Tag Archives: BOBATH

60 BOBATH Bike Event – 31st August 2013

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Location
Loch Lomond, Balloch 13:00 – 15:00

Mission Report
After what appears to be a break of a couple of years (actually four since I last attended it) we were invited back to Lomond Shores by the BOBATH people to once again loiter near the finish line of their 20-odd mile charity cycle ride.  Unfortunately despite the presence of the excellently New Hope-ish lift which we discovered the presence of too late to make any use of last time round and the hours of fun it could have provided, the day got off to a poor personal start with a ROMfx related snafu leaving me pretty mute for the duration.

Despite the variable weather the lake shore was fairly busy and as you’d expect we were intercepted for photos before reaching our designated base of operations albeit mostly by one sizeable family of visitors who pretty much monopolised our time initially what seemingly wanting an endless rotation of photos on multiple cameras and phones with the patrol, ONE AT A TIME, much to my, and at least one other awaiting family’s chagrin.  Actually “rotation” is quite possible the most accurate term as I’m fairly sure some of them had a minimum of three photo before we moved on which in itself only led to their horde of children orbiting us for much of the rest of the day.

The day seemed somewhat busier than previous occasions.  I’m not 100% sure because the times of our presence seem to have varied on each occasion, but I ascribe this to us usually being asked to arrive when the main body of cyclist are due and getting out when only the stragglers remain; unlike this time when we were there an hour early to allow time to change, meaning we were out while for the majority of those taking part were arriving at the finish.

Once again it’s worth pointing out how well the BOBATH organisers look after us, with plenty of space and tables for changing and a veritable shopping bag each of snacks, their efforts are hugely appreciated…

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17 Bobath Halloween Party – 31st October 2008

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Location
City Chambers, Glasgow 20:00 – 22:00
Mission Report
Overall, a bit of a “meh…” troop to be honest.

I think we were reduced to guys in costumes rather than the UKG and it really was a struggle to see it through to the end, which was odd as it wasn’t the longest or most difficult event I’ve attended.

Other than the Halloween connection, there was probably no need for us to be in attendance, certainly from my point of view, I found it very boring standing about with not a lot of interest, other than a particularly irritating persistent group of girls and half a dozen of the smaller kids from the 250-odd people in attendance.

Not to say the BOBATH people didn’t look after us well and Glasgow City Chambers must rank as one of the most oppulent troop locations I’ve ever attended, but there didn’t seem to be a huge amount of organisation as to where we were to be or what we were to do, to the extent that half of us were on the way down in the lift when we were told we were supposed to be at the opposite side of the building. Not that we were missing much other than a lot of standing about in a very hot environment!
The council staff didn’t appear to have any information about our presence either. On arrival I was told I wasn’t supposed to be in the building for another hour and the library set aside for out changing area was locked up. Maybe I’m just getting old, but I was about ready for jacking it in out of frustration just at the point the others began to turn up.
I like the BOBATH charity, and the Lomond Shore event was brilliant, but this was the complete opposite in every way. If it had been a corporate event, I would cheerfully pass on it in future.

All I’ll say about the photo opportunity across from George Square outside the Chambers, is that the Hen Party better have had wide angle lenses on their cameras if they expect to see themselves and us when their photo’s come back from the chemists…!
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16 Yorkhill Medicinema Ward Visit – 23rd October 2008

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Location
Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow 13:00 – 17:00
Mission Report
Quite a large rush of activity around this event, what with the date originally being wrong, which lead to people having to drop out. Ultimately, we ended up with three troopers on the day and an equal number of spotters, one of which, a pending new Scottish recruit, David Taylor, performed exceptionally. The number of spotters was no bad thing though as, almost like some horrible initiation David and the others had to wipe clean everyone’s armour, gloves and guns, as well as their own hands, each time we entered or left one of the wards for hygiene reasons. An entirely understandable precaution as we were dealing with sick kids and although it did slow the already long troop down to a stop/start affair and rather sucked the impetus out of it, on the bright side though, I don’t think any of our armours have been so clean since the day they all came out the box. Good job that dirty SandTrooper couldn’t make it, they’d have needed a hose full of non-alcohol wipe fluid.

Thanks to some recent modifications (the ones I’ve kept saying I “must” do after every troop and finally got around to) I was fairly sprinting along the hospital corridors and even successfully negotiated two sets of stairs without incident.

Obviously, this kind of event was never going to be an upbeat troop. Many of the kids are confined to bed and are limited in their responses due to their condition, medication or treatment programs and the interaction we had was limited accordingly what with trying to be hygienically aware at all times too. Personally, having broken a tooth at the start of the week, which cut up the left side of my mouth I was finding it difficult enough to talk as it was and the heat even out of costume in the building was rather oppressive.
Don’t take that the wrong way though; we were excellently looked after by the Medicinema staff and special thanks to both Sheila and Billy, who couldn’t do enough to look after us.
It was especially nice to encounter little Tegan again who’s currently resident in the chemotherapy ward. She had been between treatments a couple of months back and was brought along to see us at Braehead.

By the end there was a literal bucket of sweat to drain out and a handful of armour damage which will need some glue work over the weekend to prepare for the BOBATH troop on Friday, but I wouldn’t hesitate to help out at this event again in future. There were a number of press photographers there and a documentary film crew for the Asian Business Awards, who’d help fund the cinema last year, so with any luck, we’ll have helped raise the profile and some future donations for this very worthwhile cause…
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14 Bobath Scotland Cyclist Ride – 23rd August 2008

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Location
Loch Lomond, Balloch 13:00 – 15:00
Mission Report
Ah. Lovely.
Nice big spacious changing area for the three of use who’d come up to the Lomond Shores for this event and a huge area for us to patrol and interact with the public on. The weather was fantastic too and when we got too warm in the sun there was a cooling breeze coming off the loch itself as well as some stunning scenery surrounding us.

This event was the first time two Stealth Troopers had appeared together and along with our sandy brethren, we kept the public highly entertained for a couple of hours as the cyclists taking part returned to the finish line.

Since this was my first time in the armour since Inverness I was faced with a couple of wardrobe malfunctions, but a quick switch round of the strapping, together with the first outing for the shims which had been added to the shins since last time, actually left me with a much greater freedom of movement when kitted up than I normally get. This was also a chance to debut my modded E-11 and try out the fold out stock in the full get up.

The organisers seemed to really appreciate our presence, especially since we’d been double booked that day and so did the punters. A particular highlight had to be the two Spanish couples, where the men wanted a photo with both of the TXs. Since they were as cocky as they were tall, they were forced into a submission position on their knees for the snap. Immediately afterwards they made to get up and were ordered to remain in place while Chris and I walked off with our arms round their partners, inviting them to come back to the Death Star with us!
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