VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN CAMDEN c/o Somers Town Community Centre 150 Ossulston Street, NW1 1EE Tel: 07980 328 959 Email: [email protected]
Newsletter – January 2018
Contents
1. January Members’ event 2. New drug could mean less frequent injections 3. Images used to educate public about age-related macular degeneration (AMD) not realistic, says study 4. Research priorities agreed to stop early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) turning into late AMD at Wellcome retreat 5. New sight saving treatments now available on the NHS 6. Funding research into a technological solution for repeated involuntary eye movement 7. College of Optometrists’ funded research identifies weaknesses in optometric data 8. ‘Works For Me’ Employment Programme 9. Microsoft Seeing AI now available in UK 10. Virgin Atlantic enlists help from Guide Dogs to become first airline to offer accessible entertainment for customers with sight loss 11. Jerusalem (And did those feet in ancient time) – what’s happening now! 12. Did you know…? 13. January’s quick quiz
…and finally - The strangest things sent in the post
1. January Members’ event
Date: 16 January 2018 Time: 2pm – 4pm Venue: Swiss Cottage Community Centre 19 Winchester Road NW3 3NR
At the November Members’ event Councillor Leila Roy, Champion for residents with a visual impairment and member of the council’s Disability
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Oversight Panel attended to hear about the main issues and problems that affect visually impaired people living and/or working in Camden that the council have a total or partial responsibility to address.
Cllr Roy was presented with a substantial list of issues. In no priority order, and noting this list was not exhaustive, these were:
Cyclists, and increasingly mopeds, on pavements Other obstacles on the pavement including, but not limited to: Street furniture such as ‘A’ boards Waste and recycling collecting containers and rubbish bags on pavements Tables & chairs encroaching onto the pavement Uneven paving tiles that are easy to trip over Overhanging bushes and tree branches Roadworks Dangers posed by silent vehicles such as buses and cars Dangers posed by ‘Floating’ bus stops Dangers posed by the proposed extension of the North-South Cycle Superhighway along Judd Street right past the RNIB’s office which will result in the removal of the controlled (pelican) crossing Lack of compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and the NHS England Accessible Information Standard meaning that people’s information or communication needs are not being met A ‘one-size’ fits all approach, for example, with the majority of council services accessible only via its website New buildings not being adequately designed to meet the needs of VI people, 5 Pancras Square being a prime example The lack of early intervention in policy planning & and change and contract development
Members suggested to Cllr Roy that a key solution to many of the issues raised is disability awareness training for all staff, whatever service they are delivering and wherever they are delivering that service, and that such training needs to be embedded in the culture of the council.
Members also submitted that policy makers and service providers are not aware enough of how visually impaired people live their lives or what they are capable of.
Members further put forward that there is often a marked difference between the council’s perception of what is happening and how well they
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 2 are doing and the experience of ‘people on the ground’ and that this gap needs to be acknowledged and addressed.
Cllr Roy has kindly agreed to attend this event to update members on progress made on the above list of issues.
And as usual, there will tea & coffee and cake & biscuits and a chance to meet up with other VIC members.
2. New drug could mean less frequent injections
Results from a recent clinical trial suggest that a possible new treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could control symptoms as effectively as current treatments, with less frequent injections.
The late-stage trials have revealed the drug, named brolucizumab, is just as effective at treating wet AMD as Eylea.
If approved, brolucizumab would go up against Eylea and Lucentis, two treatments for AMD. The drugs are all injected into the eye. Novartis' brolucizumab would be given once every three months, while Eylea is injected once every eight weeks.
Vas Narasimhan, the current global head of drug development and chief medical officer at Novartis, said the most exciting results from the trial were the reduction in retinal thickness and retinal fluid. In comparison to the patients who got Eylea, brolucizumab reduced that retinal fluid by more than 30 per cent.
Novartis has a long history of treating eye conditions. Narasimhan said the development of brolucizumab is part of the "next chapter of innovation at the company" for eye conditions.
3. Images used to educate public about AMD not realistic, says study
Images used to educate the public about vision loss due to the leading cause of blindness are not fit for purpose, according to a new study from City, University of London.
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The researchers found that the image commonly used to represent age- related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects more than 600,000 people in the UK, did not provide a realistic representation of people’s experiences.
When people with the condition were asked about how their vision looks it was found that they instead provided a wide variety of descriptions. These ranged from blurring, to distortion and missing parts of the image, which were far more complete and varied than those implied by existing images, which just show a patch of distortion or blackness in central vision surrounded by a clear periphery.
