As Disability Support workers our ultimate goal is to empower individuals with a Disability to live fulfilling and meaningful lives, but as we go along that journey - we can also make dreams come true. 

We can put our values into action by Celebrating Life, Achieving Dreams, Listening with Heart, & most importantly, Challenging Expectations. 

David Hamilton celebrated his 50th Birthday on the 4th of May. There was cake, balloons, confetti, presents and pure joy!

David is non-verbal, so knowing exactly what he wanted for his birthday was not the easiest quest to undertake, but being 50! This year had to be something extra special, something out of this world, and something that would absolutely make this birthday.. one of a kind. 

A few months before David’s big day, a little thought popped into my mind, imagine.. a little light bulb going off, but in this case visions of a Tardis swirling around. Instead of Dr Who travelling through ‘time & space’ it was - will we have the time to make this idea work? Do we have space for it?

Of course, I required help! Off I toddle to the one person I knew would help me execute this idea. Graham Gill, helper of Jess’ wild ideas. LETS BUILD A TARDIS.

Those who know David, know that he is a massive Dr Who fan, Tom Baker the 4th Doctor is his favourite to be exact. He spends his time watching Dr Who, he has every little knick knack devoted to the series and proudly sports his Tom Baker scarfe every day. If you work at, or have worked at Maralinga Drive then you too would know the Dr Who theme song! 

Plans were put into place, designs found, materials organised and it was go time. Of course we couldn’t hide the Tardis looking structure from David, so eventually he caught on to what we were building and would proudly exclaim “Tardis” when asked what it was. In on the Action he was, supervisor David watching the Tardis come together, helping to paint, putting screws where they needed to go & patiently waiting for the finished product. Of course though, it wouldn't be a Tardis without the details and windows, so along came Tom Chandler, an amazing artist and support worker who painted the windows, Police Box Signs and 3D effects! Now, it wasn't completely ready by David's 50th birthday, but what a gift!! A life-size Tardis, for the biggest Dr Who fan! The smile, joy, vocals and love that was expressed by David throughout his birthday week of Tardis building was worth every single moment of this project coming together, the excitement in his eyes as we put the finishing touches on the outside. As I have mentioned, David is non-verbal, he speaks to us by his actions & expressions... but with this, there are no words that were needed to be said. The amazement, wonder, love and joy are all said to us by his eyes and smile. And nothing will be worth anything more than seeing David’s happiness when he steps inside his very own Tardis. 

We are currently working on the inside, with David’s help of course. So far we have a motion-sensor sound machine that plays Dr Who sound effects, and a sensory board control panel will come together over the coming weeks.

I want to thank Graham Gill and Thomas Chandler for all your help, this couldn’t have been done without you both. And a big thank you to David, just for being you. 

Dr Who once said, “We’re all stories in the end, so let’s make it a good one eh?" And this story, well it's not over yet! 

Written by Jess Briers