Bringing together everyone Connect affected by sight loss rnib.org.uk/connect-magazine

Henry Blofeld: Memoirs of a commentary legend

Holiday planning made simple

Keeping your eyes healthy this summer

Issue 20 / Summer 2018 Share your story with us!

Since RNIB’s launch in 1868, we’ve seen huge changes in the world for blind and partially sighted people. We’re proud to have played a part in helping to bring about changes to law, delivering unrivalled services and building a community for everyone with sight loss. To celebrate our 150th anniversary we want to hear about the changes, developments and milestones that matter to you.

In 150 words, please tell us about of the following: • a life-changing moment • a change you want for people with sight loss in the future • an experience you’ve had with us or one of our services • a development in the last 150 years that has made the biggest change to your life • the technology or product that you can’t live without.

Write, record or film yourself talking about your story and send it to us by email [email protected], by post to Connect magazine, RNIB, 105 Judd Street, WC1H 9NE or call 0303 1234 555. Later in the year we’ll be sharing some of your experiences to help us celebrate 150 years of RNIB and you, our community. Check out rnib.org.uk/150stories for more information.

Welcome Contents

2 Share your story with us! 3 Welcome 4 Holiday planning made simple 7 Keeping your eyes healthy this summer 11 The inside scoop from a BBC sports journalist Summer is officially here and in this edition, we’ll be talking about 13 Tried and tested being active. navigation apps If you’re planning a day trip, holiday 16 Campaign update or staycation this summer, why not have a look at my tips on accessible 21 Memoirs of a cricket travel research using your computer commentary legend or smartphone on page four. There 24 And the winners are… are also more tips on page 13 on top navigation apps, courtesy of 26 RNIB’s 150th anniversary: RNIB radio presenter Steven Scott. Your stories Our cover story is an interview 28 Contact the RNIB with cricket commentator Henry Connect team Blofeld. He spoke to Connect about the fun he had hosting the BBC programme and his latest autobiography on From the cover: Henry “Blowers” page 21. Finally, if you’re looking Blofeld talks to Connect about for the right sunglasses this his autobiography and having summer, we have some great sight loss advice on page seven. © RNIB July 2018 Stacy Rowe, Registered charity numbers Connect member 226227 and SC039316

3 Being active

Holiday planning made simple Arranging a day trip, staycation or dream holiday can be problematic when websites are inaccessible. Travel enthusiast Stacy Rowe shares her favourite websites and apps to help you plan your summer holiday.

My name is Stacy and I have very The weekend away nearly didn’t little vision. I’m not really one for happen, but thankfully after a sitting still so I’m always looking lot of googling, I was eventually for places I want to travel to next. successful. We went to Hever Recently, I wanted to take my Castle in Kent, not just because partner on a weekend away it was beautiful, but I was able for his birthday but I wanted to to find the information I needed, keep it a surprise. I was trying book a room and pay online. to find a bed and breakfast but How I start organising a trip I couldn’t get beyond the front page of many websites because I always start by googling the they were inaccessible. “top 10 things to do in the area” and I look at TripAdvisor, a useful customer review website. I also search for the places I want to go on Facebook, too. That’s often the most straightforward way of looking up how people have rated a place. My top websites and apps Websites TripAdvisor (tripadvisor.co.uk) is a really good source of current user reviews. The hotel booking website, Trivago (trivago.co.uk) has certainly been user-friendly Stacy Rowe on holiday in Finland for me in the past too.

4 Being active

Hever Castle, Kent

For looking up transport, Traveline Some companies have their (traveline.info ) is a good transport own apps, and often you will route planning site and also be able to book assistance National Rail (nationalrail.co.uk) in advance of a visit. is quite accessible. How websites are inaccessible Applevis.com is also extremely useful for blind and partially I think websites are becoming sighted people who use Apple more and more difficult to products. Go to “categories” navigate these days because of and select “travel”. adverts and automatic pop-ups that cover part of the screen. The search result will show all the relevant travel apps Pop-ups are images that appear available and the accessibility whatever it is you’re looking ratings, as well as a description at. It’s easy to accidently click on of what the app is about. them and you find yourself on a completely different website. Apps My screen reader will be reading A great app for booking from the page and then just start accommodation is HotelTonight reading the pop-up, “image, blah, (hoteltonight.com). It’s very blah, blah”, and a whole lot of accessible and you can use numbers. It can be very confusing. Apple Pay so you don’t even have to fiddle around trying to put your card details in.

