More about day two of the Tourettes Awareness Challenge

DAY 2: Hull – Lincoln – Peterborough – Cambridge – Ely Today has been characterized by the flat landscape, warm sunshine and welcomes, and many promises to share information about Tourettes within and between local authorities and with health and voluntary sector networks. We arrived early at The Deep in Hull, giving us plenty of time to explore and take photographs of the incredible Jacob’s Ladder sunshine beaming through the clouds onto the Humber, and, beyond, the North Sea. Oh – and also photos of Liz frolicking with the statue of the shark! The Lord Mayor of Hull, Councillor Nadine Fudge, welcomed us to the City, and was photographed with us by the Hull Daily Mail, who also sent a reporter to The Deep to do an in-depth interview (do you see what I did there?). For those who have never been The Deep is a sea-life centre on a huge scale. Liz and Donna did so much excited shrieking that the reporter was convinced they had TS. No – but a great opportunity to talk about the heritability of TS and also the link with co-morbid brain disorders. No opportunity missed! After Hull, Eileen drove us over the Humber Bridge and through the flat Lincolnshire countryside, behind beet lorries and tractors, to the city of Lincoln. We were slightly late for the Deputy Mayor Yvonne Bodger, her consort Hilary Willerton, City Sword Bearer Joe Cooke, and photographer Stu Wilde, who were waiting for us in the magnificent and historic Guildhall, which has spanned the entrance to the City Centre since the 15th century. And we couldn’t have been given a warmer welcome. The Deputy Mayor was clearly disappointed not to have enough time with us to ask more questions about Tourettes, but after presenting our information pack, a few quick photographs and a whistlestop tour of the building – including its incredible debating table, around which city dignitaries originally sat two swords-lengths apart in case of fights breaking out – we had to be on our way to Peterborough. Not before being presented with a book about Lincoln, and Donna had had a very exciting trip to the Guildhall loo – which had been used – properly! – by Princess Diana during a visit to the City. The senior management team of Peterborough’s Adult Services department, led by Director Jana Burton, met us on the staircase of the vast Town Hall. They were all incredibly interested in learning more about TS, and also guaranteed that our information would be disseminated through the local authority. The Mayor’s Secretary brought us pin badges from the City by way of apology for the Mayor’s unavailability, which was rather nice. Again, official photographs for in-house communications and a media release, and we were on our way to Cambridge. The Meadows Community Centre is a pleasant modern building on the outskirts of Cambridge – thoughtfully chosen as a venue for our convenience. The suave and humorous Mayor, Councillor Paul Saunders, welcomed us with tea, biscuits and lots of intelligent questions. We had a great conversation, and were so engrossed that we stayed ten minutes over time, got snarled in rush hour traffic, and ended up late for the lovely Mayor of Ely, Cllr Elaine Griffin-Singh, who had been waiting patiently for us outside the tall and elegant Cathedral – in full Mayoral regalia. The Mayor was pleased to receive our information pack, and thoughtfully offered to devote much of her weekly radio show this week to talking about Tourettes and the reasons behind our Awareness Challenge. Our early evening was spent driving across East Anglia up to Norwich. Roadworks delayed us a little, so it was dark and quite late when we finally arrived at our City Centre Premier Inn more than ready for some food.

Members of the East Anglia Tourettes Action Support Group, Gemma Renaud and her partner Mark, and Dave Touretto, who had travelled in from Lowestoft to meet us, were waiting, and we enjoyed chatting to friends we’d only met online until now – and laughing together about Gemma’s inability to understand Liz when she got excited! After dinner Jac and Eileen retired to check e-mails and get some rest – while Donna and Liz continued to raise awareness, wearing our distinctive T-shirts, in the clubs of Norwich, well until the early hours. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!