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The parents losing hope over SEND system

We hear from a family who have been forced into debt over their children's SEND needs.

A mum of two tells Emma Tracey about spending more than half of the family鈥檚 income on her children's special educational needs (SEND).

Alice moved her two daughter鈥檚 to a private school after she felt they weren鈥檛 being supported in state education.
But, from 1 January, private schools lost their charitable status and now must pay VAT of 20% with many schools passing those costs onto parents. Alice fears her family鈥檚 financial will only worsen as a result.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the government was "making progress" on the issue with a 拢1bn investment in SEND.
We also hear from Luke Sibieta, an economist from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who shares his recent research into the state of SEND education in England.

Emma also catches up with adventurer Jonny Huntington who became the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

And, we meet Tina and Jack from Daylight Studio, a music charity which supports people with learning disabilities, whose song Watermelon Fantasy has been sampled by Snoop Dogg!

Presented by Emma Tracey
Produced by Dan Gordon and Alex Collins
Recorded and mixed by Dave O鈥橬eill
Editor: Beth Rose

Release date:

Available now

30 minutes

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Transcript

14th January 2025

bbc.co.uk/accessall

Access All 鈥 episode 142

Presented by Emma Tracey

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Here on Access All we know a good tune when we hear it. [Music] That is Outta Da Blue by Snoop Dogg, obviously, it was released last month. Snoop and his team sampled a song called Watermelon Fantasy, and that track was created by a tiny charity from the UK called Daylight Studio. They support people with learning disabilities to make music. One of the producers on that track and one of the musicians, is Tina, who has a learning disability, and Tina鈥檚 with me. Hi, Tina.

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hi.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And Tina is supported by Jack.

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 Hello.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 This is exciting. Let鈥檚 hear Watermelon Fantasy now and see how the two compare. [Music] You can really hear it, you can hear on the Snoop Dogg track, that section, absolutely really strongly. How do you feel, Tina, when you hear your track on a Snoop Dogg song?

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檓 proud of it.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And what work did you do on Watermelon Fantasy?

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 I played the instruments, I played the synths on it.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 If we hear the song, you鈥檙e the one who goes, 鈥淲o-oh.鈥

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, that鈥檚 me on it.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Oh wow! What鈥檚 next for you? Because you鈥檝e had this big moment now, the song鈥檚 been everywhere, it was on a Netflix trailer as well, so it鈥檚 huge, the Snoop Dogg song, so everyone鈥檚 hearing you go, 鈥淲o-oh.鈥 So what do you want to happen next?

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 Skylight is my other one, and I want Alicia Keys to do it with me.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 You want Alicia Keys to do it with you, oh wow, that would be immense wouldn鈥檛 it? Jack, could you organise that for Tina, yeah?

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, yeah, I鈥檓 sure. I鈥檓 pretty sure I鈥檝e got Alicia Keys鈥 number somewhere so I鈥檒l drop her a line.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Jack, what impact has this had on Daylight Studios? It鈥檚 a tiny charity, right?

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 I mean it鈥檚 massive. Well, it鈥檚 bigger than anything we鈥檝e done before. In some ways it鈥檚 kind of bigger than us, but in that way it makes it so exciting. To have an artist that鈥檚 inspired us and then be able to make a song that inspires them, I just think is so, so cool.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 How did the whole thing happen?

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 From what I鈥檝e heard, Dr. Dre has a team of people that scour the internet for interesting samples, so I guess it鈥檚 almost like a digital Craig diving. How they found it though, I don鈥檛 know, because at the time the video had only had about 1,000 views on YouTube, so they must have a big team I鈥檓 guessing that goes hunting for this sort of thing.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Will getting royalties from this sample and money from Snoop Dogg and his team, will that futureproof the charity?

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 With all the royalties and stuff we鈥檝e done an actual split, so it鈥檚 basically all of the artists that work on the track get an equal split, and then two of the artists is myself, and Olly Price who鈥檚 a Trustee of Daylight Studio, so we鈥檙e going to donate our portions to the charity, and we want to use that money this year to train up some young music facilitators.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And people with learning disabilities are getting paid for their work?

