More extracts, enjoy…

Someone I regularly spoke to on Saturdays was Jennifer, one of the journalists at Splash who used to do the Saturday morning news shift. Being a conscientious worker, Jennifer often worked in the afternoon writing and preparing things for the following week.One weekend the air-conditioning in the studios broke down. Phil was ok as he had a temporary fan in the main studio. However it was so hot and stuffy in the news booth that I took off my jumper and t-shirt. At football half-time I went into the office to get some fresh air.As I opened the door and stepped into the office, Jennifer glanced up at me and from where she was sitting half obscured by a desk, she thought I was completely naked! It gave her a shock and it was a first as I’ve never had that effect on someone before!
I’ve always thought there was an air of mystery surrounding Jennifer because she never revealed much about herself. All I really know about her is that she’s got a long term boyfriend, likes cheese and is into collecting handbags.

For all I know, Jennifer could also be into swinging and Tupperware parties.

Now as you know, I’m not someone who likes being put in a box but it’s got me wondering – is a swinging and Tupperware party where people are put in a box?

I’ll ask Jennifer!

2. Another excellent contributor on the sports show was Phil’s school friend Andy Lutwyche. In addition to being a secondary school maths teacher, Andy played for Worthing FC and Worthing Cricket Club at the weekends. Phil chatted live on-air with Andy after his games. As two witty people, the pair were easy on the ear.

Andy is naturally funny. He would say to me “Do you know anything about sport yet? I don’t know how you can produce a sports show when you clearly don’t know anything about sport!”

To which I replied “Do you know anything about binary yet? I don’t know how you can be Head of Maths when you clearly don’t know anything about binary!”

You can pre-order your copy of ‘Screw it, I’ll Take The Elevator’ NOW! http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukpatrick

There is an inspirational person in all of us…

I would like to share my experience with you because I am all about helping people. People see me as being disabled but I have always seen myself as a regular, independent guy and now I see my cerebral palsy as a real gift. A few years ago when I was networking in property investment people advised me that I should write a book about my life because they said I have an inspirational story to share.

After thinking about it for a couple of years, I finally decided to write my book, it took me 15 months to write my story, typing it with just my left index finger. Having published my first book a couple of years ago, I am now about to publish the sequel. All I have really done is write a story about my life and there must be thousands of people out there like me, with their own inspirational life story.

You might think that writing a book is a difficult and daunting task but if you break it down into manageable pieces, for example if you were to write a 500 word blog post every week for a year, you would have enough material for a book. If you are physically unable to write yourself, you can get somebody else to write for you. I have written 3 blog posts on how to do this, here is the first one… http://stairsforbreakfast.com/part-1-how-to-write-a-book-successfully/

I welcome any comments or questions you may have below:
Read more here: How to write a book successfully

I’m the IT guy, that is I…

Fourth extract from, ‘Screw it, I’ll take the elevator’, Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

After moving into my flat I wasted no time in becoming known in the on-site bar. There I met my friend Steve Bell and became friends with his wife Jill and daughter Tammy.

Steve is a generation older than me and unlike me, he’s an artistic person. He used to be a secondary school art teacher and has always played a variety of musical instruments. The reason Steve and I get on so well is because we are both people persons and share the same values and sense of humour.

Neither of us will forget the time we went to a party at someone’s house. I was in the back garden when a woman, ten to fifteen years older than me, approached me and asked:

Lady: “What do you do?”

Me: “I’m a computer programmer and I work for Shh.”

Lady [looking perplexed]: “no…really, what is it that you do?”

Me: “I really am a computer programmer – and I do work for Shh.”

Lady [still unconvinced]: “no, honestly, what is it that you do?”

Me [becoming bored] “What can I say? I am a computer programmer…”

At which point Steve walks by.

Me: “Steve, help me out here. This lady doesn’t believe me that I’m a computer programmer and that I work for Shh.”

Steve [without hesitating]: “No, he works at the post office, licking

stamps…”

Steve [pausing for a second] “…and on Sundays he works at the supermarket, stacking shelves. But he only stacks the middle shelves because he can’t reach the top or bottom shelves.”