5 Being active Mattia Felice Palermo/Wikicommons Mattia Felice Arc de Triomf, Barcelona, Spain

How to avoid pop-ups My next holiday It’s pretty much the norm I’m planning a road trip in Spain. now for websites to use There’s so much to see and do pop‑ups to advertise things. and that’s really taxing all of my Ninety per cent of the time I research skills. I want to see some use my phone for browsing as waterfalls and go kayaking, so it’s far more user friendly. there’s a lot of reading to be done. Apps are great for avoiding excessive pop-ups too. I have an If you would like to get online or iPhone and when using Safari, I learn more about technology but enable Reader Mode as it strips don’t know where to start, our out anything that isn’t plain text. Tech for Life team is here to Using apps on my phone has support you. Visit rnib.org.uk/ changed the experience of practical-help/technology-hub booking trips online for me. to find out more.

Other websites you might like Euan’s Guide (euansguide.com) features hotels, restaurants, theatres and more. It’s informed by people with disabilities and offers a real look at how accessible places are. Open Britain (openbritain.net) is accessible, informative and lets you search for destinations and attractions by region.

6 Eye health Keeping your eyes healthy this summer Bright sunlight, pollen and swimming can be irritating or even harmful to our eyes. Louise Gow, Specialist Lead for Eye Health at RNIB shares her “Big Three” health tips for how you can protect your eyes this summer.

from the sun. When choosing 1. Getting the right sunglasses, make sure they have sunglasses the CE and British Standard Mark; this ensures you will be One of the biggest misconceptions protected from ultraviolet light. about protection from sunglasses is that darker lenses will protect your You don’t need to buy a specific eyes more, but that’s not the case. brand of glasses for people who are blind or partially Sunglasses protect you from two sighted. The most important things, ultraviolet light and glare thing to remember is that wraparound sunglasses will help you more than just an off- the-shelf sunglasses frame. The sun isn’t directly in front of you; it’s above and at the side of you too. So if you don’t have wraparound sunglasses, you’re not going to protect your eyes fully from the glare. When it comes to the colour of the tint, it’s purely down to your personal preference. There are some eye conditions where specific colours are thought to be better than others, but it really does depend on you.

7 Eye health

My advice is to shop around and Traditional sunglasses for people try different colours to see which with sight loss are not very pretty. ones you think help the most. You might want to go for a sports Lenses with yellow tints cut out range. A lot of the ones that the blue end of the spectrum cyclists and runners use are ideal so they’ll enhance contrast because they contour right round and make things look bolder. the side of your face and won’t let light in from any direction. Equally, you might find that it’s worth trying a dark grey or dark With sports sunglasses though, brown tint and see which one you may be restricted to a helps you see best. One may cut small range of colour tints so the glare out more than the other, although they look good, they but it does come down to what might not actually do the job. you feel more comfortable in.

8 Eye health

2. Avoiding hayfever From spring through to the end of When you have been out in the summer, I see a much higher rate sunshine and you come indoors, of people coming to the low vision you may have pollen on your centre with itchy eyes. People clothes, skin and hair. Having a even come in well into the autumn shower is a good idea as it will when there is leaf mould that wash away any pollen from your can affect some people’s eyes. skin and hair. Changing your clothes also may feel like quite a Itchy eyes are caused by lot of effort, but it really can help. allergens from pollen, and that causes you to rub them. As you Another thing you can do is put rub, the itch gets worse and Vaseline around your nostrils your eyes become swollen. to trap the pollen and stop it getting into your nose. The best way to avoid rubbing is to try and limit the amount of pollen Your optometrist or pharmacist that gets into your eyes. Wearing may have a few other ideas wraparound sunglasses not only you could try, so why not book protects you from the sunshine, yourself an appointment? but helps to prevent pollen from getting into your eyes too. 9 Eye health