As a result, the findings have significant ramifications for individuals, as it may lead to them misunderstanding the severity of their own condition and may in turn affect how people monitor their own disease progression.
The findings, which are published in ‘Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics’, are particularly relevant due to the increasing incidence of AMD and have implications for eye-care practice. As a result, the researchers are calling for the development of more realistic images of the visual symptoms of AMD for patient and public education which encompass the wide range of descriptions patients with the condition use to describe it.
To investigate how people described the visual symptoms associated with AMD, the researchers carried out an eye exam for 29 participants, recruited primarily through the Macular Society, with a median age of 75. Three, 17 and nine patients had early, intermediate and late AMD respectively. Participants were also asked to describe visual symptoms of their condition in a conversational interview, and were asked to comment on a photograph typically used to portray the visual symptoms of AMD.
Speaking about the study, lead author Deanna Taylor, a researcher working in the Crabb Lab in the Division of Optometry and Visual Science at City, University of London, said: “Images showing a patch of distortion or blackness in central vision surrounded by a clear periphery are frequently used illustrators of vision with AMD, but in our study we found that when we showed participants this popular image, many unequivocally rejected it as it wasn’t realistic.
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“Our findings are important for several reasons. First, we’ve shown that images that are designed to educate the public about AMD are not fit for this purpose. This is a serious issue as the images could be misinterpreted to be a sign of early visual changes in AMD but this clearly does not fit with the experience of people with early or intermediate AMD in our sample.
“We also found that the visual symptoms experienced by most people with AMD in our sample were likely to be more subtle and less simplistic than those depicted in the images; this could have ramifications for individuals about misunderstanding the severity of their own condition and may in turn affect how people monitor their own disease progression.
“We hope that through the development of new, more nuanced and realistic images, better education on AMD can be provided. This is especially important considering how the number of people with the condition is set to continue to rise in the UK and around the world over the coming decades.”
4. Research priorities agreed to stop early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) turning into late AMD at Wellcome retreat
Three leading sight loss charities, Blind Veterans UK, Fight for Sight and the Macular Society, have joined forces in the global fight against age- related macular degeneration (AMD). The main objective of the collaboration, which is called Action Against Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AAA), is to facilitate the funding of medical research aimed at finding an effective treatment for early-stage AMD.
The charities, together with Wellcome Genome Campus Advanced Courses and Scientific Conferences, brought together 42 international clinical and basic scientists, 16 members of eye charities and other funders, and two patients in a retreat-like workshop in June 2017.
The retreat entitled ‘How to stop early AMD turning into late AMD?’ was a gathering of experts in different areas of both basic and clinical research on AMD. AMD is the commonest cause of visual impairment in the developed world and, to date, there is no intervention that slows or prevents the early disease progressing to blinding neovascularization or geographic atrophy. The aim of this retreat was to establish research priorities for the next few years to rapidly develop effective treatment(s)
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 5 or strategies to help prevent individuals with early AMD progressing to late blinding disease.
The retreat included four sessions in which research priorities in different areas relevant to AMD were debated. The sessions were:
The key challenges for finding an intervention for early AMD. Complement pathways and AMD. From genetics to targets. Other potential targets to slow the progression of early AMD.
The final session of the retreat summarised the research priorities which will help to develop a research strategy to find a way of preventing early AMD progressing to blinding disease. The agreed ten research priorities are:
Cohorts for longitudinal studies of genetically-defined, highly- informative subject subsets. Ageing changes in the choroid-photoreceptor complex. Development of models of choriocapillaris endothelium and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) ageing. Integrated approach to understanding how ARMS2/HTRA1 polymorphisms drive disease risk. Understand lipid and membrane handling in the choroid- photoreceptor complex. Approaches to revitalising Bruch’s membrane. Support for a drug development programme and studies of therapeutic access to RPE-photoreceptor complex. Understanding mechanisms of impaired dark adaptation in early AMD (both to support appreciation of how early disease develops as well as developing a potential ‘marker’ of early disease). Work with other programmes to develop imaging/functional tests for early disease. Further our understanding of how the innate immune system drives disease.
Regarding infrastructure priorities, the participants considered seed corn funding to be most important, followed by the facilitation of academic and commercial partnerships, and non-clinical researcher capacity building.
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Cathy Yelf, Chief Executive of the Macular Society, said: “Age-related macular degeneration is a devastating condition which is affecting more and more people globally as our population ages. Collaboration is essential to tackle the growing sight loss epidemic. The retreat was a very positive step with leading UK and international academics and clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry coming together to address this urgent problem.”