Lady [smiling, as she pinched my cheek]: “Ahh, I knew it.” [then she walked away]

Obviously, I didn’t know Steve was going say what he said. It was absolutely hilarious!

My Guinness day…..

Third extract from, ‘Screw it, I’ll take the elevator’, Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

Teaching myself VB had served me well but there were still things that I wasn’t familiar with. I felt under so much pressure to succeed at the brigade so VB functions, which I would have found easy to look up at home, were far more difficult to unlock at work. I was probably too reliant on Edward for help at the beginning.

Six mini cans of Guinness had been left in my car by someone after I had helped them with their computer. One morning in the first month when I got to work, I was feeling so sick with nerves that I decided to have a few sips of Guinness, just to take the edge off.
Sitting in my car in the little compound at work, I opened one of the mini cans and took a little sip. Not having tasted Guinness before or being a morning alcohol drinker, I just vomited it straight back up and made a dark brown circular mark on the top right side of my blue shirt.
I couldn’t believe what I had done. There was no way I could go into the office with my shirt like that. I didn’t have another shirt in the car. It was past nine o’clock and I lived thirty-five minutes away. I thought ‘Sh*t, what do I do?’ I put my jacket on and zipped it up, so that only the top of my collar and tie were visible.

Despite feeling a little hot and with Bill and Edward bemused as to why I sat in the office all day with my jacket done up, I got away with it. Needless to say, my career as a would-be morning alcoholic started and ended that day…

Voluptuous Amanda…

Second extract from, ‘Screw it, I’ll take the elevator’, Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

“When I met Amanda for the first time I discovered she was a voluptuous lady and quite a bit taller than me. Physically, I felt like a midget compared to her. However, being of a similar age and intellectual status, we connected straight away.

After our meeting about the work needed on Login Manager, where we spent most of the time laughing and joking, Amanda said the second best thing anyone has ever said to me.

It was a large building and it was quite a long walk to my car and aware that I had my laptop in my rucksack to carry, Amanda asked “Would you like me to give you a piggyback back to your car?”

It made me laugh out loud before saying, “Thank you for offering but I’ll be alright.” In hindsight I wish I had replied “Yes please” to see what she would had done…?!?”

Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

Has this ever happened to you…?!?

First extract from, ‘Screw it, I’ll take the elevator’, Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

“About the time of my twenty-seventh birthday in November 2000 there was still a problem with my car. By that time it was stalling once a day.

Ten days before I started at the fire brigade, prior to a fund raising commitment due to start in the afternoon in central Brighton and which was likely to extend into the evening, I arranged to meet my friend Stuart in the Churchill Square shopping centre for lunch. I had time to do this before meeting up with my Prince’s Trust chums.

On my way to meet Stuart, turning off Brighton seafront into the road which leads to the side of Churchill Square, my car stalled. After restarting my car, I went a few hundred yards up the hill, past the shopping centre’s multi-storey car park, before my car stalled again. More accurately, the car conked out! The engine wouldn’t restart and smoke started to escape from under the bonnet and drift upwards, ominously.

The commotion quickly gathered a crowd of onlookers. Before I knew it, somebody had dialled 999 and called the Fire Brigade!

People were telling me to get out of my car fast! I didn’t think it was that bad and replied, “It’s alright, it’s only a bit of smoke.”

While I was on the phone, telling Stuart what had happened and where I was, I heard the siren of a fast approaching fire engine. Stuart arrived just as the firemen were putting out the dying embers of my smouldering car!

I thanked the firemen and said, “You might find this hard to believe but I start working with you guys the week after next!”

Stuart and I decided to have lunch in the adjacent pub, whilst we waited for a recovery truck to take my car to the Renault garage and I remember it being a very funny lunch!

I’m not a mechanic and might be wrong here. I think all that started to smoulder was the rubber seal around the engine. Having said that, I don’t even know if car engines have rubber around them! Obviously there was an underlying problem with my car. Had my car been able to travel a few more yards, I would have got it into a parking space.

After my car had been taken away, I had a good story to tell people while fund raising. That evening I went home on the bus with Claudia, who also lived in Shoreham.

The next day the Renault garage was extremely apologetic for not having spotted the problem with my car sooner. They fixed my car in double quick time, ready for me to start my job with the fire brigade.”

