Connect Issue 19 Spring 2018
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Bringing together everyone Connect affected by sight loss rnib.org.uk/connect-magazine Meet the trailblazers The adventurer, campaigner, MP and others share their incredible stories Issue 19 / Spring 2018 Help us celebrate our 150th 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 anniversary we want to hear about the changes, developments and milestones that matter to you. In 150 words, please tell us about one 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, London 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 Help us celebrate our 150th 3 Welcome 4 The Traveller 8 The Composer 11 The MP 14 The Tech Guru 18 The Charity Worker This edition is dedicated to all the 20 The Campaigner blind and partially sighted people 23 Campaign Update who are doing inspiring work across the UK. We can only focus on a few 27 Book Lovers' Corner inside this edition. 30 News Inside this special edition, you can read about Scott Watkin, who has 32 Your Quarterly Connect been awarded a British Empire 34 Food Fanatics Medal for his work in the disability sector on page 18, and Tony Giles, 36 Information Directory the blind solo traveller who has visited 125 countries on page 4. Campaigner Irenie Ekkeshis, talks about her continuous push for better health information for From the cover: Meet the contact lens wearers on page 20 trailblazers: the adventurer, and, Marsha de Cordova explains campaigner, MP and others what it’s like be a blind MP in share their incredible stories Parliament on page 11. © RNIB April 2018 Hannah Adams, Registered charity numbers Connect magazine Editor 226227 and SC039316 3 The Traveller In this edition, we showcase some of the most amazing tales from the sight loss community. These inspirational stories highlight a passion for work, adventure, music, campaigning and, most of all, achievement. The intrepid traveller Picture: Tony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, with the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the background. The Traveller Tony Giles has been globetrotting That’s not to say people react to for more than 20 years and a blind man in the same way in has been to some of the most different countries. inaccessible places on earth. “Some people come over to you As a man who is totally blind and ask you questions while others and partially deaf, his solo just assist you without speaking. adventures have captivated In England, I find people are quite the world’s media. worried about offending you whereas if you go to the States, “ I started travelling in 1999 Australia and New Zealand, when I spent five months people talk more. I find that kind in Australia, New Zealand, of refreshing. Vietnam and Thailand. “On the whole, the generosity I had been studying about I’ve had and the kindness I’ve Australasia and the United been shown around the world States as a kid so I knew has been fantastic. It’s staggering,” about the countries.” Tony explained. “People see you wandering around Tony went to Exhall Grange in with a white stick on your own, and Coventry, a boarding school where they want to help; they sort of want he was taught to be confident to protect you. about getting around. “At other times it can be “ I was told I would cross roads problematic. Some people panic and go to the shops and catch when they see a blind person, and buses. So travelling was sort of don’t really know what to do. They just natural really. I was confident want to help but they’re not sure it’s what I enjoyed doing.” if they should touch you, or if they might offend you by speaking. People’s reactions The BBC's Travel Show has featured “I have found the countries that Tony’s story and even sent a film have had a greater exposure to crew to follow him on a trip to disabled and blind people have Palestine where he appears to blend a much more interactive reaction, in naturally, chatting to people and more confident maybe to some. getting around with ease. 5 The Traveller But Tony likes a challenge, and as he says, the rougher, the better. “Going to Vietnam and Thailand was completely out of my comfort zone – the foreign languages, the smells and sounds, and the humidity. “I had to avoid open ditches and Tony at the Hacha Waterfall, drains, broken pavements and Venezuela bridges. Trying to avoid thousands of bicycles all moving at once in The difficulties of travel Vietnam was all kinds of chaos. I had as a blind person to cross the streets by moving with One of the main issues we can all the bicycles. It sounds a bit suicidal face when in another country is really,” Tony said laughing. accessing the local currency. But if you're blind and deaf, it can be quite Tony's favourite experience a bit harder than for most. After flying into the National Park in Venezuela and spending a day “ATM machines have swallowed my canoeing up a river, Tony hiked bank card in the past,” Tony said. “It up to the highest waterfall in the was a bit problematic the first time world, Angel Falls. I was in the middle of Africa with no money and no credit card.” “When I got to the top, I sat on a rock listening to the sound of In order to use a foreign cash the waterfall. It felt like a huge machine, Tony relies on finding achievement,” Tony explained. someone who he feels he can trust to help him work out how they work. The hike had involved walking through soft sandy ground, over If getting hold of cash wasn’t rocks and tree roots and climbing daunting enough, logistical steps over a foot high. dilemmas have also been a factor for Tony. “It was very challenging and it took most people about an hour and a “The first time I was travelling in half to get to the waterfall. It took Africa, every time I took a minibus me three hours,” Tony laughed. my backpack would go in a different part of the bus and I didn’t know if I would ever see it again." 6 The Traveller hearing exotic music. It’s about the culture, and walking over cobbles and up and down mountains and using your feet,” Tony explained. “Blind people are probably much more aware of the 3D image of a place rather than a sighted Tony standing at the base of the person who wouldn’t notice any Myrdalsjokull glacier, Iceland. of that. I think that’s a much more enriching experience than just seeing something.” People say to me: “You can’t experience it unless you can “ People are a country’s real culture see it.” and you don’t need to see someone Over the years, many people have to meet and talk to them.” questioned Tony about why he travels when he has such limited Feeling inspired to push yourself vision and hearing. But for Tony, out of your comfort zone, but don’t seeing and hearing are only a small fancy travelling solo like Tony? part of the fulfilment he gains from Try one of RNIB’s challenge visiting new countries. events: skydiving, treks, “To experience a country properly, marathons and group walks. you need to use all your senses. It’s Visit rnib.org.uk/events about tasting different food and to find an event for you. How to be a globetrotter “Start by going to a new place What are the secrets to enjoying in the UK for a weekend either epic adventurers around the by yourself or with a visually world? Well, Tony claims it impaired friend to see how you comes down to two things: get on. Then, when you feel more good planning and confidence. confident and comfortable, take gradual steps and broadened “Make sure you do plenty of your horizons. planning. I use my laptop with JAWS to research the places “Finally, just give it a go! Anyone I want go to, the hotels I’ll stay in can do what I’ve done. You just and how I can travel from A to B. need the confidence to try.” 7 The Composer “ Music just happens to be one of the ways in which I react to the arts” Alexia Sloane started composing music when she was 12-years- old. Now, five years later, she is one of the country’s most talented young composers. She is the first female to win the Cambridge Young Composer of the Year and is the only blind member of the National Youth Orchestra.