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. Which is so, so cool.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Tina, any thoughts on what you鈥檒l do with Snoop鈥檚 money?

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 Spend it on a pair of trainers.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 A pair of trainers. Or two maybe?! Tina and Jack from Daylight Studios, thank you.

JACK-听听听听听听听听听听 Thank you for having us. Well done, Tina, smashed it girl.

TINA-听听听听听听听听听听听 Thank you.

MUSIC-听听听听听听听听 Watermelon Fantasy clip.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 On with the show.

MUSIC-听听听听听听听听 Theme music.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Hello, I鈥檓 Emma Tracey, this is Access All, the podcast that鈥檚 here for all of your disability and mental health news and celebrity interview needs. On this episode, we鈥檙e going all the way to the South Pole to speak to disabled adventurer, Jonny Huntington. He skied 566 miles to the South Pole carrying all his food and stuff on a sledge. Hear more about that later. You can find us on X and Instagram @成人快手AccessAll, or you can email accessall@bbc.co.uk

But first, the struggle so many families go through to get their children鈥檚 SEND provision, that鈥檚 special educational needs and disabilities, is something we talk about a lot. Some parents opt to move their children to private education if they feel their support needs cannot be met in state school. But since 1st January, private schools have had their charitable status removed and now must pay VAT at 20%. Many schools have passed these costs onto parents.

So, what about the families who have scrimped and saved to move their children to private education because they feel that it鈥檚 the only way their support needs can be met? One mum in this situation lives in the south west of England. She doesn鈥檛 want to be identified, so we鈥檒l call her Alice. Hi, Alice.

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Hi.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Thank you for being here. You have two kids both with SEND. Tell me a bit about them and their support needs.

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 So, I鈥檝e got two girls who are in Years 7 and 9. One of them has moderate dyslexia, and the other has auditory processing disorder which is caused by high functioning autism. We made the decision to move them from state where they were struggling and because their needs couldn鈥檛 be met, to an independent school, which is really focused on happiness, wellbeing, and enabling them to kind of do the best that they can.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 At what point did you decide to move them to private school? What was happening for them in state school when you made that decision?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 They鈥檇 struggled through a state primary where they were slightly unhappy but not to a point where we鈥檇 necessarily do anything. And I think we saw a real change during COVID when they had to be homeschooled, and my youngest especially really struggled going back in. She went from being in a small class to a merged Years 3 and 4, where she went from having about 16 in the class to 36 of them, six of them girls, 30 boys. She essentially shut down completely, she wouldn鈥檛 speak in school, she wouldn鈥檛 drink anything, she wouldn鈥檛 eat anything, we struggled to get her in, there were tears every day. Spoke to the teachers, who essentially said they couldn鈥檛 do anything about the class sizes or anything else to meet her needs.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And could you have looked for other support? Could you have looked for an EHCP, an education health plan, for example?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 At that point, I rang every single primary school in the local area within our town and neighbouring towns, asked about class sizes, asked about how many people, if they had access to SEND support, and essentially was told that there wouldn鈥檛 be anywhere that might have a smaller, quieter setting, which is why we鈥檇 originally chosen that particular school.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Financially when you made the decision to move them, how impactful was that on your family at the time?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Essentially we had to remortgage to be able to pay the school fees and, you know, the impact is we鈥檝e been paying our mortgage for 20 years, had five years left. We鈥檝e now got a 25 year mortgage and, you know, essentially by the time we finish paying it off we鈥檝e been paying it for around 50 years.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Just to explain, the only VAT exempt students are students who have an Education and Health Care Plan, and on that plan the private or independent school is named as the school that that child needs to go to. So they are VAT exempt, but the government is actually paying for their place in the independent school, so they鈥檙e also paying their VAT. Just to be clear, you don鈥檛 have an Education and Health Care Plan for either of your daughters despite them having education support needs?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 That is right, yes.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And why do you not? Why did you not look for that?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 We moved them because of my youngest daughter and a real kind of urgent need to do something for her wellbeing. The school, their SEN is absolutely amazing, they鈥檝e both got formal plans with the school in place, they meet all of their needs. The discussion with the school is we could pursue an EHCP, but the likelihood is it wouldn鈥檛 give anything more, and they鈥檙e meeting everything anyway.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Okay, so before you moved them, you probably didn鈥檛 quite realise you needed an EHCP as such?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Probably not, no. We鈥檇 raised and raised issues every single year, every single term, and the school鈥檚 response was like, 鈥淣o, no, it鈥檚 fine.鈥

