Viewpoint A Quarterly Newsletter November 2011
Barnet Borough Sight Impaired (BBSI)
Telephone/Answerphone: 020 8359 3767
E-mail:
Website:
Registered Charity No: 1058045
Welcome to the winter edition of Viewpoint. As I write it is very mild but let’s be prepared for what may come. Last year it was -2°C by the end of November and there must have been snow about that time! So have those hot water bottles on stand-by!
This month, we start with the future programme so that it will be much easier to find when you open up the Newsletter. So here goes:
Future Meetings
Tuesday 6th December – Questions & Quiz
Tuesday 10th January 2012–A musical entertainment
Tuesday 7th February – To be arranged
Tuesday 6th March AGM chaired by Andrew Cox of MAB
Please note that the next meeting will be held from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm on Tuesday 6th December 2011 at St Mary’s Church Hall, near Rectory Close, 30-32 Hendon Lane, N3 1TS. Also please note that we have the January meeting on the second Tuesday rather than the first as many volunteers may not be available at New Year.
To get to our meeting by bus, the best one is the 125 which terminates by the Library, a two-minute walk from the Church Hall. Alternatively, there are the buses 143, 326, 82 or 460, all of which stop a short walk from the venue. The closest tube station is Finchley Central. For further travel enquiries or further information about BBSI, please phone (020)
8359 3767.
By the way, if you’d like to speak to a real person at the BBSI office, your opportunity is on Wednesdays from 10.30am to 12 noon. At other times, it is possible to leave a message which will be responded to as soon as possible.
Change of Name!
If you need to call the London Borough of Barnet for help for with regard to visual impairment, please call 020 8359 5000 and explain you need the Occupational and Rehabilitation Team which is the new name for The Sensory Team. You will be put through to Social Care Direct, who will take your details and pass them on to the relevant staff who were formerly part of the Sensory Team.It is very important that referrals are made to this Team because if they don’t receive a sufficient number, the department may suffer from further cuts to their budget.
Nystagmus
Nystagmus is the name of a condition which involves the eye ball moving about in an involuntary manner. As it may be the first sign of a serious disorder of the eye or the brain, it is vital that when nystagmus first develops the child or adult is referred to an eye specialist or a neurologist.
It is not known accurately but nystagmus is believed to affect between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 2,000 individuals.
Nystagmus affects people in many ways and the effects vary from person to person. In almost all cases, vision will be impaired. It can have different effects but the most common is often associated with reduced sight. The degree of sight loss varies from mild to very poor vision and can be related to an underlying condition, if present. Many people with nystagmus are eligible to be registered as severely sight impaired/blind or as sight impaired/partially sighted. Being registered as severely sight impaired/blind does not necessarily mean that you are totally without sight, or will lose all your sight in the future.
At present it cannot be cured but there are several treatments which can help. Nystagmus is not painful and does not lead to progressive loss of vision
RNIB Helpline telephone: 0303 123 9999
Email: They are ready to answer your call Monday to Friday 8.45am to 5.30pm. Outside these times leave a message and you'll hear from them as soon as possible.
Nystagmus NetworkHelpline: 0845 634 2630
Email:
World Sight Day 2011
This was on October 13th. It was marked by organisations and institutions around the world. An estimated 284 million people worldwide are visually impaired, yet 80% of cases are due to causes which could have been prevented, treated or cured.
Marks and Spencer’s
To help you with your Christmas shopping, M & S in partnership with RNIB produce a CD copy of ‘Your M&S’ magazine. If you wish to receive this CD magazine every two months then please contact Marks and Spencer’s directly by registering your details online at or you can contact their Customer Services team on 08454 302 1234
Other well-known high-street companies, such as Boots the Chemist, also offer a similar service. For further details, please contact Sandra who will try to get the information you need.
Torch Trust
The Torch Trust is a Christian Group which has resources for blind and partially sighted people worldwide. It runs activities
and arranges special interest breaks: For further information on holidays or general enquiries you can telephone 01858 438 260 or email
A local TORCH group meets in Barnet, (for adults of all ages), on the 3rd Saturday in the month from 3pm – 5pm. They enjoy fellowship and singing followed by a tea with sandwiches and cakes. For further details, please call Val on 020 8441 3440
Age-related Macular Degeneration – A cure gets closer…
A report on the Today Programme Radio 4 on 5th October concerned another breakthrough in stem-cell technology which would allow a patient’s own DNA to be used which would avoid the major disadvantage of the body’s rejection of the stem-cells. This discovery could bring a cure forward by several years.
General Meeting Reports.
6th September 2011 This month ‘Live Music Now’ was represented by an excellent trio of young ladies called The Joaquin Trio. They met at the Royal College of Music and started to play together quite soon after starting because Zoë, who plays the viola, wanted this combination in preference to playing along with other string instruments and she knew of music written especially for these instruments. Her colleagues were Jessie from Ireland on the clarinet and Charis from Canada on the piano. The girls wore black and red for their recital.
