Front Cover
Christmas 2014 Warwickshire Vision Magazine
Welcome to Warwickshire Vision Support, the new name for Warwickshire Association for the Blind
Editorial
We welcome you to this first edition of Warwickshire Vision, which is the new name for WAB Mag.
As Warwickshire Association for the Blind, WAB, has changed its name to Warwickshire Vision Support, the name WAB Mag would have become meaningless within a short space of time. It therefore seemed appropriate for this magazine to change its name, to reflect the name change of the Association.
For the launch of the ‘new’ magazine, the distribution has been widened to include the whole of the charity’s database - everyone who is registered as visually impaired in Warwickshire or has received assistance from WAB because they had problems related to their sight. This wider distribution is just for the launch of Warwickshire Vision.
The language we use is changing all the time; new words come into use, other words fall out of use and the meaning of some words changes. All this happens through common usage, which is why English is a living language. To keep up to date one must be relevant and communicate, and that is most important for Warwickshire Vision Support, which will continue its aim of serving all people with sight loss in Warwickshire and Coventry. The object of our charity is ‘to improve the quality of life of visually impaired people in Warwickshire and Coventry by: helping people to come to terms with visual loss developing accessible advice, information and support services which enable visually impaired people to have more choice, greater independence and healthier lifestyles.’
In this magazine we feature the reasons for our change of name, and what was involved. Another feature is Volunteering: what the invaluable dedication and time given by Volunteers enables our charity to do. There’s travel information, and much more.
We welcome any comments or suggestions about this magazine - do get in touch. Please send contributions for a Spring edition bythe end of January.
We hope that you, and all our readers, enjoy this first edition of Warwickshire Vision, and that new readers will wish to continue receiving this publication.
We wish everyone a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.
Rosemary Went, Editor and Rosalie Visick Co-Editor
Warwickshire Vision is distributed FREE to Subscribing Members of Warwickshire Vision Support
This publication is also available in digital audio, Braille and by email
For more information, please contact us
01926 411331
Email: on
Website: www.warwickshire.vision
Warwickshire Vision Support is the operating name of Warwickshire Association for the Blind. A company limited by guarantee.
Registered in England and Wales Number 6511954
CharityRegistration Number 1123220
Acknowledgements
Grateful thanks are expressed to Kenilworth Talking News for producing the digital audio version of Warwickshire Vision and to Phil Arkell for the layout of the printed version.
We acknowledge the use of information from Coventry Telegraph, Daily Telegraph, NB, RNIB, Sunday Telegraph and Vision.
Views expressed in Warwickshire Vision are not necessarily those of the management of Warwickshire Vision Support.
Editorial 1
Acknowledgements 1
Keeping up with the Times 3
Farewell to WAB 3
Welcome to Warwickshire Vision Support 3
The Quest for a New Look 4
Rebranding does not have to be expensive 4
Same Place - New Name 5
New Website Launch 5
News from Warwickshire Vision Support 5
Elaine Ball 5
Advocacy 5
General Meeting - 23rdOctober 2014 6
Trustees/Directors for2014/15 6
Jade England 7
New Face 7
Staff Christmas card to Members 7
Medical 7
What can your phone do? 7
Glaucoma Pressure 7
Stem Cells 8
Dementia and Cataracts 8
More Dementia Sufferers 8
Local Treatment for Presbyopia 9
Financial Matters 9
Fundraising Report 9
New Coins 10
Accessing Money 10
Your Legacy Remains the Same – No Need to Change 10
Volunteers Wanted 10
Volunteering 11
What I gained fromVolunteering 11
Celebrating Service 12
Farewell Celebration 12
Service User Testimonials 12
Classifieds 12
Travel and Holidays 13
Safe and Sound 13
Project LiveWire 13
Driverless Vehicles 13
Traveleyes 13
Holidays 14
The Museum for the Blind 14
National Travel 14
Leisure 15
A Visit to BirminghamJazzFestival 15
RNIB’s Insight Radio 15
Big Print 16
Games 16
Warwick Bowls Club 16
Cinema Discounts 16
VocalEyes 16
VisionAid Advert 17
Keeping up with the Times
Farewell to WAB
Why the Change
On 1st November 2014, we said farewell to the name Warwickshire Association for the Blind – a name that had served us admirably for 103 years. It was a difficult decision, a decision that could, if not carried out correctly, plunge us into obscurity or damage our excellent hard earned reputation. We based our decision on listening to a wide range of people.
The Experiences of our RehabilitationOfficers
Every year, our Rehabilitation Officers work with about 800 people recently diagnosed with sight loss. Of this number, perhaps 30 people have no vision, and in the past would have been classified as blind. In the experience of our Rehab Officers, of the other 770 partially sighted people, most did not consider themselves blind and did not want others to label them as blind.
In practical terms this meant that some people elected not to use our services because they felt they were only for blind people and thus they did not qualify for help, whilst others rejected our services because they did not identify themselves with the word blind.
This was very important to us because it meant that a large number of people were not receiving the help they needed. Our services must be accessible and attractive to everyone living with sight loss. We know that losing ones sight is extremely traumatic and we want to make sure that anyone going through this life changing event feels comfortable in approaching us for help and support.
Opinions and Attitudes of HospitalEyeClinicStaff and Patients
For the last few years we have operated an ‘Advice Desk’ at the Machen Eye Clinic in Warwick. At first, we called it the Warwickshire Association for the Blind Advice Desk but noticed that patients were reluctant to approach us. The reason given was that people did not consider themselves blind and that we were therefore not the organisation to help them. When we changed the name simply to ‘Vision Support Desk’ a much wider range of people approached us for advice and information.