3. Being careful with contact lenses During the summer months, They recommend you should we tend to wear our contact stop wearing your lenses if: lenses more. Contact lenses 1. your eyes don’t feel good are perfectly safe to use in the summer, but remember that 2. they look redder than normal water is a cause of infection. So 3. or you don’t see as well as you shouldn’t let any water come you usually do. in contact with your lenses. If you notice any of these issues, Do not shower or swim while contact your practitioner to wearing your lenses. If you plan to check your contact lenses before go in a sauna, jacuzzi or hot tub, you continue wearing them. take your contacts out beforehand. If you would like to know more You can buy sunglasses from a about contact lens care, the range of shops, including your General Optical Council has high street optician or from an an excellent website called RNIB Resource Centre. You can loveyourlenses.com. The advice also shop online at is broken down into a three‑step rnib.org.uk/shop or call the rule which I think is great. Helpline for more information.

10 A day in the life

The inside scoop from a BBC sports journalist British-Iranian sports journalist Mani Djazmi recently reported from the 2018 FIFA World Cup for the BBC World Service. Connect caught up with him to find out what it’s like to be a registered blind journalist, and the realities of travelling the world for work.

Mani was born in Tehran in show before going to Iran to 1980, and came to England for cover international games and a sight-saving operation when interviewing his heroes. Today, he was four. The operation he is a presenter on the BBC was not successful and he World Football radio show. became totally blind. Is there a typical day in your job? From a young age Mani had a My working life is very varied. From thirst for watching the news, going on trips around the world and after doing work experience and watching football matches, at his local evening newspaper to interviewing footballers he fell in love with journalism. and presenting or producing He started out being interviewed programs from the studio. on the BBC’s radio

11 A day in the life

How do you navigate huge crowds at football matches? My helper is a luxury as they guide me to wherever we need to go when it’s really busy. I really enjoy being in large crowds and Mani interviewing Croatian have been to plenty of football footballer and Barcelona matches alone. The more midfielder, Ivan Rakitić people there are, the better the sound is for the report. In May, I travelled to Dubai, Zurich, Often we have to stay two or London, Manchester, Stockholm, three hours after the game Gothenberg and Ostersund to finishes to get interviews. do pre-World Cup interviews! Usually, by the time we leave all What adaptations enable you the taxis and buses have gone to be a football journalist? and there’s very little public When I’m abroad I have a helper transport around. That’s when to guide me, pick out interviewees my helper will look out for a cab. and describe things. I use my BrailleNote to read scripts, which Is sports journalism as I’ve written on my laptop and glamorous as some might think? transferred to my BrailleNote It’s not! I’m very lucky to travel as on a USB stick. My laptop has much as I do, but we stay in the JAWS and I use it to edit audio, cheapest hotels. There’s also a lot reports, and interviews. of waiting around for interviews. My record is nine hours, and we How do you approach people in didn’t even get the interview in crowds to get interviews? the end. Patience is definitely a I don’t think it’s easy for anyone, quality all sports journalists need! whether they can see or not. You have to speak to lots of people Keep up with the latest sports to hopefully get three or four action on Mani’s decent responses from fans. Twitter @BBC_Mani or visit My helper will approach people bbc.co.uk/careers to find out to ask if they’d like to talk to about the different career the BBC. If it’s a yes, I step in. opportunities available at the BBC.

12 Tech spot

Tried and tested navigation apps Over the last 20 years, navigation technology has revolutionised independent travel. But with new apps rapidly entering the market, which ones top the pecking order this summer? RNIB Connect Radio’s tech champ, Steven Scott, road tested three of his favourites.

My good friends and co-hosts, As the Soundscape app uses Sean Preece and Tim Schwartz audio, you will need to wear and I recently met up and stereo headphones or earphones. had a day out using the apps I like Apple AirPods, the wireless Soundscape by Microsoft, UK earphones which automatically Train Times and BlindSquare. play audio when you put them in your ears and pause when I met Sean at the train station you take them out. You could and together we went to meet also use wireless headphones Tim for a walk around town. which work by using bone The app I chose to get me to conduction, such as AfterShokz. the train station was the new As I walked towards the station, Soundscape app by Microsoft I could hear the direction of the which is free to download. The station in front of me. I could hear app uses audible beacons to little beeps in my head and as I got direct me, rather than saying closer, the beeps intensified. The left or right, and I could hear beeping was at its loudest to my left steady audio in my ear to and right to guide me to the door. tell me what was around. 13 Tech spot

