Vision magazine
June/July 2014
Issue 66
Welcome
Welcome to your new and improved Vision magazine! We have updated the design of the print magazine and the covers of our braille and audio magazines, using the refreshed RNIB brand style. We have also introduced some new sections, including the “Information and services” guide, which you’ll find at the end of the magazine, to make it easier for you to get advice and support. I hope you will like the changes, please do let me know what you think – you’ll find contact details for your Vision magazine in the Information and services guide.
Some of you may recognise our cover star for this edition as Mohammed Rashid who is one of our member representatives for the West Midlands. Elections are coming up and we want to encourage a wide range of people to stand – find out more about what the role involves and also how all members can now vote by telephone.
For this edition, as part of the commemorations of the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, I interviewed Lord Michael Ashcroft. Owner of the largest collection of Victoria Cross medals in the world, Lord Ashcroft tells the inspiring story of Captain Buchanan, affectionately known as “the blind VC”.
If you’re thinking about holiday activities, there’s an offer for members of £100 off a Traveleyes holiday in Jersey, a summer recipe and letters recommending cruise holidays, climbing and rowing.
Clare Conley, Editor
Vision magazine: winner of best charity/membership magazine MemCom Awards 2009
News
I am here campaign launches on TV and radio
Our new I am here campaign launched in April through TV, radio and online advertising and in the news. The campaign aims to:
· secure more support for people who have been told they’re losing their sight
· explain to people who are losing their sight how RNIB can help, and
· raise money to pay for our work.
Sight loss advisers – also known as eye clinic liaison officers (ECLOs) – offer emotional support and practical advice to people who are losing their sight. Funding is precarious for existing sight loss adviser roles, as many of the services have no guaranteed funding after April 2015.
Put posters up and sign our petition
You can help by putting up I am here posters in your community and signing our petition calling for sight loss support in every eye clinic by 2019. Let us know what you think of the campaign and if you would like to order a poster, sign the petition or listen to the adverts, visit rnib.org.uk/iamhere or call 020 7391 2396.
Help us drive bus action in July
RNIB’s Stop for me, speak to me bus campaign will hold a UK-wide fortnight of action in July from 17-31 July. The campaign aims to ensure that:
- Bus drivers should always stop at a bus stop and not rely on someone to hail the bus.
- Drivers should talk to passengers with sight loss so they can check they are on the right bus, receive directions to an empty seat and get off at the right stop.
In July, we will write to bus companies who have not yet signed up to our “We’re on board” charter, which lays out 12 commitments to make services better for blind and partially sighted passengers.
Mystery shop your bus service in July
You can help by using your local bus service and then telling us what you thought of it in a short survey. We can then use your feedback in our campaigning work with bus companies and other stakeholders. Visit rnib.org.uk/bus or call the campaign hotline on 020 7391 2123.
New law brings tough penalties for attacks on guide dogs
Owners whose dogs attack guide dogs could face up to three years in prison under the new Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Law.
Under this law, attacks on assistance dogs are now classed as an “aggravated offence”. It also contains measures to force owners to curb the behaviour of “out of control” dogs, which could also help prevent attacks on guide dogs.
Guide Dog Chief Executive, Richard Leaman, said: “With an average of 10 guide dogs currently being attacked every month, we are now looking to the police to fully utilise their powers to deter these attacks and prevent them from happening in the first place.”
NHS consults on accessible information
NHS England will carry out a consultation on its accessible information standard this summer. The aim of the consultation is to come up with a system which sets out how NHS services should record and store your preferred format choices and accessible information needs.
Give your views in the consultation
Have you had problems getting the information you need in a format you can read about appointments, test results or anything else from NHS England? Or perhaps you’ve had a good experience which has made it easier for you to manage your health independently? It’s important to take part in the consultation to let NHS England know what a difference it makes to get your confidential health information in a format you can read. You can get involved and find out more about the consultation by visiting england.nhs.uk or email
Or call the campaign hotline on 020 7391 2123
Mind’s Eye garden will inspire Redhill development
RNIB had a sensory garden on display at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. It was inspired by a scheme to redevelop RNIB Community Living Services in Redhill in Surrey
RNIB has teamed up with property developers, Countryside, to plan the scheme that will create an integrated community building homes designed for blind and partially sighted residents, alongside houses available for private sale.
Aspects from the Mind’s Eye garden displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show will be used for a sensory trail and gardens at the Redhill development.
Make a noise in your library in June!
Make a Noise in Libraries fortnight (MANIL) 2014 will have a World War 1 theme to tie in with the national commemoration of 100 years since the start of the conflict. It will run from 2-15 June.
MANIL aims to highlight how important it is for libraries to provide accessible information including books, newspapers and magazines. Many libraries will be running special World War 1 themed open days and drop-in events during MANIL fortnight to highlight the accessible books and historical resources they offer.
How you can help
We need more blind and partially sighted people to visit their local libraries during MANIL to get involved with events and tell staff how important it is for you to be able to access information and services. To find out more visit rnib.org.uk/manil or call Megan Gilks on 0161 429 1980.
Obituary: author and RNIB supporter Sue Townsend
Sue Townsend, author of the popular Adrian Mole series of books, has sadly passed away after having a stroke. Sue, who was 68, lost her sight in 2001 due to diabetic retinopathy and had various other health problems. She continued to write after losing her sight by dictating her books.
