Image: Medal Winning Visually Impaired Paralympians
Warwickshire Vision Christmas 2016
Headline: Super Humans
Image: Medal winning visually impaired Paralympians
Vacancy
Chairman - Board of Trustees/Directors
Editorial
Merry Xmas – a poem by Sheila Venville, Warwick
Staff Christmas card
News from Warwickshire Vision Support
Community Updates
George Eliot Hospital
Staff Change
Election Board Meeting (EBM)
General Meeting - 19thOctober
Fundraising Update
Local Ukulele Band visitsAtherstone
Certificate of Visual Impairment
Warwickshire Vision Support wins Contract for Rehabilitation
Are you Registered as a VIP?
What is a CVI?
What does Warwickshire Vision Support Do?
Registration Numbers
Are you missing out on the Benefits of Registration?
People
Daphne Hinton
Life Stories
Harold’s Story
Delphine’s Memoir
Bob’s Story
Wendy’s family history
Lynne Rock
Queen honours PioneerofBlind Football
Health and Wellbeing
The Glasses that Read for You
Being Diagnosed
Glaucoma Medication
Early Diagnosis by AI
Optical Coherence Tomography
Magnification
Features
Super Humans
Kenilworth Talking NewsAssociation
Discrimination
The Rough Guide to AccessibleBritain
A Day in the life of a SmartPhone – Part 3
New Money
The New Fiver
The new £1 Coin
Warwickshire Vision Information
Acknowledgements
Back Page
Vacancy
Chairman - Board of Trustees/Directors
Warwickshire Vision Support has a vacancy for a Chairman, as the term ofoffice of the current Chairman, Peter Soles, is coming to an end.
The ideal candidate should have a professional or commercial background. He/she will have experience of leading and delivering growth, and be ambitious for what we can become.
Our new Chairman will be joining us at an exciting time when there is opportunity to contribute expertise and skills to a number of new initiatives. Over the next few months we are conducting an exercise to identify the key priorities for people with sight loss in Warwickshire. Having asked the questions, we will need to find some answers, making wise choices that will help us deliver more and better support to our beneficiaries.
The organisation is financially sound and has a wonderful team of dedicated staff and volunteers.The Chairman will lead our Board of Trustees/Directors, who have ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of the organisation and ensure that we remain solvent, well-run and meet the needs of our service users.The Chairman will need to have knowledge of The Companies Act 2006 and the Charity Acts.
A full copy of the vacancy advertisement can be seen on our web page.
Warwickshire Vision Support is an equal opportunities organisation. Weparticularly welcome applications from people with sight loss.
In order to explore whether this is the right opportunity for you to bring your skills and experience to serve your community, please contact Barbara Main at Warwickshire Vision Support.
Editorial
Congratulations to the British team of Paralympians, who exceeded expectations by winning a total of 147 medals, 64 of which were gold at Rio 2016. We hope their achievements will help to raise the profile of disability.
This summer has been a busy and important time at WVS. A lot of work has taken place to respond to Warwickshire County Council’s Invitation to Tender to provide rehabilitation and support services for visually impaired adults for the next 3 years. We have been providing statutory rehabilitation services on WCC’s behalf for over 30 years and this is the first time that the contract has been put out to public tender.
Voting Members have taken part in the elections for the Trustees/Directors. The Board that they make up is the body that guides the direction of WVS, establishing the charitable services that will be provided. If you, or anyone you know, has relevant expertise and would be interested in joining the Board they should contact the office. Volunteers in a variety of roles are vital in helping the Association to provide the range of charitable services that it does. New Volunteers are always welcome.
We are grateful to the people who have contributed to this edition of Warwickshire Vision. We look forward to receiving your contributions for the Spring issue by the end of January.
We now have a Facebook page -
We wish you
good health and happiness for Christmas and the NewYear.
Merry Xmas – a poem by Sheila Venville, Warwick
There’ve been robins in my garden all year.
These city bred show very little fear.
The urban growth is more like old woodland
Than our countryside and working farmland.
I thought the use of Christmas cards would die
With digital greetings, no stamps to buy.
But last year I underestimated
How my own home would be decorated
By people I meet quite regularly
Handing over their selections to me.
This year a boxed assortment is my choice
And I can almost hear robin’s loud voice
As two of four traditional designs
Feature the red-breasted stalwart of mine.
One tops a round collection box for mail
With holly surround filling empty space.
All is fringed with snow, red berries galore
Conveying cold we don’t get any more.
On the second card that’s framed like a stamp
A robin perches on ice-festooned branch.
Robin was the nickname for the postmen
Of Victorian times because the red
Fronts of uniforms mimicked the feathers,
Encouraging mail and bird together.
For over one hundred years this linking
Has evolved and changed without our thinking.
