An invite to King Charles III's Coronation is the hottest ticket in town – and a student nurse from Belfast will be among the lucky 2,000 guests at next month's event.
Claire Thompson, 29, will join kings, queens, princes, princesses and world leaders at the Coronation of King Charles III on 6 May at Westminster Abbey.
She has been rewarded with a prestigious invite for making healthcare more accessible for patients with learning disabilities by teaching sign language online.
Read more: Belfast student nurse takes to TikTok to help improve healthcare accessibility
Claire, from East Belfast is a second year Learning Disability Nursing student at Queen's University and has taken to TikTok to teach other students Makaton signs to use in work.
Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate.
She was working in a special needs school and learning Makaton with them when she realised her dream of trying to change the world one Makaton sign at a time.
Claire started 'Makaton Mondays' in January of last year where she records a short video of herself each week with a new sign that people can learn and take with them - whether in a healthcare setting or their daily life.
She shares her weekly lessons on Tiktok, Instagram and Twitter so that a greater range of people can have access to Makaton and hopefully learn something with every video.
"It’s developed a bit since then and now every Saturday I go to local businesses and do a shout out for them and they learn signs. Then on a Sunday, me and my husband Josh do a song in Makaton," Claire explained.
Belfast Giants have also done a Makaton Monday video while there are more TikTok clips in the pipeline from West End star Carrie Fletcher and Glentoran FC.
Claire first learned she would be attending the Coronation after she received an email last month inviting her to Westminster Abbey on May 6 but she says it’s still sinking in.
"I still haven't come back down to earth at all. I can't believe it as I'm just someone who makes herself look silly on social media but I don't mind so long as it's trying to change the world for someone.
"Last year I was named runner up in the Student Nurse of the Year so we thought that might be something to do with receiving the invite. We also think it is maybe just to do with Makaton and the influence I’m trying to make which Belfast Live actually covered first last year.
"I still don't know very much about what's happening yet. I got an email this week saying that the actual invitation won’t be posted until after April 24th so who knows when I’ll get it!
"All I know is that I’m going to Westminster Abbey and will have to be there quite early that morning but I don’t know where I’ll be sitting or anything like that. I don't think it will seem real until way after the event."
Claire added: "The invite is just for me, but Josh is coming with me to London too and will get me to the Abbey on time and meet me afterwards. We have our flights and hotel booked which were very expensive but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"I haven't even thought about an outfit yet but I have family and friends looking out for me so it's all down to them really to dress me!
“There’s one of the West End shows called Hamilton. One of the actors from the West End show Hamilton did a Makaton Monday video for me so the hope is I’ll get to meet him when I’m over there."
You can follow Claire's Makaton Mondays here.
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