Happy Father’s Day.When I went to school in the 1970’s and 80’s wheechair users didn’t have a right to mainstream education. I was meant to be in ‘special’ education where if I was lucky I could sit a few CSE’s. Certainly not sciences. My Dad wrote the most amazing letters)

And after about a year arguing I got to mainstream school. I had to do a shed load of tests along the way seeing various professionals. it was the only school in south Glamorgan at the time that was allowed to accept wheelchair users. Not that close to where I lived

So I didn’t get to see friends outside school and missed out on lots of simple things. But I would take education over that. There are lots of children who don’t have that for many reasons and my reasons weren’t horrible ones.

We didn’t have lifts. A team of mostly women were employed to carry us up and down the stairs. Wasn’t allowed to have lunch in the mainstream school. I had to go to the neighbouring special school This changed when I was in 6th form because I basically stopped going.

I wanted lunch with my friends. I did get to do some wheelchair racing at Erw’r Delyn MR Helmore was PE teacher. And thank you for that. And in St Cyres Mrs Cogbill let me swim with the class - I went to a Comp and we had a swimming pool !! Inclusive PE before we had a name

Specialist career advice when I was 15 said the best I could hope to do was to learn to answer phones and I might, if lucky, learn shorthand. Actually one of my first jobs was answering phones and learning short hand would have been good.

When I said I wanted to go to university I was told I should lower my sights. This was 1985. I had just started four A levels and did S paper in computer science. My dad told me the world was an amazing place and I should travel. To get that I needed an education
and a good job

to pay for it. Actually I needed to work to pay for me doing my sport. Without my education I wouldn’t have been able to be an athlete. And the letters Dad wrote using Baroness Warnocks work were amazing. 30 years after that I got to sit in the chamber and say why I was there

My mum and dad worked together on this but my Dad has to write the letters because he was ‘head of the household’. There were a few times in meetings that my mum took me to where she gave an opinion and they asked ‘what does Mr Grey think’. My mum was fab too.

Dad used to say ‘education gives you choices’ and I am sure I rolled my eyes at him. He was right. There are so many amazing things I could tell you about how he influenced my life. I was incredibly lucky to have both my parents.

I called him Pops because he sort of hated it. He preferred it to Popsicles. Can’t remember why I called him that. When I had my daughter and she called him Pops he loved it. When I asked him why he said ‘because she is my grandchild’. They would eat ice cream together

Instead of proper meals. We rarely had treats like that growing up. He made this gloop once. Mince, pasta sauce and cucumber(!!) and two different flavours of supernoodles boiled in a pot. Carys ate the lot and said ‘mum doesn’t make food like this’. I remember his smile.

He died ten years ago but will always be there. Thank you Pops.