In future robins might not symbolise
One time of year as italics inside
These cards wish clearly, simply, sincerely
Merry Xmas
Staff Christmas card
image of robin and staff signatures wishing you a Merry Christmas
News from Warwickshire Vision Support
Community Updates
Hello! It’s been a busy time within the Community Team recently as the team increased in size (from only Sue to Sue, Helen and Felicity!) and we launched a number of new projects, including My Sight groups in Nuneaton, regular hospital advice services at George Eliot Hospital, and much, much more. This column will be a regular opportunity for us to keep you up-to-date with what the Community Team has been getting up to in our quest to provide every visually impaired person living in Warwickshire with the information and support they require to live life to the full.
Rugby
Since the last magazine went to print, the Community Team has started holding information and advice services at St Cross Hospital on Wednesday afternoons. Similar to our services in other outpatient eye clinics, we work closely with the clinicians to ensure people who may benefit from our help are signposted to our Advice Desk. And with our bright yellow signs you’d have a hard time missing us! Although it’s on the quieter side at the minute, we know there is a need for the service and it will take time to work out which clinics are the right ones for us to target.
Nuneaton
Helen and Felicity have been drumming up support for the charity by hosting pop-up volunteer recruitment events across the county’s libraries, including Nuneaton. This was one of the most successful events with four people expressing their interest in volunteering their time with us across a breadth of roles. Amongst those showing an interest were an accountant, a stay-at-home mother, and a registered nurse so it shows how there really is a role for everyone at WVS!
In all of the libraries we attended we have been able to network with the library staff about our work and also learn more about what services they have for visually impaired residents. We’ve also been able to speak with volunteers at the Silver Surfers programmes (a free computer course for people of retirement age) about the IT services WVS provides so they can signpost people to us if they recognise the need. This builds on the work our IT expert, Rebecca, has been doing to create links within the community.
Stratford-upon-Avon
Healthwatch Warwickshire recently contacted us to ask if they could attend a Vision Support Centre to gather the views of local people on local health and social care provision. Knowing our Stratford regulars are a talkative bunch, and the date fitted with the project’s deadline, we welcomed researcher Hilary Bath to join us on 16th August. All the views she gathered will be compiled to produce a report to inform local service providers. All comments will be anonymous. It was a pleasure to have Hilary join us and she said she thoroughly enjoyed the morning and had the best job imaginable! (That may have been the fancy Marks and Spencer’s Jaffa Cakes talking … they were delicious!)
George Eliot Hospital
Warwickshire Vision Support is now offering an Advice and Information service at George Eliot Hospital Eye Clinic. With the help of Lottery Funding a new My Sight Service for people in Nuneaton, Bedworth and North Warwickshire is funded for 3years.
The aim of this service is to provide information and advice to Patients who may be having difficulties because of sight loss. We hope, with the help of Staff, to identify people and guide them into our service and/or direct them to support from other Agencies such as Action for Blind People.
In addition to our Advice Service we will be starting a new My Sight group for people who are newly registered or recently visually impaired. This will take place at the Newtown Community Centre, Nuneaton. We will start a ‘rolling programme’ from the beginning of January. Over a period of 5 weeks we will cover Eye Conditions, Rehabilitation and Equipment, Benefits, Employment and Education and other Services available. People will not have to commit to every week but can choose to come when it is convenient. Over the year we will try and set up some similar workshops at Coleshill and Atherstone.
We need Volunteers to help us undertake both of these services. Wewould particularly welcome visually impaired Volunteers who could help us to help newly visually impaired people.
For further information please contact WVS and ask to speak to someone in the Community Team.
Staff Change
Helen
On 3rd August 2016 our Community Worker Helen got married. She is now Helen Gillies. I know you will join with me in wishing Helen and her husband every happiness and good fortune for the future.
Election Board Meeting (EBM)
At the EBM on 29th September, Lesley Edwards was re-elected and Heather Fairbairn and Jeff Perry were elected.
The eligible voting members comprised 49 sighted and 223 visually impaired. Overall 26% of members voted.
Howard Burgess (VI) and Philip Austin resigned during September. Howard Burgess was a member of the Board for 10 years, seven of which were as Vice Chairman.
The Board is now:
- Peter Soles (Chairman)
- Jeff Perry (Vice-Chairman)
- Kath Phelps (Company Secretary)
- Lesley Edwards (Treasurer)
- Heather Fairbairn
- Richard Orme
- Steve Plumpton (VI)
- Rosemary Went
General Meeting - 19thOctober
Peter Soles, Chairman, introduced himself and welcomed the 29 attendees to the General Meeting in Atherstone. He introduced the Board members present - Jeff Perry, Rosemary Went, Steve Plumpton and said Heather Fairbairn was on her way; Staff - John Davis (Manager), Helen Gilles and Rebecca Hunt were also introduced.
