I’m Jack, I’m 28 from Clydebank. I work as a metal artist/sculptor who creates art from car parts, horseshoes and mild steel and I’m the business owner of Salvaged Metal Art.

When I was about eight years old I helped my uncle weld hinges onto an old gate post. Not thinking this would make an impact on my future I just concentrated working on and learning about cars for the next number of years, as this is what I wanted to do as a career. My experience at both primary and secondary school was not a positive experience as I was bullied throughout my time there due to my cerebral palsy. My cerebral palsy affects me on a daily basis as it restricts me on some things I would like to do by myself. I often suffer sore backs and stiffness due to my cerebral palsy.

My experience at college wasn’t positive either as I was bullied in college as well when I got into the mechanics course. During the year long course I was bullied on a daily basis. A month or so before the course was due to end two of the lecturers spoke to me to tell me that I couldn’t get onto the next level of the mechanics course. This is when I told them I could try welding. They told me this would be too hard for me as well, but they didn’t know that my uncle who has been a welder for 40+ years was willing to take his time to teach me no matter how long it would take.

That year my mum and dad bought me a small mig welder to learn with and this is where I started to get a passion for welding. My first welding project was a  welding cart which I still have to this day, after a number of times practicing my welding I said to my uncle “how about combining car parts and welding to create unique pieces of art” and this is where my Prince’s Trust journey began.

In 2017 I read about a group called Street League who help people find jobs, so I joined and this is how I contacted the Prince’s Trust with my idea about setting up my business. I was given support and met new people which gave my confidence a massive boost which encouraged me to start my own business.

I continued with the Prince’s Trust which led me to me becoming a young ambassador in 2018 – that was the same year that I got involved with Improving Lives. When I attended the improving lives open day in 2018 I met the Clydesider. I have done a few pieces for their magazine in the past three years and this has also helped me with my confidence.

In 2019 I was awarded the Prince’s Trust Scotland’s Young Achiever of the Year for the work and progress that I had made. This was the highlight of my year as I got to meet my inspiration artist/blacksmith Kev Paxton who informed me that I had won the award.

During lockdown I continued to grow my business by gaining local customers and selling garden pieces such as firepits. I also got involved with Epilepsy Scotland, donating pieces for their online Christmas craft fair. Since then I’ve continued to support them by doing a sponsored 60k walk, over six weeks and a 5k during Christmas. I’ve done this since 2020 and it’s made me feel a lot better both physically and mentally.

Fast forward to 2022, I won the Prince’s Trust Young Achiever of the Year award at the Pride of Scotland Awards held in Edinburgh. I also done two collaborations with Kev Paxton, who continues to mentor me to this day. Both collaborations got auctioned off for the Prince’s Trust at their biggest fundraising event called ‘Lunch with an Old Bag’.

In 2023 I expanded my range of pieces which led to me supplying a company in South Queensferry called Craigies Farm Shop and Deli my horseshoe candleholders for their gift shop. I continue to supply these and they have now extended their range of my pieces.

This year I’m aiming to grow my business even more by getting my work into Arnold Clark dealerships (who are one of my suppliers). I also want to continue with my charity work and continue to break down barriers by creating new pieces of art to show people that cerebral palsy isn’t a disability, it’s just a different ability.

I am still involved with the Prince’s Trust and would not be in the position that I am in if I hadn’t got involved with them.

My personal reason for supporting Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month is to make people aware that just because you have cerebral palsy this should not stand in your way of following your dreams and to never give up through tough times. I feel more needs to be done to tackle the bullying that people suffer on a daily basis for having a disability, it affects all aspects of your life.

I feel more needs to be taught about disabilities and more disabled role models should be speaking out.

This is what has led me to want to be a motivational speaker to encourage people to follow their dreams and knock down the barriers that I have faced.

You can follow Jack on Facebook via Salvaged Metal Art and through his motivational speaker page where he shares lots of content regarding cerebral palsy, epilepsy, motivational quotes and work/life balance.

As part of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, we have teamed up with Euan’s Guide to ask our content creators their views on disabled access. 

Euan’s Guide is the disabled access review website where disabled people, their families, friends and carers can find and share the accessibility of venues around the UK and beyond. The website shares thousands of experiences and is the go-to tool for many disabled people. Euan’s Guide believe in making the world more accessible one review at a time. Thousands of people use Euan’s Guide every month to find and share disabled access information. Euan’s Guide recently published their Disabled Access Review where 6,000 people gave their views on disabled access. The review found that 91% of disabled people try to find disabled access information before visiting a new place.

My views on disabled access – Christina MacLean. 

What do you do beforehand to prepare for an accessible day out with your friends and family?

Travelling can be quite overwhelming and I tend to stress myself out as I struggle with the hustle and bustle. When I moved for college and university, my mum and sister would do a “test journey” with me. This would include them travelling from my flat to university for example so I could get used to the route. This made it a little easier when I had to travel on my own.

What information do you look for from a venue before visiting?

I am a young woman with mixed cerebral palsy and talipes (club foot). I also suffer from chronic migraines and trigeminal neuralgia. I do not require any walking aids but can sometimes be clumsy especially when I am tired. When going to a concert or theatre for example, I will check the layout of the venue online before booking tickets. I can sometimes find stairs difficult especially if they are steep as they may be a tripping hazard. I sometimes also check where the toilets are. I struggled at university when I did not get shown around as I did not know where the toilets were.

How do you feel if you know that someone with similar access requirements has visited the venue before?

Unfortunately, I have not been to a venue that I’ve known another person with cerebral palsy has been to. However, this would make me feel comfortable if I did.

How does this help you to feel more confident or prepared to go out with your friends and family?

I would say I am always apprehensive when going to a venue. It all depends how I feel on the day, what time I have to be there and if I need to travel. My family and friends are patient and understand that I might be feeling stressed. When I am with my friends we may get an uber together to make travelling less of a worry. My family and friends sometimes discuss a plan of what we need to do on the day, for example, get the bus, grab a coffee, go around the shops, have lunch and go to the venue. I find a routine to be extremely helpful and if it is planned out in advance I find going to a venue a bit easier.

What is the most important piece of information for you when you visit a venue for the first time with your friends or family?

I know this sounds a bit silly – but if the floor is level. Some flooring I find difficult to walk on. How steep the stairs are and where the toilets are.

What do you think venues could do to improve your experience as someone with Cerebral Palsy?

When I was at university it would have been helpful to receive a tour of the buildings I needed to attend. This would make me feel comfortable and less worried when starting.

What is the number one thing that you would like people and venues to be aware of about cerebral palsy to help them improve their disabled access and disability awareness?

That not all disabilities are visible and that we may all require different accessibility.

You can find out more about Euan’s Guide, read some access reviews or even write your own review on their website here – Euan’s Guide – Disabled Access Reviews (euansguide.com)

Read more results of the Euan’s Guide Access Survey –https://www.euansguide.com/get-involved/access-survey/