Nick Caplin, CEO of Blind Veterans UK, said: “Blind Veterans UK currently supports more vision-impaired veterans than at any time in its 102 year history. It is an interesting and sad reflection that two thirds of the veterans we support today suffer from AMD. The projected rate of increase of AMD within the UK and globally is alarming. For Blind Veterans UK, this initial scientific meeting was a call to action to finding a successful intervention and to help millions of people avoid this devastating disease in years to come. As the meeting report explains, we have now started our journey to finding that intervention.”
Michele Acton, CEO of Fight for Sight, said: "People living with AMD tell us they want an intervention at the earliest possible stage to stop the condition progressing to the point where they start to lose their sight. Fight for Sight exists to fund research to stop sight loss whatever the cause. We are delighted that the Macular Society and Blind Veterans share our commitment to invest in AMD research and the Wellcome conference was the first of many initiatives of the new partnership. Together we are committed to investing more resources into targeted research to make sight loss from AMD a thing of the past."
5. New sight saving treatments now available on the NHS
Patients living with potentially blinding condition uveitis are now able to benefit from two new sight saving treatments.
Uveitis is an inflammatory condition that causes damage to the eye resulting in loss of vision. Sight loss charities worked with uveitis patients to call on the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to make dexamethasone (Ozurdex) and adalimumab (Humira) available on the NHS in England. NICE has now published guidance making the treatments available to adult patients in England.
The two drugs are being used to treat patients with uveitis in the back of the eye, or posterior. This is great news, particularly for patients most at
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 7 risk of blindness. This group of patients have exhausted all the current treatment options and were facing the possibility of losing their sight permanently. They now have another option.
6. Funding research into a technological solution for repeated involuntary eye movement
Fight for Sight and Nystagmus Network have partnered to fund research aimed at the early detection of nystagmus and improve the quality of life of those with the condition.
Fight for Sight, the UK’s leading eye research charity, and Nystagmus Network, the foremost UK charity providing support and information about nystagmus, are working in partnership to fund research into a complex condition characterised by repeated involuntary movement of the eyes. Through the partnership, two research projects into nystagmus have been awarded.
Dr Lee Mcilreavy from Cardiff University will use the funding from Fight for Sight and the Nystagmus Network to determine whether a novel eye tracking approach can correctly identify the patterns of eye movement made by those with infantile nystagmus. This study could lead to a simple and child-friendly eye tracking test that does not rely on expensive technology. This has the potential to detect the condition earlier and allow children and families to receive an earlier diagnosis.
Dr Helen Griffiths, at the University of Sheffield, has been awarded funding to develop an image stabilisation technology in virtual reality (VR) to treat a troubling symptom called oscillopsia, where the individual perceives the world in a continuous and erratic motion due to involuntary movements of the eyes. Dr Griffiths will work towards stabilising images on the retina in individuals with acquired nystagmus. A VR headset with integrated head tracking will be configured to track the direction of gaze. This data will be used to adjust the VR display in real time so that a stable view is projected onto the retina of the user, independent of eye orientation. For as long as the user wears the headset, the observed image will be stable. This alternative solution will offer relief to those who have this form of nystagmus.
Michele Acton, CEO of Fight for Sight, said: “We are pleased to be working in partnership with Nystagmus Network to fund research into this complex eye condition. Both research projects have the potential to VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 8 positively impact the lives of those living with nystagmus. Only by funding research will we begin to tackle nystagmus.”
Vivien Jones, President of the Nystagmus Network and Chair of the Nystagmus Network Research Sub-committee, said: “It is a pleasure to join with Fight for Sight in making this award to Cardiff University for their plan to develop a means of diagnosing infantile nystagmus in the community setting. We hope that this award will mean the plan can be brought to fruition with all the benefits this will bring to families in terms of more accessible diagnosis.
We are also delighted to join Fight for Sight to fund a project developed by the University of Sheffield to deal with one of the most distressing symptoms that can go with acquired nystagmus – oscillopsia, where the individual perceives the world in constant motion. Sheffield propose that a way of offering relief from this is through stabilisation of the image on the retina by developing image stabilisation technology in VR. This would be a major breakthrough for those who acquire nystagmus in later life, and who suffer from oscillopsia.”
7. College of Optometrists’ funded research identifies weaknesses in optometric data
The College of Optometrists has said that the lack of public health data on the prevalence of eye conditions is impacting on policymakers and commissioners’ ability to adequately plan and meet eye health needs.
