Matty, a 17 year old boy from South Devon, is a wonderfully complex character who has had many medical challenges in his life and faced these with strength and determination. In many ways Carnival has saved Matty in moments when he needed distraction, before operations and at scary times.
Carnival has become Matty’s first love and his autistic specialty. From seeing his first ever cart in 2018 (Masqueraders Carnival Club’s ‘Master of the House’) carnival has been Matty’s first love. With each passing cart his eyes grew brighter, his smile wider and as soon as he got home, he was researching every club, every cart. Now, he knows all their histories, all their music and all their routines, something he shows off regularly at college discos.
Recently Matty has been making hundreds of carnival bracelets to sell to help raise funds for our event, and so far he has raised £125.
This year on carnival day (Saturday 2 November) is Matty’s 18th birthday. As an early birthday present, Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival’s President, Dave Croker, today presented Matty with a special ‘number one fan’ carnival medal and a Bridgwater Carnival coat with his name on.
Happy birthday Matty – a special carnival fan who has won all our hearts.