Once at the station, and having found Sean, we then needed Sean says: “This feature is to catch a train to meet Tim. really useful because if I’m on The app we used to find the a train and I’m not sure what right train was UK Train Times stop is coming up next, I can by a company called Agant quickly check the list and it’s Ltd. It is a paid app and costs updated. So it tells me what £6.99, but if you do use trains stop it’s just been to, and a lot, it’s well worth it. It’s when it’s expected at the available for iOS, and is totally accessible using VoiceOver. next one.” You can use the app to browse the live departure boards of any We used the UK Train Times app station in the UK. You can either to check the departure board and search for a specific station or found out the train we needed to if you’re at a station already, meet Tim. the app will use its GPS to work Once we had found Tim, the first out what one you’re at, and/ thing we wanted to do was find or what stations are close by. a nice coffee shop. For this, we The app also allows you to plan a used the BlindSquare app which journey. All you need to do is enter works both indoors and outdoors. where you’re travelling from, where BlindSquare gives you information you are travelling to, the date and about your current location, and time, and it will provide the details depending on your settings, of all available trains. Not only also about your surroundings that, but when you find the one such as the restaurants, shops you want, double tap on it for a list and entertainment venues of every stop that train stops at. around you. It costs £38.99 to download and you can filter or mute the information depending on what you want to hear. There are a number of ways you can search for information using BlindSquare: you can search for specific addresses, look up names Aftershokz headphones of restaurants or businesses, and

14 Tech spot

Man using headset and the Soundscape app by Microsoft you can search by keywords. If you The other great thing about decide to look for a place using key BlindSquare is it saves your words, select from a list of categories search history, keeps track of like arts and entertainment, the recent places you’ve visited, food and travel and transport. and allows you to save favourite places to a “My Places” list. Other ways of searching places or knowing what’s around In the end, we decided to use you using BlindSquare: BlindSquare to search for cafes in the area. Starbucks was the closest My Location searches for and the app showed us the address, information using your current phone number and website. We location and you can use it by were able to see how far away it simply shaking your device. was, in what direction we needed to Look Around uses a compass walk, and the directions. We even to provide information about had the option to order an Uber anything that you happen to taxi if we didn’t fancy walking. be pointing your phone at. The only thing left was to fight Around Me gives information over who was going to pay about either your immediate the bill for the coffees! surroundings or information about your surroundings within a certain pre-set radius. You can hear more from Steven by listening to Tech Talk on RNIB Nearby Intersections provides Connect Radio. It’s broadcast on information about intersections Tuesdays at 1pm and Thursdays near your current location. at 9pm and Saturdays at 5pm.

15 Campaign update Welcome to the section of Connect where we bring you up to date with RNIB’s campaigning news.

Campaign to stop people losing their sight due to cancelled or delayed clinical appointments Up to 22 people a month are losing their sight because of cancelled or delayed eye clinic appointments, and RNIB is working to change this. Helen Lee, Eye Health Policy Manager at RNIB, tells us about the campaign to improve NHS services.

Patients who have conditions such health to be prioritised within as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease the NHS, and specifically for and wet macular degeneration eye health to be included in the need regular appointments and NHS mandate for England. treatment. When their clinical The second relates to the new appointments are cancelled or NHS planning system. Currently, delayed due to the increasing NHS organisations and local demand on eye clinics, it can councils are developing shared mean these patients losing proposals to improve health and sight that cannot be regained. social care, called Sustainability Last year, the All-Party and Transformation plans Parliamentary Group on Eye Health (STPs), in 44 areas covering all and Vision Impairment held an of England. We are asking for inquiry into this capacity problem. the issue of eye health capacity As a result, 16 recommendations to be included in these STPs. have been identified in a report This will really help to improve called “See the light: Improving the planning and commissioning capacity in NHS eye care in of eye care services. England”. We are confident that these recommendations, if To download the report and find implemented, will help improve out more about our work to capacity in NHS eye care services. support the implementation of the We are focusing on two calls recommendations visit to action. Firstly, we need eye rnib.org.uk/appginquiry.

