Heathrow - a day I will never forget!

Posted 10hrs ago
by Maisie Speight

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by Maisie Speight

After staying overnight in London I ventured off to Heathrow airport for one of the most memorable days of my life. When I got there, I was greeted by Emma McNally the CEO of Tourettes Action, and we discussed how we were feeling about the day to come and how exited we all were. I was introduced to the other participants of the day, and they were all very enthusiastic and extremely interested in what was to come.

When we all arrived at the Compass Centre, we went through the itinerary of the day and all got given our PPEfor the day which included steelies or steel toe boots, gloves, hard hat, and a high vis. After talking through the day we walked down to the bus stop were it would take us to Terminal 3 where we would have a tour around the baggage area. I found it was like the scenes in the movie Monsters Inc, it was one of the most organised places I have seen in a long time!

After the baggage area we went on over to the control tower where we went up the outside lift, just being able to look at Heathrow from so high up was brillant! Looking down is not for the faint hearted, seeing everything as far as the London eye and Winsor Castle. As well as the planes taking off and everybody looking like little figurines it was just so amazing to see and I am very privileged to have gone up there.

As we descended from the control tower, we were told we were next going to the fire department. We were told about how important the fire department is to Heathrow and how each day is different for them. One day they could be called out 12-times, others once. We had a little tour of their equipment and the types of engines they had, we even got to spray the hoses for the fire engines. And we got to try on some of the equipment. I did not realise how heavy some of that equipment is!

After the fire department we did a whistle stop tour of the Concord. This really was one of the most unique looking planes and the most interesting to look at by far.

After our whistle-stop tour, we sat down for lunch and had a discussion about how Heathrow can better support people with disabilities, such as Tourette syndrome, in the workplace. We explored how their unique perspectives and experiences shouldn’t be seen as obstacles, but rather as valuable assets across various departments. These fresh ideas have the potential to not only improve internal operations but also enhance the overall experience for passengers.

Overall, I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is invited, and I fully appreciate Tourettes Action and Heathrow for inviting me to attend, and thank you, this was an amazing experience and one that I will not forget for a long, long time!

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