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 So Alice, you now have to pay whatever amount of money is passed onto your school now that that has been added on to their costs. Tell me what position that puts you in?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Before the VAT, their school costs essentially took up and equated to 56% of our salary. We both work in normal jobs, one of us is on minimum wage, we still claim child benefit, it鈥檚 significant. When you add the 20% onto that, it鈥檚 even more significant with those costs. But we feel like we don鈥檛 have a choice, we either end up with two very, very unhappy children, and I would honestly believe be school refusers.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 So they would refuse to go to school?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 When they were younger and in Year 4, you could physically take them to school and drop them off at the school gate. I honestly think having seen the impact after COVID when they tried to return, that at this point they would refuse to go.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 What does that mean for your family? Is there stuff you can鈥檛 do now because you鈥檙e paying so much of your income on school fees?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 We鈥檙e just getting into more and more debt every single month. But we can鈥檛 not have our children be happy.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 What would you say to the people who say that you鈥檙e in a very privileged position to put your children in private education in the first place?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Yes, not everybody can afford it. But equally, we make decisions every day to prioritise, literally down to simple things like buying everything pretty much is Tesco Value food, making sure that we have a really good meal plan so that we鈥檙e spending as little as possible. It extends to every area of our life. If there鈥檚 something that we can get from somewhere else that鈥檚 cheaper, or recycling or second-hand, or anything else, those are the things that we almost do as a norm.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 We鈥檝e seen that actual private school fees themselves have gone up quite a few times in the last 20 years. What if they go up again, what鈥檚 your plan then?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 More debt, is the only option I think. Maybe one day we鈥檒l win the Lottery, I don鈥檛 know. [Laughs]

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 All right, you鈥檒l cross that bridge?

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 I don鈥檛 know, I just don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e going to do. [Tearful] Sorry.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 No, don鈥檛 be sorry.

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 They go to school every day so happy. I think in the background we鈥檙e probably masking how difficult it is and just dealing with it and, I don鈥檛 know, it just feels like somehow we鈥檙e letting them down but knowing it鈥檚 for their greater good.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 I know that all you want is the best for your children and you do a lot to achieve that, a lot more than you ever thought you would before you had children.

ALICE-听听听听听听听听听 Yes, absolutely!

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 So, as we鈥檝e heard, Alice is able to send her children to private school, but how is SEND provision looking in state education? Luke Sibieta is an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which analyses the economy and social policy. Luke, you鈥檝e just published a report into the cost of education in England, including SEND, special educational needs and disabilities. What were your biggest findings around SEND?

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 The biggest findings are the immense financial pressure it鈥檚 putting on councils and school budgets. We鈥檝e seen a 60% increase in funding over the last few years, and that hasn鈥檛 even kept pace with the increase in numbers of pupils with the most severe special educational needs. Over the last five/six/seven years, we鈥檝e seen a really large increase in the number of pupils with the most severe special educational needs, those who are eligible for Education, Health and Care Plans. We鈥檝e seen numbers grow by around 70%, and councils haven鈥檛 had enough funding to pay the costs of EHCPs, and as a result they鈥檝e built up really quite large deficits over the last few years which are only likely to grow in the future.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Yeah, because councils as we hear a lot on this podcast and all over 成人快手 News, are often very, very squeezed and stretched as it is, and I guess this is putting more pressure on them. How can schools and local authorities manage this situation, do you think?

