Well, what another fantastic week we’ve had with Blue Badge Bunch and Benny Shakes!

We had the privilege of being invited back to Kaleidoscope Festival at Storyhouse in Chester, celebrating disability, creativity and some incredible disabled talent.

On Thursday, we performed Blue Badge Bunch, our disability awareness game show. It was brilliant to bring the show back to Chester, get people involved in the games, have plenty of laughs and, most importantly, get people talking and learning about disability.

Then, on Friday at 1pm, I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Kaleidoscope Talent Programme Final alongside Lucy Simons.

Lucy does so much brilliant work around Chester and the North West. She writes and performs comedy, champions women in the arts and helps create and support shows that give people opportunities to perform.

This time, we had the job of hosting the final, featuring 13 fantastic disabled acts.

It was wonderful to be part of a disability festival that celebrates so many different experiences of disability, from learning disabilities and neurodiversity to physical disabilities and beyond.

The winner was Malcolm Bodell, who is currently studying Performing Arts at college. Outside of performing, Malcolm loves Pokémon, so he chose to sing one of his favourite songs from Pokémon for us.

Congratulations, Malcolm!

And coming second was our very own comedian, Sam Wood.

It was only Sam’s second ever comedy gig, and he came second!

I haven’t known Sam for long, but I’m really looking forward to seeing where his comedy journey takes him next. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing plenty more of him on stage in the future.

Well done to every single person who performed. Getting on stage and sharing your talent with an audience takes confidence, and it was a privilege to be part of the day.

Being at Kaleidoscope reminded me again why events like this matter.

We are all disabled in different ways. We have different experiences, different challenges and different stories to tell.

But we are stronger when we work together, support each other and celebrate each other’s achievements instead of working against one another.

Happy Disability Pride Month!

I’m proud to be disabled. I’m proud of what we’ve overcome over the years, and I’m proud to be part of a community filled with so much talent, creativity and determination.

We are better when we work together, not against each other.

Well done to everyone involved in Kaleidoscope, and thank you for inviting us back.

– Benny Shakes