Guide Cats Eye T 4 All Submitted By: Pat Tynan Media Friday, 10 February 2006

Guide Cats Eye T 4 All Submitted by: Pat Tynan Media Friday, 10 February 2006

GUIDE CATS FOR THE BLIND http://www.bcab.org.uk/ EYE T 4 All The funds raised from the sale of the CD’s Guide Cats for the Blind launch ‘EYE T 4 All’ Eye T 4 All to be launched at County Hall, Maidstone Kent. On the 4th of April, Kent County Council will host an awareness day and press launch at County Hall, Maidstone for a new national initiative “Eye T 4 All”, driven by the British Computer Association of the Blind (BCAB). Les Barker will perform a special concert on the previous evening at the Up the Creek Comedy Club in Maidstone with all proceeds from this concert going to the BCAB. Les Barker writes strange poems and comes originally from Manchester, but he's now Welsh. He was an accountant before he became a professional idiot. You can find out more about Les in “A Short Biography From The Age Of Three Until Nearly Teatime” at www.mrsackroyd.com Ann Widdecombe, MP for Maidstone and the Weald, has been invited to the launch, alongside Les Barker, the poet who donated many of his most famous works to create the fundraising CD’s “Guide Cats for the Blind”. The albums (two volumes currently with another planned) are a collection of Barkers poems read by a host of real celebrities. The CD’s have raised £30,000. Review copies are available to accredited media. CD The Songs & Poems of Les Barker. Guide Cats for the Blind. Featuring Les Barker, Sir Terry Wogan, Mark & Lard, Johnnie Walker, Charlotte Green, Brian Perkins, Peter White, Paul Gambaccini, Nicky Campbell, Roy Hudd, Ken Bruce, Nicholas Parsons, Dave Cash + Five Guide Cats Of Arijaba, Mike Harding, Sally Boazman, Ned Sherrin, Sarah Kennedy, Brian Matthew, Bill Cadddick, Sir Jimmy Young, Gerard McDermot, June Tabor, Prof Heinz Wolf, Nonny James, Genevieve Tudor, Allan Beswick, Ryan Kelly, Cyril Tawney, Sic Transit, Bernard Wrigley, Billy Butler, Martin Carthy, Galliard, Trevor Peacock, Roger Lloyd Pack, Ian MacMillan, CD The Songs & Poems of Les Barker. The Missing Persians File. Featuring John Humphrys, Joss Ackland, Harvey Andrews with John Shepherd, Prunella Scales Timothy West, Les Barker, Emma Chambers, Tom Paxton, Jeremy Vine, Nonny James, Genevieve Tudor, Ed Stewart, Steve Tilston, Frank Hennessey, Ryan Kelly, Roger Lloyd Pack, Rodney Bewes, Sic Transit, Desmond Carrington, Gerard McDermott, Trevor Peacock and last but not least The Mrs Ackroyd Band. The Concert: April. Mon 3. Les Barker Live At The Up the Creek Comedy Club 32 Union Street Maidstone, Kent ME14 1ED. Tickets £10 in aid of British Computer Association of the Blind. Phone 01622 609050 Doors Open 7.00 p.m. Show runs 8.00 p.m. - 10.30 p.m. Awareness Day: 10.00 a. m. to 4.00 p. m.

Page 1 April. Tues 4. Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ This event will take place in front of a specially invited audience of visually impaired people and their rehabilitation workers. Official Press Launch: EYE T 4 All 5.00 p. m. to 7.30 p. m. April. Tues 4. Sessions House, Darrent Room, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ Application for press passes should be made to Hollie Eastwood at Kent County Council. Tel: 08458 247 247 http://www.kent.gov.uk Press pass - contact [email protected] Please note that ISDN facilities are available on site and Les Barker and Clive Lever from Kent County Council will be available for interview. Eye T 4 All is a project aimed at introducing blind people who do not currently have access to computers to the benefits of gaining access to the written word via information technology. It is hoped that the profile of the launch, followed by awareness sessions to be held around the U.K. will highlight the advantages that affordable technology can make in accessing information that may otherwise be difficult to reach. Although computers have long been recognised as a useful tool, they have often been perceived as unaffordable and information has tended to focus on the more expensive options. New developments mean this isn’t always the case but getting accurate information out to the public about accessing these channels is difficult. It is believed that only around one in nine people with sight problems currently have access to a computer compared to fifty eight per cent of sighted people. ~#~#~#~ For further information, review copies, interviews and images contact Pat Tynan Media Phone +44 (0) 1895 636935 Mobile 07985 400297 [email protected] Pat Tynan Media PO Box 785 Ickenham Uxbridge Middlesex England UB10 8WQ Office: +44 (0) 1895 636935 Mobile 07985 400297 [email protected]

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