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 I think it鈥檚 important to state at the start that it鈥檚 not manageable at the moment. Without any reform of the system or vast increases in funding, the system is going to be financially unsustainable over the next few years. If we look over the last 10 years, we鈥檝e seen that about half of the overall increase in school funding has been devoted to the increasing costs of the special education needs鈥 system. Now that鈥檚 not really sustainable, and it kind of pushes mainstream school budgets to be really squeezed on the edge as well, because so much other resources is focused on the special educational needs鈥 system. That kind of creates a conflict which is really not helpful for anyone to be honest. It鈥檚 not helpful for people with special educational needs, it鈥檚 not helpful for other pupils, it leads to the confrontational system we have at the moment.

The new government set out a plan for providing more provision in mainstream schools, and that makes sense because there are a large number of pupils with special educational needs, and it鈥檚 just not possible to provide lots of specialist support in special schools when there鈥檚 a huge number increase in pupils. So they set out a plan to provide more mainstream provision. However doing so, is going to be incredibly expensive, and they don鈥檛 really have the money at the moment.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And what about the 拢1.7bn that the government hopes to save through that being added to fees and government receiving that, should that help?

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 That鈥檚 relatively small in the context of the overall schools鈥 budget, so it鈥檚 maybe about 2% of the total schools鈥 budget which is around 拢60bn. It will probably be welcome revenue for the government, but it isn鈥檛 going to change that much.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 From your position looking at the data, you say it鈥檚 not manageable and it鈥檚 not sustainable, but have you any thoughts on what kind of a Band-Aid or something that they could do longer-term? I mean obviously they鈥檙e looking at changing the whole system, that鈥檚 a really long-term effort, and that takes a lot of money too which they鈥檙e struggling to find.

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 The most important thing I think for everybody in the system actually, is setting out a clear vision for provision over the long-term. So setting out in quite some level of detail how they want the system to work in five, six, even 10 years time, so that it鈥檚 a system that can be effective over the long run, it can be financially sustainable and provide the right level of support. 听How we get there is going to be determined by the financial situation of the country, the level of public finances. But setting out a clear vision is really important.

There are other things that the government could do in the meantime. At the moment, support for pupils is really, really individualised. An EHCP sets out the level of support for an individual pupil, it doesn鈥檛 describe how the system could best support pupils in a very general sense. There might be better forms of training teachers could receive for supporting pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, or with ADHD, that will better support now and will not actually be that expensive.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Okay, that鈥檚 interesting, a holistic approach, so maybe like kinder schools that maybe are less sensory difficult for people who are autistic, etc, that kind of thing?

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 I think those sorts of forms of support are not inexpensive, but they can be relatively effective. Providing teachers with clear training and understanding of how better to support pupils with autistic spectrum disorders, with mental health needs, with ADHD. Just simple training to ensure that they know how to support pupils in the classroom in an effective manner, I think could be really, really effective and not necessarily prevent problems in the future, but just mean that things don鈥檛 get out of hand too quickly.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Okay. And what about there鈥檚 a lot of talk that there is going to be a big drop in children actually starting school just because of population decline. Does that give wriggle room in terms of helping with the SEND crisis, I think we can easily say?

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 Probably not. The numbers of pupils in schools is going down, partly because the birth rate鈥檚 going down and because of demographic change. But the government is still forecasting a large increase in the number of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans over the next four to five years, and that鈥檚 just because of pupils moving through the system. It鈥檚 not unique to the UK, so we see increases in autistic spectrum disorders, ADHC and mental health needs, across many high income countries, it just appears to be a feature of modern life.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Luke Sibieta from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, thank you for joining me.

LUKE-听听听听听听听听听听 Pleasure.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 We asked the government to comment on this latest research. A Department for Education spokesperson said:

[Clip]

MALE-听听听听听听听听听 There has been mounting evidence which lays bare that the SEND system has been on its knees for years with too many children struggling to have their needs met and parents forced to fight for support. It will take time, but we are determined to restore the confidence of families up and down the country and deliver the change they are crying out for. We are already making progress with 拢1bn extra investment in day-to-day services, 拢740m directed to support local authorities to create more special places in mainstream schools, and the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will look at barriers that hold children back from the best life chances.

