Parallel London – Showcasing True Inclusion

Earlier in the year I was asked by Parallel London to be an ambassador for them. The event is an annual inclusive participation challenge. Disabled and non disabled people attempting the 10k, 5k, 1k or 100m sensory challenges. Plus there was a festival village for everybody to enjoy afterwards.

As an ambassador I helped to raise awareness of the event in the months leading up to the big day. I was in great company with fellow ambassadors such as Sam Renke, Mik Scarlett, Dan & Emily from the Department of Ability, plus Sam and Mark Bullock. If you haven’t heard of them please do Google them! They’re amazing people.

The big day landed on my birthday – Sunday September 3rd. So I spent my birthday waking up early, and driving to the Olympic Park in Stratford, London. It was most definitely worth it!

The ambassadors kicked off the 5k run, which I was participating in too. Singer JJ Rosa and Sky news were there to help us.

Then myself, Kasia and our friends dashed to the back of the starting line, and began our challenge. Our friends included 1 and 4 year old kids, so we took the challenge leisurely. We had a great time mingling with the other participants. Our finish time was around an hour.

The medals and applause at the finish line filled us with pride 🙂 It was fantastic seeing people of all abilities achieving their own challenges. We all won our Olympic medals that day.

Parallel Beats

Not only was I an ambassador, but I’d agreed to speak on stage about inclusion too. So I headed to the festival village, and grabbed a bite of lunch. We watched JJ Rosa perform on the main stage (wow! So good). Met some of the partner exhibitors.

Then headed to the Parallel Beats stage!

I decided to talk about the same topic I’d blogged about – Inclusion as a measure of success.

Without rewriting the blog or transcribing the video, I’ll give you a quick summary, in the assumption you’ll read or watch them in all their glory 😉

My point is how our world is safer from hunger, disease, and war than ever before. We have planes, rockets, and the internet! Yet we have so many social issues and economic failures. Without going to an extreme, we need individuals to consider their own personal stories.

Going forward. I believe that a person and a society should measure it’s success differently. Instead of financial wealth and material goods, it’s time we gave more credit to love and compassion. Not only will this solve societal exclusion, it’ll improve our overall economic and personal wellbeing.

It’s absolutely possible for everyone to thrive. We’re no longer living in the wild. Let’s act like the intelligent beings we suggest we already are.

Here’s the 20 minute TEDx style talk from Parallel London. I hope you enjoy it…