The College has published the findings of its commissioned Ophthalmic Public Health Research Project, which identified that, despite an increasing amount of clinical data being held electronically in optometric practice systems, and a growing prevalence of eye conditions that require greater management, the data is not organised in a way that it can be used for research and service planning purposes.
The project was undertaken by College funded Ophthalmic Public Health Research Fellows to collate existing research and identify opportunities for optometry to provide public health data for use in engaging government and policymakers, and to improve understanding of ophthalmic public health by optometrists. As a result, the researchers have recommended a minimum dataset containing standard clinical information that could be used to facilitate analysis of the evidence for
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 9 public health purposes and identify trends and areas of need in optometric practice.
Mike Bowen, Director of Research at the College, said: “A significant number of older people have undetected visual impairment, this is worse in deprived areas, and this impairment is associated with reduced quality of life. Our aim with this project was to address this need by pulling together existing evidence, and to explore the use of existing data for what it could tell us about the nation’s eye health. The project has provided an important benchmark about what information is currently available, and allows for more extensive projects, such as the National Eye Health Survey, to provide the additional data needed to understand the nation’s eye health needs.”
Darren Shickle, Professor of Public Health at the University of Leeds and principal investigator of the research, said: “This research focused on currently available data and future data needs, to understand upcoming challenges surrounding eye health. Using the existing data, we have been able to identify inequalities in the uptake of sight tests. Sight tests involve more than identifying whether people need spectacles, and are the main way that preventable sight loss is first detected. However, there is further information needed to understand the primary eye care needs of the population, and our work with the College has also concentrated on developing a minimum data set that, if implemented, could help inform health and social care commissioners, allowing them to better understand the eye health needs of their populations.”
Key report findings are:
(1) The available literature on the epidemiology of eye conditions does not provide sufficient evidence to inform recommendations on the frequency at which sight tests should be performed. (2) There is an increasing amount of clinical data held electronically in various optometric practice systems that would be of interest to researchers and public health professionals. (3) Current systems are not organised in a way that allows for interrogation of the data for research purposes. (4) The format(s) of the data held is such that data may not be easily analysed even if it is possible to extract the data from a system, as much of the data available is in free text rather than organised menus. (5) The researchers described a minimum data set that could be used for public health research if it could be extracted from optometric
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 10 practice systems in a way that may be readily analysed. (6) The research group indicated how metrics may be coded to provide useful outputs for research and highlighted areas where it may be difficult to code.
The full report can be downloaded on the College of Optometrists’ website: https://www.college-optometrists.org/the- college/research/research-projects/ophthalmic-public-health.html
8. ‘Works For Me’ Employment Programme
Thomas Pocklington Trust delivers a free employment service, Works For Me, as part of a wider Employment Programme.
Works For Me provides support to visually impaired people living in London who are seeking paid employment, as well as those who are already in paid employment who want to retain work through sight loss or are navigating a career change.
The support available through Works For Me includes: One-to-one support either face-to-face, over the ‘phone or by post or email Employment information and updates through the service’s mailing list Drop-in sessions Representation or advice when speaking with recruiters and employers Peer-led events such as networking and workshops Signposting to other specialist services
The service is open to anyone living in London who is of working age (18-65) and has a visual impairment that they feel impacts on their opportunities for employment and career development. It is not necessary to be registered with a Certificate of Vision Impairment to receive support. You can either self-refer or be referred by an organisation.
If you are interested in accessing the Works For Me service, contact Amardeep Tokhi, Employment Adviser: Email: [email protected] Call or Text: 07773 584 028.
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9. Microsoft Seeing AI now available in UK
The much anticipated Microsoft Seeing AI app is now available for free from the UK App Store.
Designed for the blind and partially sighted community, the app harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to open up the visual world and describe nearby people, text and objects.
The app, currently only available on iOS, uses the device’s camera to perform a number of useful functions including:
Reading documents – with spoken hints to make sure the user captures the full page. It then recognises the structure of the document such as headings, paragraphs and lists, allowing the user to rapidly skip through the document using VoiceOver. Identifying a product based on its barcode – simply move the phone’s camera over the product; beeps indicate how close the barcode is (the faster the beeps, the closer it is) until the full barcode is detected. It then snaps a photo and reads the name of the product. Recognising people based on their face – and providing a description of their visual appearance such as their gender, facial expression and other identifying characteristics. Recognising images within other apps – just tap Share and Recognise with Seeing AI.
Because the app is still a work in progress, there are some features that are considered “experimental”.
For more information about the Seeing AI app, visit the Microsoft website.