MUSIC-听听听听听听听听 Jingle.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 I cannot believe that I鈥檓 about to say this, but my next guest is talking to me from the South Pole. But with good reason, because Jonny Huntington has just become the first disabled person to ski there alone and unaccompanied. He skied 566 miles across Antarctica in just over 45 days, dragging his equipment on a sledge. Hi Jonny, and congratulations.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Thanks Emma, that鈥檚 really kind of you.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 What鈥檚 it like there at the South Pole at the moment?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I鈥檓 at Union Glacier at the minute, which is a few hours鈥 flight from the South Pole, I actually left the South Pole yesterday evening. You鈥檒l forgive me for stumbling over my words because it鈥檚 something which hasn鈥檛 fully sunk in yet I don鈥檛 think.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Yeah.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 The South Pole itself was not only the end of a very long trip, and also marking becoming the first ever disabled person to make that trip, but also the end of a five year project and a real sort of benchmark for me of 10陆 years of living with a significant disability.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Let鈥檚 go back to the beginning to understand why you have the restrictive mobility you have, and why you are so resilient and so keen to do these, in my opinion, ridiculous adventures? Tell me a bit about that.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I had a blood vessel burst in my brain, in my primary motor cortex on my right-hand side, which paralysed me completely down my left-hand side. I was incredibly fortunate, I was in rehab for two and a half years, and I certainly wouldn鈥檛 be in this position now if it wasn鈥檛 for that rehab. I then got involved with a couple of military charities that taught me to ski, to get up into the mountains and do the more technical side of expeditioning, and yeah, it kind of came together to do this.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Let鈥檚 talk a bit about the challenge itself. Challenge almost feels like too small a word for it. You travelled 566 miles, 45 days, dragging stuff on a sledge, when you have significantly restricted mobility on one side of your body. How did you do that? What鈥檚 the mechanics of that?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I suppose in very simple terms, basically my right leg does the work that my left leg is unable to do. That was a really significant part of my training for this, basically getting the left leg to a point where it was strong enough to just survive the trip, and then getting everything else to a point where it was basically strong enough to do the trip. The skiing in and of itself was not overly technical or complicated, which did make life a bit easier. But as you鈥檝e alluded to, the sledge that I was pulling, when I started, that thing weighed over 20 kilograms more than I do.

I think probably the single biggest struggle was the pure physicality of it. To be honest, that was to be reasonably expected. What I didn鈥檛 encounter which I was expecting to, and in a way I kind of feel I鈥檝e cheated slightly because the weather has been pretty spectacular, I鈥檝e had whiteouts probably the fingers of one hand worth of days, the vast majority have been like it is today here which is just bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, absolutely glorious weather. I haven鈥檛 had winds over 30 kilometres an hour, which is highly, highly unusual for an expedition of that length.

What the flipside of that coin was though, however, was basically the sun melted the snow and the snow conditions were atrocious from my point-of-view throughout, very, very soft, making the pulk extremely heavy, very, very hard work to move. So rather than turning itself into a sort of more technical challenge had the weather been bad, i.e., can you put a tent up in high wind etc, all of that kind of stuff, keeping fingers free of frostbite etc, I鈥檝e basically been dodging sunburn and heatstroke, just having to work incredibly hard to get that movement in.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 You know what, we鈥檝e actually got a clip of your audio diary.

[Clip]

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 So, end of Day 4 today, and yeah, pretty brutal day really. The temperature was super-significant today in terms of hot, so I was walking most of the day in just a base layer. But there was no cloud at all and so the sun is absolutely definitely scorching. And then by the half way point about lunchtime today, basically hit one foot or two foot high ridges that you just had to kind of ski over, and then like three metres later your pulk would hit them, so you have to then take the strain and pull that over as well. And this was just like relentless for about six kilometres.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 In one interview or in one piece you said, 鈥淒ragging this mangled body across Antarctica.鈥 That鈥檚 a bit harsh on yourself.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 You鈥檒l have to excuse my slightly gallows sense of military humour. It鈥檚 certainly not the body it once was. I鈥檝e been on painkillers for some time, and that was mainly due to the amount of strain that I was having to put through my right Achilles tendon. That was getting extremely painful and felt reasonably sort of sketchy towards the end of the trip, to the extent it was causing a significant amount of worry on my part just in terms of basically, 鈥楢m I going to take a step at some point and it鈥檚 just going to snap?鈥

