August 2019

In The Spotlight - Samantha Hall

Welcome to In The Spotlight

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This month emmaheaven.com is shining the spotlight on...

Samantha Hall

headline photo

I am so very proud and honoured to feature Samantha Hall in this month’s ‘In The Spotlight’.

Samantha is one of the most inspirational ladies I have ever had the pleasure of meeting; her zest for life and grabbing every opportunity which comes her way is infectious. Sam is a risk taker and has that ‘have a go’ mentality which I find so courageous and appealing.

She is everything that this magazine stands for, and is someone to be admired. Sam is a role model for EVERYONE.

I am thrilled to welcome and shine the spotlight on her this month, to share her story with all our readers and followers at emmaheaven.com:

photo 2“My name is Samantha Hall, but everyone calls me Sam and I live in Llandeilo, Wales. I’m 32 years old and I have Down’s Syndrome. I live with my mum and dad, I have an older brother Jonathon, and a younger sister Kristina, who is also my personal assistant.

Growing up I was encouraged to learn as much as I could, especially swimming, riding a bike, in fact, anything to do with sport, alongside attending mainstream nursery, school and college. Other outside school activities included belonging to the Brownies and Girl Guides.

While growing up I always wanted to be an artist, so in school I studied art and went on to take art courses in college.

photo 3So what do I do now that I’m all grown up?

  • I’m an artist and I’m really proud to say that I created a sculpture for St Catherine’s Walk, Carmarthen.
  • I paint pet portraits on canvas and stones.
  • I belong to the sports clubs for ‘Disability Sports Wales’ and the ‘Special Olympics’.
  • Special Olympics Team GB Athlete.
  • I also help out at a local youth club in Llandybie.
  • I’m a Shared Lives Ambassador.

My achievements to date are:

  • I achieved an AS-level in Art at school and completed many NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) in college.
  • In 2012 I went to Russia as part of Great Britain’s Special Olympics team winning three medals:
    • Gold: 100 metres
    • Silver: Relay
    • Bronze: Shot put
  • photo 4I also compete in basketball games.

My goals are to hold an art exhibition at The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea; this is something I am very passionate about and hope to achieve someday soon.

Other goals and dreams are to go on a California Cruise, visit Hollywood and a trip to Borneo to see the orangutans.

I think it is very important to inspire others and it’s something I am very enthusiastic about. I hope the things I do encourage others as I tend to tackle hurdles head on. It’s very rare that I come across something I fail in, as I won’t let it. It may take me longer than others to get there but I do get there in the end and when I do, it’s with a huge sense of achievement.

Whilephoto 5 on my journey to inspire others, I have met many famous people including Rylan Clark, the cast of BBC’s hospital drama Casualty and Mrs Brown’s Boys, Jamie Oliver, Jimmy Osbourne, Keith Duffy, and I even got invited to the X Factor semi finals by the beautiful Nicole Scherzinger.

I am also involved with ‘Shared Lives Plus’. They promote supportive shared living through Shared Lives and Homeshare, with local and national governments. They believe everyone should be able to choose who they spend time with - and do what matters to them. They want to reduce loneliness and help make communities more connected. It is a cause which is very close to my heart - so much so that I have helped take the cause to Parliament and The Senedd in order to promote awareness.

photo 6One of the best things about doing this feature was it made me realise what I have achieved in my life; and I am now keeping an up-to-date account of everything I have done, so I can look back and remember everything.

I am not afraid to give things a go and step out of my comfort zone.

Life is for living and I intend to live it to the full. I have so many more goals and dreams to achieve and I’m not going to let anything stand in my way.”

photo 7You can follow Sam and her different interests via these Facebook Links.

Facebook.com/samartwor

Facebook.com/SHSOGB/

Facebook.com/SharedLivesChampions

Look out world. Here comes Samantha Hall - she’s one inspirational and talented lady who makes us all PROUD!

 

Tags: In The Spotlight