CYA have been working for months on understanding why young disabled people don’t spend more time out the house on a Saturday. Part of this was meeting Stay Up Late and Gig Buddies in Brighton and learning what others are doing in their communities to make going out a reality for young disabled people just like us.
As a result, CYA’s over 18’s decided we wanted a night out in Coventry the same way our non-disabled peers do on the weekend. In other words: we wanted to go out-out!
Many of us had not stayed out late with family before or been in a nightclub or had the confidence to go out drinking. In all honestly, Joey said “I was shitting myself” before we went out. We all felt the same, this was something totally out of our comfort zones and we were worried about lots of things but we had a plan of how we would support each other and true to CYA - we were determined to not let anything stand in our way, even our own fears.
We met at the Slug and Lettuce for 2-4-1 cocktails. Joanna wasn’t a fan of the Strawberry Daiquiri's but did discover a taste for Malibu and Lemonade thanks to Jodie.
Next stop was the Yard, who were hosting a summer festival. It was busier than we had ever seen it and this made some of us a bit nervous but part of our plan was to look out for each other and speak up if we needed a reassuring boost.
We saw some cool acts including some local drag queens, the Cheeky Girls and S Club (3).
We left the Yard at 1.30am and were still in the mood for dancing so headed to JJ’s.
It was really busy but we were so up for a dance, we didn’t mind.
Harry and Joey particularly enjoyed the dancing and showed us some of their best moves on the dance floor. Joey even showed off his ability bounce his entire wheelchair off the floor to the beat of the music. And there was a lot of admiration for Harry’s 30 second sit down breaks before busting more moves.
We shared taxis home and checked in with each other on the group chat to make sure everyone was safe. Harry spent the journey home singing the Cheeky Girls at the top of his lungs (not sure if Kirsty was happy but the taxi driver didn’t seem to mind).
The last of us got in a 4.30am, the birds were singing and the sun was starting to emerge. It was the latest any of us had stayed out before. Most of us didn’t get up till after 11am the next morning and one or two of us woke up with a bit of a sore head. Except for Joey who was in the gym by 10am!!!!
Would we do it again- hell yeah!
“I loved doing the things you hear other people talking about” – Joey.
“I had a great night with my friends and I’d love to do it again” – Jodie.
Because it was so awesome, we’ve decided to start a movement as part of our CYA Saturday’s campaign; to get more 18-25’s with a disability out on a Saturday night with their
peers.
So we present “CYA in the Pub”- a monthly meet up for those after a good night out- keep an eye out on our social media if you fancy joining us on the next one.
We’d love to ‘CYA” there!
