Wednesday 27th September was the day we had been waiting for all year...my MBE Investiture at Windsor Castle! It was such a surprise when I found out last December that I had been recognised for Services to Disability Advocacy and Charity in West Sussex. I love my work, much of which started through my childhood hobbies such as art and craft, being outside in the fresh air and playing with friends. The best part of everything I do ow is meeting so many special children and their families who inspire me!
As with any outing for a family with a person with additional needs, we had been planning and preparing since I received
the date in August; getting clothes ready on hangers, hair rehersals, finding a driver to take us, cleaning my wheelchair and the car, and making arrangements for all our animals to be looked after! I also had two wonderful facials and a manicure with my friend Lily who I met when she was seven at my Craft Club, and now runs a lovely accessible salon just opposite our house! There were lots of wonderings about what would happen when we got to Windsor Castle: would my wheelchair fit in
the lift and would the hoist in the Changing Places toilet be working?
On the day we set off early, passing through Camberley and Bagshot which hold happy childhood memories of my first school days. We arrived in Windsor and it was great to see my brother George, smartly dressed in his morning suit walking
down the pavement towards us when we stopped in the street.
We had very kindly been offered a base by a friend of one of our Wheely Wonders families at her home inside the Castle – this made a huge difference to the whole experience! She was at the Castle gate ready to wave us through and once we were inside I really felt my special day had begun! Her home in Horseshoe Cloisters by St. George’s Chapel felt very magical and full of history! She kindly served lovely refreshments for us so we were able to relax a bit before getting ready and
smartening up properly.
Next it was time to move up to the main castle where we joined others waiting to go inside. We were shown in by a warden who led us through the China Museum to the lift (I easily fitted in!!) which took us upstairs to the State Apartments. There was a quartet playing while we were shown through to the first room and a special hook was pinned onto me, ready for the medal presentation later. We walked through seven of the State rooms which had uniforms, weapons, royal furniture and
wonderful masterpieces on the walls, before finally reaching the Waterloo Chamber with many other MBE winners and their
guests. We had a long wait before we were given a briefing about what would happen during the actual ceremony. It was mostly about turning to the left and right at certain points which made me nervous, but my cousin Sarah was able to
reassure me before we got called forward by name to queue up through The Throne Room – the chandeliers were so bright
and sparkly! As we got closer to the front of the line, I was given more instructions and my parents and George and Sarah were sent into The Presence Chamber ahead of me; I could see a lot of golden light! As I edged forwards, I had my first glimpse of HRH The Princess Royal presenting a medal to the man before me and I raised my wheelchair seat so I was at her eye level. Once he had finished, I was ushered forward and I turned to face Princess Anne. She stepped down from the dais to put the medal on me, then went back up to talk to me and I adjusted my height to be even taller! We had a short discussion about my Wellspring work combined with Disability Advocacy. I told her about Wheely Wonders days, and how much we all appreciate coming together. There was so much more that I could have discussed with her as I felt that she was genuinely interested – I especially would have loved to tell her how much confidence I gained through my childhood Riding for the Disabled sessions. I knew the conversation was over when she bent down to shake my hand and then I reversed slowly and turned to leave, joined by my family. It felt as if I had been in a dream and when I was asked what we talked about, I had to try hard to remember!
As we entered St George’s Hall, rather suddenly I had the medal taken off and put in its box ready for the official photos. There were flashes all the way down the huge Hall as other groups were having their pictures taken. Our session was great fun with a very friendly photographer who kept telling us to look at each other lovingly which made us laugh! We took more
of our own photographs outside in the Castle grounds and made a visit to the Changing Places loo which was very clean and spacious, but in our nervous state we couldn’t work out how to use the hoist (we found out afterwards you have to pull it manually forward)!
In August I had booked a table for tea at The Castle Hotel just across the street, with another cousin coming to join us. When we arrived, I had the most awesome surprise as lots of family and friends were there cheering me in. For a couple of minutes I was completely overcome and found it difficult to speak! We were in a beautiful “garden room” with flowers and delicious colourful food. My niece and nephew made a speech and cousins had bought a personalised cake which made the day even more incredible! We set off for home with so many vivid images in our minds, and there were lots of messages, more flowers and photos to look at before we went to bed very late!