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Yeah, and then you have no leg to stand on.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Well quite. That would have been the end of the expedition, without question. It felt like there was a lot riding on it. That doesn鈥檛 make for an easy psychological state either.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 No, because you鈥檙e spending your energy worrying about this tendon.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Exactly. When every step you take feels like one of uncertainty, that鈥檚 not a happy place to be. Fortunately for me, everything sort of lasted and held out and yeah, here we are.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 I said in the beginning that you were alone and unaccompanied, so unsupported. What does that mean? I mean you must have been able to get help if you needed it?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Yeah. The unsupported status doesn鈥檛 mean that there was no support available at all, it means I finished having had no external assistance from when I started. So I didn鈥檛 receive any food drops or anything like that, didn鈥檛 need any spare parts or anything like that, I was dropped off and I finished and no-one fiddled with me on the way across. But no, you鈥檙e absolutely right, had everything gone wrong I had satellite phones on me, I had GPS emergency beacons etc, so I would have been able to punch the big red button and a plane/snowmobile/vehicle would have come to grab me as and when they could.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 So how far was somebody away from you at any one time then?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Kilometres wise, I鈥檓 not sure, it鈥檚 a difficult one to answer. But it鈥檚 very weather dependent. With the conditions we had, the likelihood would have been that a plane would have been there to pick me within 24 hours.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Oh right, okay. So you really were on your own to be fair to all intents and purposes.

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Oh yeah, I mean don鈥檛 get me wrong, I haven鈥檛 seen a human being for 46 days.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Wow!

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I鈥檝e barely seen anything for 46 days to be fair other than snow.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 You鈥檙e doing everything with one side. Were you using specialist ski equipment?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I used a much lighter ski rig than normal in order basically to alleviate some of the strain on my bad leg. But other than that, it was reasonably un-adapted kit. I鈥檝e been very fortunate in that because I鈥檝e been skiing for a significant amount of time as a disabled athlete, I know how my body works when I ski, I鈥檝e done enough of it, that there weren鈥檛 any surprises out on the ice. My own views of my expedition were, now that I鈥檝e done this one, I reckon I could do a really good run! [Laughs]

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Oh no, are you already thinking about the next thing, Jonny, are you one of those people?!

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I mean I am a bit of a sucker for punishment. I do know what the next thing鈥檚 going to be. It won鈥檛 be a ski expedition. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, I will be doing plenty of skiing in-between, but the next big challenge will be running, in 18 months鈥 time. The intention basically is to run 50 marathons in 50 days across 50 US states.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 You must be super-proud of yourself. What was your high point of the trip?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 Oh, reaching the Pole. I would say the day-to-day was reasonably mundane, bit of a suffer-fest, but getting to the Pole was an extremely cathartic moment.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 And what did you do?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I had a little cry. [Laughs]

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Did you stick a flag somewhere, or did you have a little whisky? What was your end thing?

JONNY-听听听听听听听听 I had some flags with me and I had some of my sponsors鈥 flags, so we did some photos and got some nice pictures and stuff.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 Jonny Huntington, congratulations again, and thank you for joining me on Access All.

MUSIC-听听听听听听听听 Jingle.

EMMA-听听听听听听听听 That is it for this episode. Remember, you can contact us on WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480, you can send a text or a voice message, you can find us on Instagram and X @成人快手AccessAll, or you can send us an email accessall@bbc.co.uk. Thanks to all our guests this week, thanks for listening. Bye.

[Trailer for Newscast]

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CHRIS-听听听听听听听听听 That鈥檚 Newscast from 成人快手 News, the podcast that knows a lot of people who know a lot about the news.

FEMALE-听听听听听 And I was like, go on Kay, put some more welly into it!

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