What an amazing day we had! Jimmy was finally re-united with a childhood toy that has taken around 10 years to find The day was made extra special by meeting the Real santa plus all of his friends And Jimmy also met Phil who came along for the day Phil is one of our main sponsors and without him none of this would have happened.
Wake up you lazy bugger!
Jimmy drinking milk on the train - he looks like an old wino!
Trouble with the tubes but Jimmy managed to hold it together
unusual suspects!
BACKSTAGE
Jimmy meeting baby rudy
Three cheers for santa
Pizza express at Canary Wharf presented us with a braille menu!
I was very impressed normally we have to ask and then they can never find it!
as nice as it was after 6 lines of words Jimmy didnt understand like
pancetta and grana padano
he just said hame and pineapple pizza!
Which it turned out that they dont do! so he had pepperami
Then they got his order wrong so he had to wait while we all ate!
Father Christmas Happy hands
The train Home
Knackerd!
The full santa visit uncut
The santa visit - nutcracker edit
Ahuge thank you to everyone who made this day happen
so as part of his Christmas present we got him tickets for a coach trip to Cadburys world Jimmy last went on a coach in 2000 I wrote to Cadburys before hand to tell them of the situation and just to see what they had that we could touch, the lady that helped us was called Yvette and she was amazing, she sent us 2 brochures a few weeks before so i could start filling jimmy with vital information before we got there. Jimmy in starbucks - having our chocolate bar conversation, by doing this i discovered 3 bars that he did not know about and they were Double Decker, Bourneville and Time out Cadburys also refunded Jimmy's tickets admission. They also informed the various departments about our visit, to see what they could do extra to make Jimmy's visit a bit special.
On the bus after picking Jimmy up you can see how excited he is
Playing at the bus stop waiting for the coach
Claire mannualing to Jimmy with a stick!
Jimmys face after claire told him he has to walk!
Jimmy excited and playing I see the coach
on board
Coffee break
19 miles to go
Not only was this going to be a fun day but also a day of taste , smells, learning and discovery.
Jimmy learnt how chocolate is made, and everything i told him was backed up by taste or smell or an object to feel.
we learnt how the coco beans come from a pod, which jimmy felt, he was able to feel and smell the coco nibs, he could also smell the coco butter and the coco essence.
He was able to smell the amazing chocolate through the entire factory.
He also tried filling molds with the chocolate, and banging a cooled mold to get the chocolates out.
He also learnt how they used to temper the chocolate many years ago.
We went from start to finish, through the whole process he also told me at least twice how interesting it all was.
Before this visit he had no idea or concept about chocolate making.
i suppose it just sort of appears in a shop and he buys it, he did tell me that he thought all the different chocolate bars was made by the same people, he was shocked to learn that there was 3 different manufacturers (Cadbury,nestle,mars)
This turned out to be Jimmys favourite
He remembers it from his childhood
although he calls it Daisy milk - for some reason!
He was amazed at the different sizes that was available
small
bigger
even bigger
even bigger
Jimmy laughing very loud!
Massive!
"this is JJ" - Cheecky sod
The shop was an event in itself! so much to feel and discover
Jimmy making a list of what he wants to buy!
Jimmy loves Easter eggs
As things tend to take a little with longer with Jimmy
we managed to get in half an hour before our aloted time, which really helped
Aztec Jungle
This took some explainig
Journey to Europe
Approached by 2 friendly pirates
Smelling the co co nibs
Bull street
Learning the Cadburys story
Jimmy loved how the cadburys brothers looked after there workers
and that they was like one big family
Jimmy chose to be inside an easter egg!
the packaging plant
a few stairs...
This was the moment when the smell had really hit us
it was really strong here
so strong jimmy stopped and had a chat about it
i tried to explain the packing machines to him, but i wasn't really sure he was interested until we got on the coach to go home and he talked about them for ages
he was so interested
i dont think he had ever experienced machines like that before
just small household machines
nothing to this scale and versatility
WATCH THE PACKING MACHINE HERE
Cadabra
Jimmy loved this ride, he loved the movement
and we had no problem getting in and out
unlike some rides we have been on!
WATCH THE RIDE HERE
demonstration Area
This is where we met Elaine
and she was an angel
she signed to Jimmy and totally took control
she let him feel her face
and really made him feel happy
Feeling the co co pod
shaking the pod to feel the co co beans
smelling some co co nibs
Her we go....
This was so messy and so much fun
Now thats tactile
as you can imagine Jimmy loved this
Covered!
Jimmy feeling a reel of wrapping which he told me on the way there that he remembers it is purple
feeling one of the old chocolate molds these was not very practical as they would burn in the oven
Jimmy smelling a chocolate from a mold
Jimmys apron Chocolate developement quality
Tempering the chocolate
Jimmy picked this up no problem and was able to do without my help
By feeling and doing, this is how jimmy learns. i can sit and talk to him all day but unless there is any objects of reference, nothing really sinks in. By doing the task he is able to Gage size and weight, even materials. He would not have known the word pod or mold he may know what they are, but he may not link the name with them. so by telling him about the chocolate making process and then letting experience it himself this completely emerges him into the process and by touch taste and smell he finds out everything he needs to know
Having a rest and waiting for the coach
Thank you Cadbury world
Who helped Jimmy make chocolate he really loved you to bits and didnt stop talking about you all the way home you was fantastic thanks for making our day extra special
we had an amazing day and this was thanks to the love and commitment of the staff nothing was to much trouble thank you all once again