I now want to go back and spend more time as a tourist at Windsor Castle, looking more closely at everything, without the
nerves of the day! It really is a very special place to visit and I recommend it to everyone as a brilliant accessible day out full of history, beautiful views and walks with a real feel of a living castle community.
Lizzie Baily MBE 2023
As with any outing for a family with a person with additional needs, we had been planning and preparing since I received
the date in August; getting clothes ready on hangers, hair rehersals, finding a driver to take us, cleaning my wheelchair and the car, and making arrangements for all our animals to be looked after! I also had two wonderful facials and a manicure with my friend Lily who I met when she was seven at my Craft Club, and now runs a lovely accessible salon just opposite our house! There were lots of wonderings about what would happen when we got to Windsor Castle: would my wheelchair fit in
the lift and would the hoist in the Changing Places toilet be working?
On the day we set off early, passing through Camberley and Bagshot which hold happy childhood memories of my first school days. We arrived in Windsor and it was great to see my brother George, smartly dressed in his morning suit walking
down the pavement towards us when we stopped in the street.
We had very kindly been offered a base by a friend of one of our Wheely Wonders families at her home inside the Castle – this made a huge difference to the whole experience! She was at the Castle gate ready to wave us through and once we were inside I really felt my special day had begun! Her home in Horseshoe Cloisters by St. George’s Chapel felt very magical and full of history! She kindly served lovely refreshments for us so we were able to relax a bit before getting ready and
smartening up properly.
Next it was time to move up to the main castle where we joined others waiting to go inside. We were shown in by a warden who led us through the China Museum to the lift (I easily fitted in!!) which took us upstairs to the State Apartments. There was a quartet playing while we were shown through to the first room and a special hook was pinned onto me, ready for the medal presentation later. We walked through seven of the State rooms which had uniforms, weapons, royal furniture and
wonderful masterpieces on the walls, before finally reaching the Waterloo Chamber with many other MBE winners and their
guests. We had a long wait before we were given a briefing about what would happen during the actual ceremony. It was mostly about turning to the left and right at certain points which made me nervous, but my cousin Sarah was able to
reassure me before we got called forward by name to queue up through The Throne Room – the chandeliers were so bright
and sparkly! As we got closer to the front of the line, I was given more instructions and my parents and George and Sarah were sent into The Presence Chamber ahead of me; I could see a lot of golden light! As I edged forwards, I had my first glimpse of HRH The Princess Royal presenting a medal to the man before me and I raised my wheelchair seat so I was at her eye level. Once he had finished, I was ushered forward and I turned to face Princess Anne. She stepped down from the dais to put the medal on me, then went back up to talk to me and I adjusted my height to be even taller! We had a short discussion about my Wellspring work combined with Disability Advocacy. I told her about Wheely Wonders days, and how much we all appreciate coming together. There was so much more that I could have discussed with her as I felt that she was genuinely interested – I especially would have loved to tell her how much confidence I gained through my childhood Riding for the Disabled sessions. I knew the conversation was over when she bent down to shake my hand and then I reversed slowly and turned to leave, joined by my family. It felt as if I had been in a dream and when I was asked what we talked about, I had to try hard to remember!
As we entered St George’s Hall, rather suddenly I had the medal taken off and put in its box ready for the official photos. There were flashes all the way down the huge Hall as other groups were having their pictures taken. Our session was great fun with a very friendly photographer who kept telling us to look at each other lovingly which made us laugh! We took more
of our own photographs outside in the Castle grounds and made a visit to the Changing Places loo which was very clean and spacious, but in our nervous state we couldn’t work out how to use the hoist (we found out afterwards you have to pull it manually forward)!
In August I had booked a table for tea at The Castle Hotel just across the street, with another cousin coming to join us. When we arrived, I had the most awesome surprise as lots of family and friends were there cheering me in. For a couple of minutes I was completely overcome and found it difficult to speak! We were in a beautiful “garden room” with flowers and delicious colourful food. My niece and nephew made a speech and cousins had bought a personalised cake which made the day even more incredible! We set off for home with so many vivid images in our minds, and there were lots of messages, more flowers and photos to look at before we went to bed very late!
I now want to go back and spend more time as a tourist at Windsor Castle, looking more closely at everything, without the
nerves of the day! It really is a very special place to visit and I recommend it to everyone as a brilliant accessible day out full of history, beautiful views and walks with a real feel of a living castle community.
Lizzie Baily MBE 2023