16 Campaign update

17 Campaign update

RNIB urges further PIP reforms The Government has accepted some recommendations for reforming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – but is it enough? Richard Holmes, RNIB’s Parliamentary and Public Affairs Manager, isn’t so sure.

Personal Independence Payment will be guidance made available (PIP) is a benefit which helps with in other formats,” says Richard. some of the extra costs related to “Unfortunately, the application disability if you're aged 16 to 64. form itself isn’t going to be made PIP is a crucial benefit, but the accessible. So from the start, a current assessment and decision blind or partially sighted person is making process is not working reliant on somebody else to write for people with sight loss. down their words. There also isn’t Richard Holmes believes sufficient reference to the need for the Government’s response assessors to have awareness or to the Work and Pensions personal experience of sight loss.” Select Committee’s recent RNIB will continue to campaign recommendations after a major for change. “We will have regular review has not addressed a discussions with Department number of major issues. of Work and Pensions officials “It’s positive that they have agreed and MPs to push for the form that face-to-face assessments to be made accessible, and will be recorded and to take for fairer decision making,” responsibility for the process. says Richard. They have also agreed that there 18 Campaign update

Leigh Pick and Claire Lawrence have both experienced difficulties with PIP. “They will not provide the form by email or in Word. Having to ask somebody else to write things down for you, including things you might be hiding from your family, is really stressful,” says Leigh. Claire also found the whole experience distressing. “I had to rely on someone else to write the application. And the way they ask questions – making you double guess your abilities, having to Leigh Pick prove you are disabled – is just bizarre,” she says. After applying for PIP, Leigh and Claire had to have an assessment. Leigh travelled an hour and a half and Claire had a home visit. “Luckily, one of my family members took an afternoon off work to drive me there as I wouldn’t have been able to make that journey on my own,” Leigh says. “When we arrived, I couldn’t actually find the building. I was very lucky that somebody had searched on Google Maps to see what the building looked like, otherwise I would have missed my assessment.”

For information on our campaign, Claire Lawrence visit rnib.org.uk/actonpip 19 Campaign update

Know Your Rights: Equality Act Toolkit If you’re blind or partially sighted, it’s important to know how to protect your rights using the Equality Act. RNIB has a toolkit to help you do this.

It is not uncommon for blind The first step is always to make and partially sighted people to a complaint to the service experience situations where provider. Our Equality Act they are refused access to a toolkit can help you do this. restaurant or a hotel with their The toolkit includes a template guide dog, or are given inaccessible for writing a letter of complaint. information by their bank. There is also a guide to what you If you believe that you've been should and shouldn’t include treated unfairly because of in your letter, and advice on your sight loss, then you can what to seek as a resolution challenge the service provider from the service provider. using the Equality Act 2010. RNIB is currently in a joint initiative with Guide Dogs to develop a new toolkit specifically for guide dog refusals, and a second toolkit, which covers inaccessible information. We’ll update Connect readers when these new toolkits are ready. Download the toolkit from our website at: rnib.org.uk/equality-act-toolkit If you would like the toolkit in another format, or need help with making a complaint or using the toolkit, please contact our Helpline on 0303 123 9999.

20 Book lovers' corner

Memoirs of a cricket commentary legend ’s colourful cricket commentary has kept fans of the game informed and entertained for nearly half a century. Henry spoke to Connect about losing his sight and his new autobiography, “Over and Out: My Innings of a Lifetime with Test Match Special”.

21 Book lovers' corner

The man known familiarly as “Blowers” began his long career as a commentator on the BBC’s Test Match Special (TMS) in 1972, a role he only retired from last year. His conversational style of commentary helped TMS listeners, including many blind and partially sighted cricket lovers, feel like they were watching the match in Henry’s friendly company. “I always wanted to try and make people feel they were actually in the commentary box with me. I think the greatest compliment a radio broadcaster can ever be paid is when people say you made them feel like they were there,” Henry says. Much of Henry’s success as a commentator came down If I see buses and endless pigeons to his bubbly personality coming round the ground, and ability to make cricket that’s part of the scene.” enjoyable for everyone. For anyone who has followed Blowers’ career on the radio, on stage in his one-man “You’ve got to try and talk theatre shows, or in the books about something that’s going he has penned, you could be to be of interest, and gets the forgiven for thinking you knew viewer leaning forward in everything there is to know their seat. If you just stick to about the legend behind TMS. the cricket, then I think it can But his latest title, Over and Out, become a little bit boring. contains unheard memories, including his experiences of “I’ve always tried to tell people travelling to overseas matches, what I can see and this brings into meeting and interviewing cricket- play all the things people laugh at. loving celebrities and entertaining 22 Book lovers' corner