10. Virgin Atlantic enlists help from Guide Dogs to become first airline to offer accessible entertainment for customers with sight loss
Virgin Atlantic has announced a global airline first as it launches a fully accessible inflight entertainment system for customers with sight loss, with help from the charity Guide Dogs. The technology will be offered throughout Virgin Atlantic’s fleet serving destinations across North America, the Caribbean, Africa, China, India and the Middle East.
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Televisions in the sky have come a long way since the days of a single TV at the front of the cabin – with seat back touch screen entertainment now commonplace across the industry. However, while this is a benefit for many, touch screens can create a barrier for passengers who are blind or partially sighted due to the challenges of navigating the system.
Now, Virgin Atlantic is pioneering new technology, which will enable customers with vision impairments to enjoy the full range of on-board entertainment via specially adapted iPads. Working with UK tech company Bluebox Aviation Systems, the innovative iPad-based platform was tested by representatives from Guide Dogs and includes audio descriptions, large type, and consistent layout and controls.
Virgin Atlantic and Bluebox worked closely with guide dog owners to assist with the development of the special kit and considered different types of sight loss it could benefit, including total blindness, partial vision and sensitivity to brightness. Representatives from Guide Dogs provided recommendations for the initial design and undertook a year of extensive system testing to ensure the technology met their needs.
John Welsman, Policy Business Partner for Travel and Transport for Guide Dogs, said: “We know that something as simple as an in-flight entertainment system with voice overs and audio descriptions will help passengers with vision impairments to enjoy flights just like anyone else on board. As someone with sight loss who flies quite often myself, I think it’ll be wonderful to access entertainment and information on Virgin planes without needing to ask for help. Not having to call for cabin crew, or disturb fellow passengers around me, who might be sleeping, will be great.”
11. Jerusalem (And did those feet in ancient time) – what’s happening now!
(This was read out at the National Federation of the Blind Eastbourne music weekend in November 2017 at the promenade, against cyclists using the same footways as pedestrians.)
And did those feet in modern times Walk upon England’s Dangerous streets, And was the puffin crossing there On England’s busy highways seen,
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And did the highway engineers Shine forth with new shared space design, And was this chaos builded here Among those old pleasant towns.
Give me my cane with turning ball, Give me my harness, dog and all, Give me my kerbs and pavements too, Give me my chance to cross the road, I will not cease from this big fight, Nor shall I stop, as I am right, Till we have stopped this chaos, In England’s streets and pleasant towns.
12. Did you know…?
Anne Sullivan (1866 – 1936), known worldwide as the teacher and companion to Helen Keller, was herself visually impaired. An eye infection, trachoma, left her nearly blind at the age of eight, although she later regained some vision after a series of operations.
13. January’s quick quiz Q.1. Which fruits grow on the ‘malus’ tree? Q.2. Which Roman god of doorways, passages and bridges is depicted with two faces? Q.3. Which British travel agent organised his first excursion, a train journey from Leicester to a temperance meeting in Loughborough, in 1841? For a bonus point, how much did the return journey cost? Q.4. Where in the US would you find the inscription: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore”? Q.5. What kind of animal was the tarpan, which became extinct in the early 20th century? Q.6. In music what does ‘sordamente’ mean? Q.7. In the Bible, Noah released two different species of bird to find out if there was any dry land. One was a dove, what was the other? Q.8. Immortalized in an 1897 play by the French poet Edmond Rostand, what was Cyrano de Bergerac’s first name? Q.9. Which New Zealand short story writer wrote ‘Bliss’ and ‘The Garden Party’? Q.10. The Devil’s Coach Horse is a species of which kind of insect?
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And the tie-breaker! Q.11. Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch with iron teeth, is a figure from the folklore of which particular country?
The answers are given after ‘…and finally’
…and finally
The strangest things sent in the post
Christmas is the busiest time of year for Royal Mail with the company employing an extra 20,000 people to deal with the extra deliveries made up to the final posting dates.
Yet there have been many times in the organisation's 500-year-old history when its postal workers have been tested in other ways as bizarre objects are put in the mail.
Here are just some of the strangest things that have travelled through the UK's postal system.
The introduction of Parcel Post in 1883 saw the first packages being delivered by Royal Mail and it was not long before all sorts of weird and wonderful things were being despatched.
In the past there were rules and regulations about what could be sent but they were much slacker than nowadays. The controls meant items that were considered dangerous or disgusting were intercepted in the post.
Examples of these included a first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce which was thought to be obscene and a letter to Lord Curzon that featured an "abusive" address.
Yet objects you would think would not be allowed could be delivered by postmen - including living and dead creatures.