Enjoy and to pre-order your copy, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukPatrick

Crowdfunding – ‘Screw it, I’ll get the elevator!’

It’s been a busy month, Maggie and I finished the first revision of, ‘Screw it, I’ll take the elevator’ and my friend Roy Stannard has edited the manuscript.

I am proud to announce that we have set up this Crowdfunder page, which you can access via: www.ukpatrick.com in order to cover the costs of getting my second book published. My goal is to obtain 1,000 pre-orders in the next six months.

The 2 ½ minute video on my Crowdfunder page took two hours to make! Rather than make unscripted videos we decided to script this one and I memorised each line and tried speaking as clearly as I can. This was both a physically and mentally challenging task and took great concentration and effort but the video was more structured and a great success!

My plan over the next six months is to promote my new book on social media by providing extracts of the book and making videos.

Over the last three months Maggie and I have contacted numerous organisations in an attempt to arrange a speaking event where I could tell people about my books and my life and the general feedback is, ‘Who is Patrick Souiljaert?’, having said that we have been successful in arranging a meeting and attending training in London with Kaleidoscope Investments, which could lead to a successful relationship and speaking opportunities.

If you have any good ideas on how I can promote my books and myself, I welcome your suggestions.

Part of my journey includes property investment and finding rent to rent properties. When Maggie and I visited estate agents in Shoreham a few weeks ago, as I walked into one estate agent I didn’t realise that the chair I was about to sit on had wheels and I nearly fell on to the floor! Whilst I saw the funny side of this, it startled the estate agent. However it hasn’t put me off going to see agents! We have been to see one property which looks really good but as it has been on the market for three months, I am going to go back and see the agent about the rental price.

I have never worked so hard as I have done in the last seven years and very proud of what I have achieved. It continues to be a great journey and I cannot fail because I will never give up!

Screw it, my new book is in the pipeline!

It has been two months since my last blog update and in the last couple of weeks rather than continuing to take scattered action, I focused on editing, ‘Screw it I’ll take the elevator’, (the follow up to Stairs for Breakfast). One of the things I like about the sequel is the humour. I think it’s a lot funnier than Stairs for Breakfast and I can’t wait to share it with people.

Maggie and I just have to write a closing chapter and introduction to the book. In the next couple of weeks I will start promoting my new book, sharing extracts from it and inviting people to pre-order the book in order to get it self-published.

Here is an extract from, ‘Screw it I’ll take the elevator’, of the time had a hospital appointment and had to provide a urine sample:

‘’Picture the scene:

I was standing at the toilet, with my trousers and boxer shorts around my ankles (to avoid the consequences of an overspill). I was using my right hand (and stick) to balance, and holding the little pot in my left hand. About to do my business. I didn’t know which to do first; a tiny wee in the pot or my main wee in the toilet. I was concerned that once I got going I won’t be able to stop. (I did the tiny wee first and was in perfect control at all times).

Then while we were waiting a few minutes to see the consultant, I suddenly realised that Larry was holding my urine sample. As I didn’t want to hold it, I decided not to bring it into the conversation. Talk about taking the pee.’’

Self-publishing Stairs for Breakfast a couple of years ago was a great learning experience and something which will be a lot easier with my new book. When I wrote my autobiography in 2014, I included a lot of property investment and mindset success stuff that I have learnt over the last seven years, however since the book is more about my journey in life, the property and mindset success material is not really appropriate for the book and I can turn it into a DVD and audio CD.

Once I have written the closing chapter and introduction I will pass the book on to my library lawyer and start promoting the book in ernest.

Having received so much positive feedback from Stairs for Breakfast, I am excited about promoting, Screw it I’ll take the Elevator, not only will it entail promoting the book online, it will also propel me to go out and speak to people and organisations about it.

I work at my best when I primarily focus on one thing. Rent to rent is also something I want to do and Maggie is keen to help me with it. It’s great because Maggie can do much of the legwork for me, here are few photos of when we went to see estate agents a few weeks ago.

