claire tregaskis
Health and Social Care – Disability Campaigner
1962 -
Suggested by Lowenna Rolls
Dr. Claire Tregaskis has raised disability awareness in Cornwall and particularly in Wadebridge through her very existence as a successful disabled woman with cerebral palsy. She has worked with National Parks to increase access for disabled people often facing and overcoming many difficulties in the process. Claire has written a book about her life, not yet published, and though she may not see herself as such, deserves the title of Disability Campaigner.
Claire has shaped my understanding not only of physical disability but of facing adversity and prejudice with a calm dignity (and maybe a small snigger). She would be the first to admit this isn’t always easy. Sometimes prejudice makes her cry and feel lesser, but she picks herself up and carries on. This openness, admitting that life can be tough and we can’t always deal with it easily is another thing which makes Claire so special and easy to connect with. She has taught me to be a resilient and caring person. She does the same for many others.
Claire has lived most of her life in Cornwall and is well known particularly in Wadebridge. Her parents are from Cornwall, her last name, Tregaskis is Cornish to its roots.
There’s an interesting interview by Dr Theo Blackmore with Claire on the Cornish Memory website conducted as part of the ‘Remembering and Reflecting’ project undertaken for Disability Cornwall in 2013 in which Claire talks about living with Cerebral Palsy in general and in Cornwall in particular.