Sue was a loyal supporter of RNIB for many years and was a strong advocate of the Talking Book Service. She said: “One day the RNIB Talking Book Service contacted me and lifted me out of the pit of misery and self-pity into which I'd fallen....it helped me to realise that it was possible to be well read without print books”.
Eye health news: eye drops could replace AMD injections in future
Simple- to-administer eye drops could replace monthly injections to treat millions of people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the future.
A team of scientists at University College of London (UCL) has found a way to deliver eye drops containing AMD treatment, Avastin, to the back of the eye in trials carried out with animals. It was previously thought that Avastin and Lucentis, which is also used to treat AMD, have molecules that are too large to be effectively transported in an eye drop. The team have explained that in theory the technology could also be used for Lucentis in the future but the timescales for developing treatments are dependent on funding.
More than 540,000 people in the UK have AMD and around 30,000 injections a year are given to treat it in the UK. Matthew Athey, Eye Health Information Manager at RNIB, welcomed the development. However he said: “Studies are still at an early stage and it could be years before the drops become available. The best treatment for wet AMD currently is monthly injections of anti-VEGF drugs like Lucentis.”
Find out more
Find out about the research at ucl.ac.uk/news
For more information on eye health and eye conditions visit rnib.org.uk or contact the eye health information team via the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999.
Lifestyle: The blind VC: a tale of courage
Lord Ashcroft told Vision Editor, Clare Conley, about his collection of 183 Victoria Cross medals and the inspiring story of one particular soldier.
As Britain marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, we bring you a special interview with Lord Ashcroft. A Tory peer, businessman, author, philanthropist and supporter of RNIB and Action for Blind People, Lord Ashcroft owns the world’s largest collection of Victoria Cross (VC) medals, now worth an estimated £30 million. Lord Ashcroft has championed the rights of those serving and leaving the Armed Forces - in 2012, he was appointed to the Privy Council and was made the Government’s Special Representative for Veterans’ Transition. He is also a military historian, blogger and author of seven books including “Victoria Cross Heroes”.
What inspired you to start the collection of VCs?
I was born in 1946, the year after the Second World War ended. When I was about 10, I asked my father to tell me what he did in the war. My father was wounded during the D-Day landings on 6 June1944. He described to me the feeling of fear, the metaphorical smell of fear and the physical smell of vomit as they went in landing crafts to the shores of France. The pinging of the machine guns on the side before the ramps went down and then running up the beaches - his colonel was killed by his side. My dad became my hero and after learning more about Normandy, I discovered the VC.
The Victoria Cross or VC, which was founded by a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1856, is the most prestigious gallantry medal awarded by Britain and the Commonwealth for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It has been awarded more than 1,300 times during the last 160 years. After reading about someone who had bought a VC, I became interested in acquiring one of these tremendous pieces of history and bought my first VC at an auction in London in 1986. It had been awarded to Leading Seaman James Mageniss. I remember as I held the VC in one hand and read his citation, a particular frisson went through me that perhaps only a collector can understand. That was the beginning of a passion which has grown today into a collection that has 183 VCs.
Where is the collection housed?
My collection is housed with other medals - there are over 250 VCs and George Crosses - on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. The display has interactive touchscreens, video montages, animated graphics and sound clips to help bring to life the stories of the men who were awarded these honours.
Who was “the blind VC”?
Last year I acquired the seven gallantry and service medals that were awarded to Captain Angus Buchanan for his service during the First World War. Captain Buchanan, a doctor’s son from Coleford in Gloucestershire, was affectionately known as “the blind VC”.
Buchanan was awarded a Military Cross (MC) for bravery at Helles (now part of modern-day Turkey) in January 1916 when he commanded V-Company in trenches east of the Gully Ravine. Then on 5 April, he took part in the action for which he would receive the VC when he courageously saved two wounded comrades from no man’s land. King George V pinned the VC and MC on to Buchanan’s uniform on 8 November 1917, at a ceremony which was attended by thousands of people.
How did Captain Buchanan lose his sight?
He was wounded a number of times while fighting the Turks in 1916, but he received the most serious injury on Valentine’s Day of 1917. This was when he lost his sight in both eyes as a result of being hit in the head with a sniper’s bullet.
What happened to Captain Buchanan after the war?
He went to St Dunstan’s (now Blind Veterans UK), the charity for ex-service personnel with sight loss, where he learnt braille and typewriting. Captain Buchanan then returned to Oxford University where he studied for a law degree and became a member of his college rowing eight. Textbooks weren’t available in braille at that time, so they all had to be read to him by tutors and fellow students. He qualified as a solicitor, setting up a practice with a partner in his home town. Sadly he died in 1944, just 49 years old.
An obituary letter in The Times began with the words: “Few men have faced adversity with greater cheerfulness and patience than Angus Buchanan, known as ‘the blind VC’”. And it ended with the words: “For him, there was no such thing as an obstacle in his path”.
You and your wife have kindly supported RNIB and Action for Blind People. Do you have any personal connection with sight loss?
As a philanthropist I’m interested in causes that are close to my heart. I have a connection with sight loss on both sides of my family - my wife’s mother lost her sight towards the end of her life. While my own mother, who has macular degeneration, has formed a local group for others with sight loss to help each other through this very difficult period in their lives.
Find out more: visit the Ashcroft Gallery
You will be able to visit the Ashcroft Gallery when the Imperial War Museum, London, reopens in July, after being refurbished. Entry is free and you can request a free audio described guide from the information desk at the front of the museum. Visit iwm.org.uk/heroes or call 020 7416 5000.