Having set up my limited company and obtained an Access to Work grant to employ a PA, I feel a bit under pressure to make money. In order to retain the grant next year I need to make a turnover of £7K, however I am more determined to sell a thousand copies of either of my two books by December 2017.

In contacting people over the last couple of months asking if I can speak at their events, the general response is, ‘Who are you?’. The funny thing is I know that I am good at naturally inspiring people when I speak (partly because it’s something I love doing) but I am an unknown.

Having never run a business before I feel it’s something I need and can greatly benefit from, having some guidance with, next week I have a phone interview with Kaleidoscope Investments, a company who help disabled people in setting up and run their business – which is exciting!

Here are some recent videos: http://stairsforbreakfast.com/videos

How to get paid by Access to Work

I am writing this blog update to help people as a result of the delays and issues I have experienced with the initial payment claim with AtW.

It’s important to note that you employ your support worker (on either an employed or self-employed basis) and you are responsible for paying your support worker, which you then need to claim back from AtW i.e. Maggie is employed directly by my company and as such, I am responsible for paying her salary, as well as her tax, National Insurance, pension etc. and generate payslips, hence it is advisable to have an accountant to assist.

AtW pays you a lump sum hourly rate for your support worker, which needs to be taken into consideration when working out the salary for your support worker, as all deductions for the employer and employee need to be deducted from this lump sum.

The grant is paid in arrears and claims are submitted on the last working day of every month, by submitting completed timesheets, along with an invoice from your employee for the hours worked for you/your company. Please allow at least two weeks for the payment from AtW to be processed and reflect in your bank account after submission of all necessary monthly documents.

To prevent delays from AtW, ensure that your employees invoice reflects the following information:

Employee full names
Employee postal address
Mobile number
Email address
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Date of invoice

Invoice To:

Employer’s company name
Company address

Description of services, example: Support worker services (Assistance with typing, making phone calls, general office administration)

Period worked: example 1st January 2017 to 31st January 2017

Number of hours ______ (@ £rate per hour)

Invoice Total: £_________

(Very important to include)

* PLEASE NOTE:-

1. I was paid on (date) __________________
2. I am not self-employed, I am employed and paid directly by (Company name)
3. Employers Unique Tax Reference: xxxx xxxx
_________________________________________________________________________

How to apply for an Access to Work grant to employ a full time assistant

I have been asked to write this blog post because I have recently been successful in obtaining a grant to employ a Personal Assistant from Access to Work (AtW). It is a tedious process but if you follow the correct steps, it’s simple.

AtW use the term Support Worker rather than Personal Assistant. This is because the grant is to employ somebody for the tasks which you cannot do yourself. As my assistant (Maggie) says herself, she’s my hands and feet.

The first thing I could have done better is having a business plan before I submitted the application form. After submitting the form I had a call from someone at AtW to make a phone appointment to go through my application, the guy only gave me four days to complete my business plan. Having never written a business plan before I found a template online and spent three days completing it. When I went through my application with the guy on the phone, I said my business plan was a draft and needed more work on it. The guy said that he would take my application step by step but a few days later I received a letter from him informing me that my application for a grant had been rejected because my business plan was not viable.

I naturally appealed saying I needed more time to complete my business plan, I needed some help from someone who knows how AtW operates, it took a few weeks to find Start Ability Services who are brilliant, they gave me this simple business plan template and helped me with it. Also they advised me that I needed a business case (the tasks I need of a support worker to do).

There are three things you need to do before you submit the initial application form:

1. Here is the business plan template, all you need to do is answer the questions in it, Kath Sutherland and Jane Hunt can help you with it and your application for a Support Worker
2. Write a business case outlining the tasks you need a support worker to do. It is advisable that it is in AtW language. Click here to download the business case that I submitted
3. Obtain a unique tax reference (UTR), you can do so by phoning: 0845 915 451

Although it may not be absolutely essential to set up a limited company, I would advise you to get advice from an accountant about doing so. My accountant is Yvonne from Frampton & Co.

I hope you have found this article helpful. In my next blog post I will let you know how the grant is paid to you.

Stairs For Breakfast by Patrick Suiljaert

A truly inspirational autobiography about overcoming adversity and achieving anything you want in life. A humorous and “MUST READ” book.