stories of the different characters chair by Sunny Gavaskar, a former he’s commentated alongside. Indian international cricketer, “I wanted to write a light book that after he incorrectly guessed the explained what fun the program outcome of a series of balls. “The was to work on,” Henry says. memory of that moment has never left me. It was my worst But as well as talking about his experience at the microphone”, career highs, Henry uses Over Henry wrote in . and Out to discuss his decision to retire from TMS last year. “I suddenly realised, you’ve done it once, it’s no big deal, but if you do “There were several reasons I it again, it becomes a bigger deal. finished; I’m nearly 100, good heavens. The older you get, I “In the end I thought, let’s go think it becomes harder, and when everyone is going to say, when something becomes harder, ‘why are you going?’ rather than it becomes rather less fun. hang on until when they say, ‘why the hell haven’t you gone?’” As well as enjoying his anecdotes, “I think commentary is done readers will find it difficult differently too. I explain I not to smile at the stories got less chance to describe as Henry’s unmistakeable things, which is perhaps the voice narrates the memoir. only thing I’m any good at.” “My dear old thing, it’s a great joy for me, talking to you,” Henry says Henry also touches on the fact that finishing the interview with his his eyesight is “perfectly good” affectionate trademark expression. in his left eye, but with macular degeneration in his right, he felt it was not going to get better. In 2016, midway through a Test You can enjoy Over and Out as match in India, Henry experienced a Talking Book (TB 24452) from problems with his vision. Later, he the RNIB Library where you can wrote in The Guardian newspaper, also find Henry’s other titles. that as he watched on, “everything went blank. I could see nothing”. For more book news, reviews During the match, he continued and author interviews, listen to his commentary but had to be Read On, RNIB Connect Radio’s corrected from the summariser’s weekly show on Fridays at 1pm. 23 BookAnd lovers' the corner winners are… The judges of our writing competition were delighted with the quality of entries submitted in response to this year’s theme, “Connections”. Red Szell, a panel judge, interviewed our prose and poetry winners to find out what inspired their writing.

Prose category winner: Holding Centre 5 by Cheralea Rogan focuses on a young woman who is forced into an institution when she is unable to keep up with new technology trends like social media. The judges described the story as “startlingly original” and “darkly funny”. One judge said: “It’s dystopian overtones and ambiguous conclusion made me want to read Red: You clearly edit well by ear. more.” Here is an excerpt: Cheralea: When I went blind, I stopped writing for a long …uniformed attendants time, because I couldn’t get emerged from the buildings used to my screen reader’s to herd the people climbing robotic voice. I’ve now got a little down from the back of the notetaker device, which while still trucks into an anxious crowd robotic, responds a lot better to punctuation and intonation in the in the centre of the yard. voice, so I got back into writing. Most were elderly, but others were younger and looked Red: Where did the haunting around them warily. Ramps theme of your story come from? were brought out and a few of Cheralea: I’ve been frustrated with the new arrivals rolled down the technology I have, laptops that them in wheelchairs. Several are out of date, and not being able clutched long white canes to afford all the speech software, or walked beside guide dogs which makes me feel out of sync with the world. An idea came that and were guided to the rest of one day you just won’t be able to the group by attendants who function in a normal world if you took their arms. can’t keep up technology-wise. 24 Book lovers' corner

Poetry category winner: Salt by Alexia Sloane is an 18‑line poem about the sea. “The writer successfully creates an immersive sensory effect,” is the verdict of the judges. Here are a few lines from the poem:

