All Staff Meeting Notes June 2017

Blind Foundation NewsNovember 2017

Welcome to your Blind Foundation News update for November 2017.

This update includes the new Kapiti Coast office opening, the launch of BookLink Web and an update from the Annual General Meeting. It also includes the 2018 STAR Awards and upcoming Equipment Display Dates.

If there is anything within this update that you would like to know more about then please get in touch with the Marketing team, whose details are at the end of this update.

Kapiti and Albany Office openings –Denise Kitto, National Manager for Customer Service and Advice.

• Following on from the Blind Foundation’s recent new Albany office opening last month, this month another new Blind Foundation office opened in Kapiti Coast.

• These are the first new offices to have opened in more than 20 years. These locations we identified as areas where many of our current and potential clients live locally. Our presence in these areas will help make us more accessible to these clients.

• Both offices have spaces for functional low vision assessments and adaptive technology training, helping to provide our clients with the knowledge, skills and tools to adapt to life with low vision or blindness.
• We welcome those of you in the area to come and say hello, and have a look at our equipment display.

Launch of BookLink Web – Roland Brownlee, Digital and collections services librarian.

• The new BookLink web was launched on Monday 14 November. It offers the same services of the Apple iOS app. One of the new features is that you can play audiobooks, newspapers and magazine straight in the browser without waiting for them to download. Of course, you can also download the content to play on your favourite DAISY player too.
• For more information please visit

Annual General Meeting (AGM) and updates from the Board– Jane Alison Moore, Board Secretary.

• The Annual General Meeting was held in Hamilton this month.
• At the AGM the results of the Board election were announced. Two directors were reelected: Nicola Owen and Keith Appleton, and one new board member was elected: Fraser Alexander.
• As a result of changes to the constitution be adopted, the Associate seat was disestablished, therefore Paul Sullivan was retired from the board. Deborah Boyd, Chief Executive of Auckland Eye, has now filled this vacancy.
• Voting numbers were boosted this year with the new online voting option, which was used by 80 members.
• Client Ming Ming Edgar, from Dargaville, was awarded the 2017 Chair’s Award for the countless number of sporting events and social support networks he’s involved in – making him a huge champion of the Blind Foundation.

2018 STAR Awards – Stuart Almao, General Manager People and Culture.

• The 2018 STAR Awards celebrate the Blind Foundation’s star staff and volunteers. Whether it’s a person or a team, if they’re contributing in an extraordinary way to the success and culture of the Blind Foundation, then we want to hear about them and what makes them a STAR.
• There are seven categories this year. The award categories are for: Volunteer recognition; Top team; Innovation and improvement; Role model/leader; Champion; Customer-Client Service and the CEO Award.
• Nominations are open now until Friday 8 December. The process to enter is simple, so please take the time to put forward those around you who you know deserve the recognition.
• All information including nomination forms can be foundon our website homepage -

Seven Day Challenge Update – Blair Gilbert, National Manager Community and Life Enrichment.

• The Seven Day challenge was an incredible success again this year.
• Thank you to everyone who was involved, we had seven amazing clients who took on the challenge, along with seven incredible sighted guides, who supported them along the way.
• Thank you to everyone who got involved with the bigger point we were trying to make, around people doing their own challenges to demonstrate the Blind Foundation’s vision of a “life without limits.”
• For more information and highlights, visit:

Cookie Time’s Charitable Trust’s hero charity – Denise Kitto, National Manager for Customer Service and Advice.

• This year, the Blind Foundation has been selected as Cookie Time Charitable Trust’s hero charity, for their Christmas Cookie campaign.
• A donation from the cookie sales will go towards supporting services such as the Blind Foundation library, guides dogs, adaptive technology, children and youth support and much more.
• Cookie Time is on a mission to raise $250,000 for charity, so keep an eye out for the sellers who are out in the community.Find out more on our website.

Braille challenge – the reaction from the blind community on social media – Chantelle Griffiths, Braille Awareness Coordinator.

• Chantelle created her own 7 Day challenge this year, calledSeven Words, Seven Ways, Seven Verses, Seven Days Braille Challenge.
• For this challenge, she wanted to share about braille in a fun and unique way, so she came up with the idea of writing one poem over the course of the challenge. The poem would consist of seven verses and each verse was made up of seven words. She introduced one new way of writing braille with every verse, with the aim of encouraging people within the blindness community who don’t use braille as much as they would like, or who haven’t used it in a long time, to try something new with braille or to rethink how they can use it in their daily lives.
• Chantelle said:“It’s also a great way to share braille with blind and low vision, and sighted people alike who may not know a lot about it or how it’s used every day by braille readers.”
• Chantelle filmed each way of writing braille and posted it to The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust (BANZAT) Facebook page, and it was the videos that really got people engaged. She knows of several people who have done, or are doing, their own versions of the Braille Challenge, and who are now thinking about braille in a new way, as a result of her videos.
• Her posts were shared and connected with people from around New Zealand, Australia and as far away as Samoa.
• The final result of the challenge was a brilliant poem by Chantelle:

Love notes, inspiring quotes, reading passes time.

Music scores, restroom doors, orient with signs.

Braille paper, Dymo tape or Perkins, stylus, slates.

Reading news, interviews, Facebook posts from mates.

Work, study, braille’s your buddy; independent living.

Louis Brailledidn’t fail, legacy keeps giving.

Scrabble, bingo, tic-tac-toe, makes learning braille fun.

Six dots, loving lots, braille for everyone.

Staff profile

• This month we get to know Roland Brownlee, Digital and Collection Services Librarian based in Awhina House. Roland works on digital projects for the Blind Foundation library. He also delivers research and reference services, and administers the Blind Foundation online repository and historical archive.
• Roland’s focus has been the ongoing development of the BookLink service, which provides audio content directly to clients.
• Music is Roland's main interest. He impressively plays the piano, guitar, bass and violin. This year, he has also started collecting antique synths from the 80s and 90s, as the opportunity arises.
• Roland's favourite artist is the singer-guitarist Kristin Hersh, of the Throwing Muses. He said: "Her 2005 album, "Golden Ocean", with her other band 50 Foot Wave has been daily listening for some time. It's incredibly taut and well-produced, and the musicianship is amazing."

Equipment Display Days

Below are the next equipment display days up until the end of February 2018. As the details may be subject to change, please call your local Blind Foundation office to confirm.

For further information on any of the above, please contact the Marketing Team at or 0800 24 33 33.