Stay Up Late Ambassadors: Leanne’s story
Our Stay Up Late Ambassadors are adults with a learning disability and/or autism who are the public face of our campaigning. Many of our Ambassadors are involved in different Gig Buddies projects around the UK. Here Leanne tells her story.
Stay Up Late Ambassadors: Leanne’s story
Hi my name is Leanne McAllister. My age is 30 years old.
Dancing, singing, acting and drawing
I love dancing and singing and acting. I love to draw different things like Minnie mouse, Mickey Mouse, houses etc.
I love dancing because I can show my emotions when I am dancing then people know how I feel. I love singing different songs like Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars etc. I love acting in drama plays because my family love watching me sing+dance+act out because I get a lot of people clapping their hands.
Drawing helps me stay calm
When I am drawing it helps me stay calm and takes my mind of my problems like what I have been through in the past.
I love volunteering
I love volunteering for Stay Up Late, Gig Buddies and Get2gether as I get to help out. At Gig buddies I co-host the open mic night where I sing as well – where people love my singing as well. I always sing different songs. At Get2gether I help in making snapshot weekends where I can make different themes. And with Stay Up Late I help out with parties on Zoom until late.
More about my life
Travel is very hard as I have to get a lot of buses to places like Bonnyrigg, Penicuik etc. I have mental health problems that are hard to forget. I also have a learning disability so it takes me a little bit of time to learn new things.
I live with my husband called John in a flat. Sometimes it’s very hard for me to get down stairs because of my long-term back issues but I do it to get me out of the house. I have travelled to the USA by plane to see my husband’s family – like my sister in law, brother in law, Jayden who is my nephew and Danielle who is Jayden’s mum.
I love spending time over in America with John’s family as I get spoiled a lot of the time.
I love collecting
I love collecting lots of teddy bears. Every teddy bear gets a different name each time I get a new one. I collect me to you bears, dogs etc.
My favourite colour is pink
My favourite colour is pink as I can show that I am feeling happy but if I wear black colours then I can show my mood is not happy about something. A lot of the time I am wearing everything that is pink.
The end of my story by Leanne McAllister
More about our Ambassadors
You can find out more about our Stay Up Late Ambassadors here
Help us by donating
Our community need you! Help more more adults with a learning disability get out and have fun. And help learning disabled people have their voices heard. All donations make a huge difference. Thanks a million for your support from The Stay Up Late community. Donate here