Like today, food was commonly sent but it was often unpackaged because the rules stated game could be sent as long as it had a name label on the neck and would not leak.
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Living creatures were also posted, sometimes against regulations and at great risk to the people who delivered them.
A magazine article from the 1890s told the tale of a jar of live scorpions having to be examined by "reckless" postal staff after it was transferred to the Returned Mail Office.
However, even more unexpected living beings were to make their way in the post; there was nothing in the rules to say you couldn't send people!
In 1909 two suffragettes, Miss Solomon and Miss McLellan, used the Royal Mail's same-day courier service to post themselves to 10 Downing Street so they could deliver their message personally to Prime Minister Herbert Asquith.
But a Downing Street official refused to sign for them and the delivery boy had to return the women and explain to his bosses why he had failed to make the delivery.
Yet Miss Solomon and Miss McLellan were not the UK's first "human letters".
W Reginald Bray, an accountant from Forest Hill in south-east London, claimed to hold that honour having posted himself successfully in 1900, then again in 1903 and for a last time in 1932.
Having purchased a copy of the Post Office Guide, Bray discovered it was possible to send living creatures by Express Messenger as long as they were larger than a bee but smaller than an elephant.
As a result he successfully posted himself and his faithful Irish terrier, Bob.
Other items that also made it to their destinations were a frying pan, a rabbit skull, and a turnip he dug up outside a Post Office in Ireland before carving the address into its flesh.
By the time of his death at the age of 60 in 1939, Bray is thought to have put about 30,000 items in the mail.
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Today, the antics of W Reginald Bray live on in the form of an established network of "mail artists" who send unusual objects through the post to one another.
Many have not heard of the odd London accountant but for author David Bramwell, Bray was the reason he gave it a go. Bramwell and his friend David Robinson spent a year sending inanimate objects to each other through the post.
The unwrapped items successfully sent by the pair included underwear, an apple, a piece of toast and a leaf. Only one object didn't work and that was a toilet roll which must have unravelled in the postbox.
Illustrator Harriet Russell released her book ‘Envelopes’ after successfully sending over 100 letters where the addresses were written as cryptic puzzles.
She said she began experimenting by using indecipherable handwriting or addresses written backwards to see how challenging an address had to be for it not to get to its destination. These arrived, so she then came up with devising puzzles for the postmen to work out, such as crosswords, word searches and anagrams.
But what of the poor postal workers who have to decipher and deliver such items?
Royal Mail says it would prefer these fripperies were not sent "as they can be delayed and also delay other mail" and advises that a return address should always be included on mail. Something to think about next time you're about to post a cryptically-addressed piece of toast.
The answers to January’s quick quiz A.1. Apples A.2. Janus A.3. Thomas Cook. One shilling. A.4. Statue of Liberty A.5. Horse A.6. In a muffled manner, softly A.7. Raven A.8. Savinien A.9. Katherine Mansfield A.10. Beetle
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And the answer to the tie-breaker! A.11. Russia
Thank you for reading the newsletter.
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VIC Newsletter Supplement: Things to see, places to go
Galleries and Museums
The National Gallery Art Through Words Sessions for Blind and Partially Sighted Visitors These sessions are held on the last Saturday of the month from 11.30am to 12.45pm.
Each session begins with a description of the painting and ends with a visit to the galleries.
Please meet at the Sainsbury Wing foyer.
All sessions are free. Please call 020 7747 2864 or email [email protected] to guarantee a place.
The next sessions are on:
Saturday 27 January Vincenzo Catena: ‘Saint Jerome in his Study’ (probably around 1510)
Saturday 24 February Claude Monet: ‘The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil’ (1872)
Saturday 31 March Bernardo Bellotto: ‘The Fortress of Königstein from the North’ (about 1756-8)
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
National Portrait Gallery Visualising Portraits The National Portrait Gallery offers free Visualising Portraits picture descriptions for blind and partially sighted visitors on the last Thursday of each month from 2pm to 3.30pm.
For more information and to book a place phone 020 7306 0055 or email: [email protected]. Meet in the Main Hall.
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The next sessions are on:
Thursday 25 January Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 Explore contemporary photographs through the lens of a photographer who will discuss this year’s Prize.
Thursday 22 February Late Victorian Britain: Cultural Pioneers Find out more about some of the cultural pioneers who were the movers and shakers in drama, music, literature and art during the late 1800s.