He gave the good news that WVS had been awarded the Service Level Agreement for Rehabilitation services by WCC and spoke of the job security it gave to the Staff. He explained that the Articles of Association meant that he would be retiring as Chairman after 9 years. It had been good fun and hard work.
John Davis reiterated WVS’s need for not only a new Chairman but also additional Trustees. He spoke of the enthusiasm brought by the three new members of staff – Rebecca, Helen, and Felicity. He said the Commissioners who had awarded the new Rehabilitation contract were pleased with the value of the services provided by the charitable part of WVS, such as the Clubs and Vision Support Centres. He described the differences between the old and new contract.
Rebecca Hunt, the IT Officer, said she didn’t want to bore people with new technology. Instead she told the story of someone aged 76¾ who had ‘managed very well without all this new fangled IT business’. However, she ‘came round’.
Peter Soles awarded the George Marshall Trophy for 2016 to Lynne Rock. He commented on the happy atmosphere and after the meeting everyone enjoyed freshly made sandwiches and cake served by the Club Volunteers.
Fundraising Update
Phil Arkell, Fundraising Manager
Annual Fundraising Drive
Last year, we abolished the £12 Membership Fee and introduced a system of voluntary donations. We did this because we wanted our services to be free to everyone who needs them whilst giving you the choice to make a donation towards the services you receive.
I am happy to report that last year we raised approximately £5,000 – about the same amount that we raised from the old membership fee. We were particularly pleased that 30 people took out Standing Orders (monthly, quarterly or annually) to support us - making a collective contribution of about £1,000 over the last 12 months.
By now many of you will have received this year’s request for support. We simply ask that if you value the service you receive, and are willing and able to make a donation to support it, then please complete the form and send it back to us.
Making a donation by Standing Order is much easier for us to process and helps us plan for the future. But of course we are delighted to receive any donation you are happy to make.
I would like to thank everyone who has made a donation – your support means that we can continue to provide you with the services you need.
Legacy Gifts
A legacy is a special gift that lives on after your death. Last year we were extremely fortunate to receive a number of Legacy gifts to the value of nearly £100,000. Without such enormous generosity, Warwickshire Vision Support would have made a substantial loss that could have resulted in cuts to your services.
We are asking you to consider leaving a Legacy to Warwickshire Vision Support in your Will.
Making a Will is important to all of us in today’s world. Of course, our main concern is to look after our family, to preserve our family heirlooms for future generations and to help the younger generation in these difficult economic times.
However, many of us also want to leave something behind that truly symbolises the way we lived our life. Your Legacy is a testament to your lasting generosity, to your beliefs and your desire to help others after you have gone.
A gift in your Will does not have to be large to make a difference. Just a small percentage of what is left, after your loved ones are provided for, could make a real difference to someone living with sight loss.
If you would like to leave a Legacy gift, please talk with your solicitor about making changes to your Will.
Thank you
for your kind consideration.
Local Ukulele Band visitsAtherstone
Paul Bowler, Coleshill
Atherstone VIP Club was entertained by members of the Nuneaton Ukulele Jam Band, who visited the club to give a concert one Wednesday in August.
The band, founded in 2014 with a grant from the Community Chest scheme, has around 30 members, and performs at a range of venues, including clubs and residential homes, as well as at charity events. A popular part of the Nuneaton music scene, last year the Jam Band notched up 120 appearances locally.
Our concert kicked off shortly before midday, and as this was the second occasion on which the band had visited the club, we knew we were in for a treat. Opening with Babyface, a song recorded by many, including Little Richard, the band thrilled with a selection of popular hits from the 1950s and 1960s, together with one or two more recent numbers, all of them performed to the accompaniment of the guitar-like instrument, first invented by the Hawaiians. Favourites included Things, Achy Breaky Heart, I Just Wanna Dance The Night Away, You’re Sixteen, Calendar Girl, Travellin’ Light and Sunny Afternoon.
Ukulele bands are always a pleasure to watch, and it is easy to see why the Nuneaton Jam Band is so popular. They quickly had the audience singing and tapping along to many well-known songs, and encouraged us to call out the months when it came to Calendar Girl (something that didn’t go entirely without one or two hitches). Two hours in their company passed far too quickly, and it was soon time for them to go, but they have promised to visit again later in the year.
All of the members give up their time for free, while raising money for good causes, and each year they support a chosen charity. This year’s are Macmillan Cancer and the Mary Ann Evans Hospice, and at concerts audience members are invited to make a contribution. In 2015, this helped the band to raise £6,000 for the Myton Hospice. Hopefully this year their fundraising efforts will be equally as fruitful.