I want to lose my breath in you, my delicate Pacific, Then come up for air slowly, Red: You featured in the last Speckled with the salt and edition of Connect magazine sea foam of your skin. as a trailblazing young classical I am a giant jellyfish, medusa composer and poet. Do you all gnawed, snake tentacles see music and poetry as two halves of the same whole? and ricochet eyes and pinkish Alexia: I do. I had to decide muscle hoarse with sand. between studying composition or creative writing at university. Red: It’s a beautiful wild, That process made me feel that vivid poem. Where did you people see the two as separate find the inspiration? fields, but for me, it’s all art. Alexia: I’m very interested in the role of art and activism as a form of non-violent protest in society. I showed my poem to a few people who said, “it’s not activism, it’s Thanks to everyone who a love poem”. I thought, is there entered and congratulations to a reason why romantic poetry our winners. To read the winning shouldn’t be activist? It was entries from each category in inspired by beauty in biology, full, visit which I saw as activism. rnib.org.uk/writingcomp.

25 Your voice RNIB’s 150th anniversary: Your stories RNIB turns 150 this year, and to celebrate we want to hear your stories. Bill Foster and Hannah Powell tell us their stories of life-changing moments and experiences.

Hannah lost her sight on a “Just like that my life changed holiday in Greece after drinking completely. It was four weeks vodka laced with ethanol, causing before I regained some sight loss and kidney failure. vision and even then I could only see 10 per cent. I also “I went to a party with my friends had kidney failure and was and spent the following day by the constantly at the hospital.” pool. After a long night’s sleep I woke up and asked my friend to For Hannah, it’s been a very put the lights on. When she said challenging time, but she is now they were already on I thought back on her feet again and can do she was joking as it was pitch almost everything she used to. black”, 20-year-old Hannah says.

26 Your voice

“I now want to work with people “If it wasn’t for Angela, an with sight loss and have done RNIB’s Sight Loss Adviser, some volunteering with RNIB. I don’t know where I’d be. Although I still have bad days She offered supported to me I’ve found a new purpose in life, to help others like me.” and my family, assisted with appointments and helped me get back to work.

Bill Foster from Northern Ireland has a passion for sailing and his recent adventure has challenged perceptions of what people with sight loss can do. “I have a hereditary eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. Not only is sailing one of my hobbies, it’s unlocked a confidence that’s given me the courage to go out and try other things. “As a challenge, when the Lord Nelson was last in Belfast, “Sailing is brilliant because it’s I climbed to the top of its very tactile, you constantly have mast. I was 140 feet up but to be holding, pulling or pushing because I can’t see, I had no something. If you do it often idea how high up I was. enough, these moves become “It just goes to show you can do second nature. almost anything you want to do, as long as you open your mind up to it.” “In May I sailed on one of the tall ships out of Read lots of other people’s stories Southampton, the Lord online. If you would like to share Nelson. We simulated the first your story, we’d love to hear from voyages of the Titanic; it was you. Visit rnib.org.uk/150-stories a very special trip. to find out more. 27 Information directory

Contact the RNIB RNIB Helpline Connect team Call 0303 123 9999 Call 0303 1234 555 Email [email protected] Email [email protected] Visit rnib.org.uk/ask Write to The Helpline is your one stop Connect magazine, RNIB, 105 shop for help and advice. You Judd Street, London WC1H 9NE can use it to access the range of Want more Connect stories? services we offer, including: Sign up to the Connect eNews at • eye health information rnib.org.uk/connect. • emotional support The Connect team can update the • benefits advice format in which you receive the magazine. You can choose from • product information large print, braille, audio CD, USB • fundraising, volunteering or by email. They can also help if and campaigning you have a story to share. • RNIB Library, including Listen to RNIB Connect Radio Talking Books, Overdrive, 24 hours a day, seven days a RNIB Newsagent and week on Freeview 730 and online telephone groups. on rnibconnectradio.org.uk. Or download and listen to The Helpline is open Monday podcasts via Audioboom, iTunes to Friday, 8am to 8pm and or your regular podcast app. Saturday 9am to 1pm. Calls Sign up to RNIB’s monthly cost no more than a standard campaigning eNews at rate call to a 01 or 02 number. rnib.org.uk/campaigning.

RNIB Infoline Call 0203 432 1488 to hear useful recorded information and listen to our most popular publications, including Connect magazine, over the phone.

28 RMBM_180129