18th July 2023

Wish you were here? Fiona’s dream holiday.

Here at Discovery, we are hot on supporting people to make their dreams come true, so today, we share with you how Bryony and Fiona made Fiona’s dream holiday a reality.

It all began in 2022, In a person-centred review between Fiona, a person we support, and Bryony, her assistant locality manager.

Fiona told Bryony she wanted to have the holiday of a lifetime. So Bryony supported Fiona in making her dream holiday a reality – it took some planning. One year later, Fiona jet-set off to the Caribbean with Bryony for a seven-night cruise -complete with hot tubs and complimentary chocolates on the pillows!

Before then, it was a holiday of which Fiona only dreamed about.

Both Fiona and Bryony took in some very special sights when they set sail from Barbados after an eight-hour flight from Gatwick, including whale watching in St Lucia and an underwater adventure in Aruba, via an Atlantis Sea Trek.

A deep water adventure

When Fiona’s submarine tour was cancelled, she chose an ‘Atlantis Sea Trek’, where you walk along the bottom of the ocean floor, looking around underwater and at the fish and shipwrecks, while wearing a breathing helmet. The helmet had a blue tube, which was her oxygen going in. Down we went with the Divers! Fiona walked along the sea bed while holding onto a rail. We were under the water for half an hour and were 30ft down, an incredible achievement for Fiona, especially when she had never even snorkelled. She emerged mighty proud of herself.

Assistant Locality Manager Bryony Hagley

Some remarkable sea life swims at the bottom of the sea, including a ‘sea cucumber’! Imagine holding that?! As well as starfish, sea urchin and many other tropical fish!

Fiona’s heart and favourite part belonged in St Lucia with the Dolphins, Turtles and whales. Fiona and Bryony saw a “once in a year, rare” sight of a baby humpback whale with its mother, making their trip even more special. Meanwhile – back on land (kind of) on a jeep safari, Fiona got to see some flamingos, an experience she loved. 

Among all the adventure, there was also time for some fine Caribbean cuisine, including prawns and lobster…

When we returned, we had all the pictures of Fiona’s trip, the itinerary and the booking documents. So we did a photo album and put little notes on the side so that staff can support her remembering it.

Also, when Fiona returned, she had an opportunity to continue her holiday theme at her local church with a flower festival. Fiona’s flowers were Caribbean-themed, Hawaiian ones, and she took her photo album to show

Bryony