This opinion was echoed by the Eye Clinic team who felt that the term ‘blind’ was out-dated and could be considered threatening to patients who feared what total blindness
could mean for them and their families.
Advice from the Local Authority
In our discussions with Warwickshire County Council’s Strategic Commissioners, who are responsible for awarding the Service Level Agreement for our Rehabilitation and Registration Services, we discovered that they were also very supportive of a name change. They felt that the name ‘Warwickshire Association for the Blind’ no longer reflected current thinking on sight loss and could discourage partially sighted people from using the service.
Feedback from Members
When we wrote to the membership informing you of the proposal to change the name of WAB, we received many responses – the vast majority of which were positive. Some respondents expressed initial concern but agreed with our reasoning after a brief discussion, whilst others were happy that we were finally moving forward and getting rid of a name that they considered old fashioned and inappropriate.
Moving Forward
Having assessed all this corroborative evidence, the Board concluded that the name ‘Warwickshire Association for the Blind’ was discouraging some people from asking for support and advice – a situation that could not be left unchecked.
We would like to reiterate that Warwickshire Vision Support remains your organisation working for all people living with sight loss in Warwickshire and Coventry and it is important that every person living with sight loss feels that they can come to us for support.
We believe that the name change represents our principles of inclusivity, empowerment, dignity and respect.
We hope you agree.
Welcome to Warwickshire Vision Support
Once the decision was taken to change our name, we had to come up with an alternative that we felt best described who we are and what we do. Many suggestions were considered, but we wanted something simple and self-explanatory – in essence, a name that ‘does what is says on the tin’!
…And what could be more straightforward than Warwickshire Vision Support.
By choosing this name, we wanted to make sure that anyone experiencing any form of sight loss would know that we work across the whole spectrum of visual impairment, and thus feel comfortable about approaching us. At the same time, we wanted a name that was neutral and reflected our values of respect, dignity, independence and choice.
However, there is one important rule. You will not hear us abbreviate Warwickshire Vision Support to WVS – many of you have already raised concerns about the similarity to the WRVS (Women’s Royal Voluntary Service). We share that concern and so will always use the name in full – it is after all still five syllables shorter than Warwickshire Association for the Blind!
We believe that we have chosen a name that will be timeless, that will serve us well for another one hundred years and one that will best represent us.
The Quest for a New Look
A new name provides the opportunity for a new look. We thought long and hard about whether we should keep the old WAB magnifier logo and considered many variations on a theme that would express continuity. Some of the ideas are shown below.
However, in the end, we decided that a new name deserved a fresh new look. We designed many different logos and distributed them to the Board and Staff team for feedback. On each occasion, we would select one or two favourites and develop ideas from different aspects of each logo.
Logo ideas ranged from an eye inside a magnifier, to the Warwickshire bear and ragged staff inside a magnifying glass.
In the end, it was Jenny Lane from the Rehabilitation Team who designed the new logo. The logo is a pair of light blue, cupped hands forming the shape of an eye, representing support, friendship and unity, with a pupil in the centre representing vision – around the eye are the words ‘Warwickshire Vision Support’.
We tried to keep the logo clean, simple and easy to interpret.
Rebranding does not have to be expensive
It is quite common for us to hear about rebrands that have cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds – huge quantities of money paid to logo designers, brand consultants and media specialists.
We all remember Royal Mail’s unfortunate attempt at rebranding to ‘Consignia’ in 2001 – an exercise that cost more than £1.5 million to implement and then a further £1 million to change back to Royal Mail.
However, charity rebranding can be a great success. The rebranding of StDunstan’s to British Blind Veterans is a good example – the profile of that charity has been raised and its income has increased considerably since changing its name. Even though the process is estimated to have cost a six-figure sum, it is expected that the rebrand will more than pay for itself in less than 5 years.
By rebranding, St Dunstan’s knew that they could tap into the groundswell of sympathy and support for returning injured troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. They knew that the name British Blind Veterans would give a clear and simple message to donors and that the benefits would flow.
When taking the decision to rebrand, WAB considered its primary reasons for changing the name as well as all the potential advantages and pitfalls of rebranding. Our focus was to encourage service users to access our services earlier and to provide them with the opportunity to maintain their confidence and independence for as long as possible. With this goal in mind, we decided to minimize expenditure by maximizing the use of skills and talents within the Association.
All the rebranding, design work, and document changes have been done in-house at minimal cost. Over the months leading up to the change, stocks of brochures, booklets and leaflets were all run down to ensure that when we needed to replenish our stocks, it would be with our rebranded versions. In fact, with the exception of the small legal costs necessary to establish the operating name Warwickshire Vision Support, a small redesign of the website and the purchase of one or two new signs, there were very few additional costs.
By carefully managing resources we hope that our new name for a new era will be better received in the knowledge that we kept costs to an absolute minimum.
Same Place - New Name
The name of WAB’s Drop-In Centres changed at the end of October. In November Warwickshire Vision Support opened Vision Support Centres. They will run in the same places and at the same times as before. All visitors are assured of the same warm welcome.
Vision Support Centres are located in towns all over Warwickshire and also in Coventry. Each Centre has a programme of events, including regular magnifier sessions and equipment displays.