BTSG film premiere event in Penarth Pier Pavilion

We had been looking forward to a viewing of the film made earlier this year by Pads and his Brain Tumour Support Group. LATCH received a grant from Children in Need and this was used to pay for several sessions with a film-maker. Padi was too ill to travel to the first two as these happened in Penarth but he did shake himself down and managed to get out to the final shoot over at the Heath, complete with syringe-driver and shades (because of his double vision). If you can saunter from a wheelchair, that's how he arrived - hailing his friends with a big wave! This was typical of the way he regularly defied our most extreme expectations of how someone as ill as he was would behave. The film is still not opened up to public access yet - when it is I will post up a link. We'd had a preview which was just as well because seeing him on the big screen was pretty challenging. The way he talks about his illness is spell-binding. It is a side of him that, as carers and parents, we had not seen very much of.
I took the afternoon off work and the children finished school early in order to attend the event which was staged at Penarth Pier Pavilion (link to their public facebook page). This iconic building is in the latter stages of remarkable and much needed major renovation. We were pretty inspired by the community-spirited vision for it's ongoing use. For example, Room 617, the observatory, is dedicated to Guy Gibson, CO of 617 Squadron, as a meeting place for sufferers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (link to BBC News Report about the Pavilion and Gibson's links with it). Although the cafe will not be ready until spring next year, a really excellent buffet was provided. LATCH are very keen to use this ideal venue for further events.