we

saw ferries and large ships. There is a

special channel for them. Even though it

was July and even though it was warmish on dry land, it could be quite cold at

sea so we had to dress warmly. One day, it had rained in the morning and

when I was winched into my seating position on the boat with my mum beside

me, I realised that I was sitting in a pool of water. This got colder as the

afternoon went on but I was having such fun that I did not mind. Joanne who

was in the clubhouse always had a cup of tea for us when the session finished.

On one of my sessions, Mike McNeice came and took photos (see above). I

was delighted when I saw the photos as they showed what I did. Thanks,

Mike. I am very grateful to Lex, Jenna and all the other instructors for their

patience. I really learnt a lot and would love to do another course in 2017, if

Sailability get funding.

On the last day, I was awarded a certificate. This was great! Thank you,

everyone in Belfast Lough Sailability.

The happy sailor at Sailability traing course, summer 2016. Photograph by Mike McNeice.

WHAT I HAVE GOT FROM DOING GAISCE

Gaisce has really stretched me! I got to do things I never dreamt of. I got to

meet heroes like Ossie Calhoun. People who didn’t know me before this

helped me to achieve my Gaisce. I have met new people. I have shown others

that having a disability need not hold me back, as long as I was prepared to ask

for help.

Lots of people helped me on my journey and I am so grateful to them. I feel so

proud that I will be presented with the Gold Gaisce on 6th December by the

President, Michael D Higgins, just three years after being challenged by the

lady who spoke at the Silver Award ceremony, and five years after Alex told me

about the Duke of Edinburgh Award, inspiring me to do the Bronze Gaisce.