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, WC2H 0HE
Partnership Event between RNIB and The Queen’s Gallery Charles II: Art and Power
An event for blind and partially sighted visitors with companions at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, in partnership with the RNIB Music Advisory Service
Date: Wednesday 14 February 2018 Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Venue: The Queen’s Gallery Buckingham Palace London SW1A 1AA
This event, for blind and partially-sighted visitors, will use music and words to explore the exhibition themes. Discover the monarch, Charles II, with extracts of music from his coronation and a description of his magnificent coronation portrait. Explore the mastery of technique in Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of oak leaves and acorns.
Using the richness of textures in the huge coronation portrait by John Michael Wright and the detail of texture in the da Vinci drawing, musical parallels will be drawn by Alice Cadman (mezzo soprano) and Sally Zimmermann (RNIB Music Adviser).
A maximum of 26 places will be allocated based on date of receipt of completed application forms. Please note: This event is being administered directly by Buckingham Palace staff.
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For more information about the Royal Collection and this exhibition, please visit www.royalcollection.org.uk
Meeting Those attending are to meet between 10.00am and 10.15am under the entrance portico to the Gallery. Please do not bring large baggage with you. You may be subject to a full security check prior to entry to the exhibition area. Please note that the exhibition is open to the public whilst we are visiting.
Cost This event is free of charge but an application form must be completed. The final date for receipt of completed application forms is Wednesday 31 January 2018. Please note, however, that all places may have been allocated before that date.
For more information or an application form, please email [email protected] or call 0303 123 7323.
InTouch at the RA Artist and gallery educators describe the exhibition in front of selected artworks, followed by a multi-sensory handling session.
This event includes refreshments, and volunteer support is provided.
The sessions are free but have a limited capacity. Please book in advance.
Meet in the Front Hall.
‘From Life’, the RA’s exhibition exploring past, present and future approaches to making art from life Monday 15 January, 9am to 11am Starting with historic works from the RA Collection that transport the viewer to the very foundation of the Royal Academy in the 18th century,’ From Life’ traces the practice of working from life to the present day.
Charles I: King and Collector Monday 5 March, 9am to 11am King Charles I amassed one of the most extraordinary art collections of his age, which included Old Master works by the likes of Titian and Mantegna, as well as masterpieces by leading contemporary artists such
VIC Newsletter January 2018 This issue is sponsored by Earth Natural Foods, 200 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2AE Page 21 as Van Dyck and Rubens. After his execution in 1649, the works were sold off and scattered throughout Europe. ‘Charles I: King and Collector’ reunites the greatest masterpieces of the collection for the first time.
How to book Tickets can be booked online or by contacting the Ticketing Team by emailing [email protected] or by calling 020 7300 8090.
Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD
The Science Museum is holding a VIscovery day
Date: 20 January 2018 Time: 12 noon onwards
VIscovery days include a series of events which are specifically designed for families with members who are visually impaired, partially sighted or blind. All events are free and suitable for children aged 5 and over.
VIscovery Day on 20th January 2018 will be themed around Superbugs, our exhibition exploring how society is responding to antibiotic resistance. Expect lots of fun events, including: animal workshops, object handling sessions and creative activities.
For more information, please email [email protected] or call on 020 7942 4086.
Tate Britain Audio description sessions Free audio description sessions take place on every third Monday of the month, from 11am to 12.15pm.
The next dates are:
Monday 15 January Rachel Whiteread One of Britain’s leading contemporary artists, Whiteread uses industrial materials such as plaster, concrete, resin, rubber and metal to cast everyday objects and architectural space. Her evocative sculptures range from the intimate to the monumental.
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Monday 19 February The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London This is the first exhibition to map the connections between French and British artists, patrons and art dealers during a traumatic period in French history. Highlighting their engagement with British culture, traditions and social life, their art is a fascinating insight into how London was perceived by the visiting French artists.
No booking required. Coffee and biscuits will be available in the Manton Foyer from 10.30am before the tour.
Sighted companions and guide dogs are welcome. Hearing loops and amplifiers are available for those needing some extra support in the galleries.
Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG
Wellcome Collection AD Tour of Ayurvedic Man: Encounters with Indian medicine Thursday 1 February, 6pm Be guided through an exhibition that crosses cultures and continents, but has as its starting point ‘Ayurvedic Man’ – an 18th century Nepali painting depicting the organs and vessels of the male body according to classical Ayurveda.
The tour will explore a series of encounters: between ancient South East Asian medical practice and modern biomedicine and between exquisite objects from the Ayurvedic tradition and the colonial-era collector.
Places are free but limited: To book a place call 020 7611 2222 or email [email protected].
Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE
Theatre highlights: audio-described performances
The Brothers Size Tuesday 6 February – 7.30pm (Touch Tour time: TBC) The Young Vic 66 The Cut, Waterloo, SE1 8LZ Ticket price: From £10
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Bookings: 020 7922 2922 / [email protected] The African-American working class meets Yoruba mythology when Brothers Size reconnect after a spell in prison. Bijan Sheibani directs the long-awaited revival of this deeply moving fable about the rarely spoken bond between brothers.
The Divide – Part 1 Saturday 10 February – 1.30pm (Touch Tour: 12 noon) The Divide – Part 2 Saturday 10 February – 7.30pm (Touch Tour: 12 noon) Old Vic The Cut, SE1 8NB Ticket price: From £12 Bookings: 0844 871 7628 / [email protected] Written as a ‘narrative for voices’ by Alan Ayckbourn, The Divide unfolds in a dystopian society of repression and seething insurrection. This production is presented in two parts. In the aftermath of a deadly contagion which has decimated the population, contact between men and women has become fatal. Under the dictates of an elusive and authoritarian Preacher, an unthinkable solution has been enforced. The adult survivors are now segregated by gender and physically separated, men wear white as a sign of their purity and women – still deemed infected – are clothed in black as a mark of their sin. As new social norms prevail, brother and sister Elihu and Soween grow up learning the ways of their tightly controlled society. As they begin to glimpse the cracks in the system, Elihu falls for Giella, the daughter of two radical mothers, risking fatal disease and threatening to ignite a bloody revolution.
Winter All performances in the run will be audio-described: 14 February – 24 February – 7.45pm 21 February and 24 February – 2.45pm (Touch Tour time: TBC) The Young Vic 66 The Cut, Waterloo, SE1 8LZ Ticket price: From £10 (concessions available) Bookings: 020 7922 2922 / [email protected] An ordinary businessman meets a volatile stranger in a park. So begins a fugue of splintered desires and mistaken meanings. An everyday encounter unspools with enduring consequences.
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Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Tuesday 20 February – 7.30pm (Touch Tour time: TBC) Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7ES Ticket price: £32.50 (sighted companion goes free) Bookings: 0330 333 8415 Jamie is going to be a sensation: Supported by his mum and friends, Jamie steps out of the darkness and into the spotlight.
The Birthday Party Tuesday 6 March – 7.30pm (Touch Tour time: TBC) Harold Pinter Theatre Panton Street, SW1Y 4DN Ticket price: £15 – £95 Bookings: 0800 912 6971 Stanley Webber is the only lodger at Meg and Petey Boles’ sleepy seaside boarding house. The unsettling arrival of enigmatic strangers Goldberg and McCann disrupts the humdrum lives of the inhabitants and their friend Lulu, and mundanity soon becomes menace when a seemingly innocent birthday party turns into a disturbing nightmare.
Summer and Smoke Tennessee Williams Saturday 24 March – 2.30pm (Touch Tour: 12.45pm) Almeida Theatre Almeida Street, N1 1TA Ticket price: £25 (£5 tickets available for blind / partially sighted people under 25 through the Almeida Theatre’s Participation Department. Call the Box Office for more details). Bookings: 020 7288 4999 ‘The girl who said ‘no’ – she doesn’t exist anymore, she died last summer – suffocated in smoke from something on fire inside her.’ In the heat of summer – under the wings of an angel – Alma meets John. Trapped between desire and fear in a life of obligation, her world turns upside down in the search for salvation.
Fanny and Alexander Tuesday 27 March – 7pm (Touch Tour: 5.30pm) Old Vic Theatre The Cut, SE1 8NB Ticket price: From £12 Bookings: 0844 871 7628 / [email protected]
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‘There should be no shame in us taking pleasure in our little lives.’ Among the gilded romance and glamour of 1900s Sweden, siblings Fanny and Alexander’s world is turned upside down when their widowed mother remarries the iron-willed local bishop. As creative freedom and rigid orthodoxy clash, a war ensues between imagination and austerity in this magical study of childhood, family and love.
Julius Caesar Saturday 7 April – 2.30pm (Touch Tour time: TBC) The Bridge Theatre 3 Potters Fields Park, SE1 2SG Ticket price: £35 - £65 Bookings: 0333 320 0052 Nicholas Hytner’s production will be in promenade, thrusting its audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s return, the congress that witnesses his murder, the rally that assembles for his funeral and the chaos that explodes in its wake.
How to book To make a booking, call the number given against the individual show. Please ensure that you tell the operator you are booking for an audio- described performance, so that you qualify for any ticket discounts and are allocated an appropriate seat.
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