They had also taken care over the repertoire which included an Allegretto from Mozart, a movement written for Anton Stadler who was a famous contemporary of Mozart. The beautiful melodies told a story with dialogues between the instruments. We also heard Robert Schumann’s lullaby.
Jessie introduced most of the music which came from many styles and fashions over the years including Scott Joplin’s ‘Entertainer’, Cole Porter’s, ‘Anything Goes’ to contemporary music by Adam Gorb. This particular piece was chosen because it was easy on the ear. And to finish, the trio played a fast, technically difficult piece which made sure we were ready for tea!
4thOctober 2011 The north-east of England didn’t escape from the war although it could have suffered much more, said George Lunn, who gave BBSI a fascinating talk on his experience of being an evacuee. As he was a nine-year-old boy when he left his home, he had a young boy’s perspective of the war. Unlike many children who went off alone into the unknown as evacuees, George, his twin brother and the family dog went by family car to stay with an aunt (who they hardly knew) and an invalid grandmother in the Yorkshire Dales. Within a week of the evacuation the boys had places in the local village school with the locals and evacuees from Gateshead. There was a terrific mix of class of children but George felt that there was no discrimination or bullying and he had nothing but admiration for the school and the teachers there.
He remembered his accommodation which was a large house on the edge of the moor about a mile or so from the village. His family lived there comfortably although there was no gas or electricity and the facilities were outside. Of course, walking was the usual mode of transport, whatever the weather. The height of a pair of wellingtons was the limiting factor for the route they would take to school if there was snow. That was, if the snow came above the boots, they would have to avoid the fields and go by road. The winters of 1939 and 1940 were very hard, there were vast amounts of snow and it was bitterly cold. However, the schools never closed and the children got to school on their own with their packed lunch of marmite sandwiches. This snow also allowed wonderful sledging opportunities, especially at night under the full moon. Sled runs could be found everywhere and the length of these sledging runs depended on how skilful the children were at negotiating the gaps in the dry stone walls.
After a year at the village school, they moved to a boarding school further down the valley but that was for a short time as their father died and it was decided they should move back to Tynemouth to live with their mother. The house was on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Tyne allowing them to see every ship which came in. To make sure there were no unwelcome visitors from overseas, the beautiful golden sands were out of bounds and were protected by mines and barbed wire. The north-east only had a few air-raids and attacks with sirens going off only occasionally. For the boys, the critical thing was that the all-clear shouldn’t sound before 11.30pm.If it did, they had to go to school at the usual time of 9am but if it was after, then school would start at 9.30am. They had a Morrison’s shelter which was a huge iron table with a double mattress underneath. The last bombing raid in Tyneside was in 1943 so for those in the north-east, war seemed to finish although the people were sorely aware of what was happening in the south and the privations of war continued. Unfortunately, George’s eldest brother was killed in the Normandy landings in 1944 and other neighbours and friends lost members of their families.
He finished by saying that although the war was horrendous, he has some good memories of the time and he still likes Marmite!
‘i-Glasses’- ultrasonic obstacle detecting glasses
The iGlasses are an ultrasonic obstacle detection device developed by RNIB and AmbuTech. They aredesigned to be used as a secondary mobility device alongside a cane or guide dog. Worn like spectacles the iGlasses provide vibration feedback when you near a potential hazard at head or chest height. When you approach obstacles such as overgrown branches, hanging signs or baskets, the frequency of the vibration will increase – giving the wearer more confidence to explore the surroundings. The frames and arms are black with either clear or brown-tinted lenses.
Product code: ME14 £95.99 inc VAT, £79.99 ex VAT
To order or find out more contact RNIB on 0303 123 9999
The Geffrye Museum of the Home
Handling Sessions for Blind and Partially Sighted Visitors.
The museum is located a short bus ride (243) from Old Street tube station and was formerly housing for single elderly ladies until the early 20th century. Now it uses the buildings to explore the home over the past 400 years, focusing on the living rooms of the urban middle classes. The rooms show the changes in society, patterns of behaviour as well as style, fashion and taste.
Visitors can tour the museum’s period rooms with the free audio guide or they can attend a monthly object handling session or talk. The sessions are free but places are limited so please book in advance: or telephone 020 7739 9893
Free Audio Books
Written by Jane Austen in 1813, Pride and Prejudice remains one of English Literature’s best-loved books – the ultimate romantic comedy. It follows feisty Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with the rigid 19th century etiquette, all the while dodging her mother’s plans to have her and her sisters married off. The catch of the time is brooding bachelor Mr Darcy. He is suspected of spoiling Elizabeth’s sister’s chances with Mr Bingley amongst other deeds but in the end he is revealed as a true hero, ensuring a happy-ever-after which continues to inspiredaydreams in readers the world over. You can download it free at If you have some sight,many other classic books are available at no charge on ibooks and Kindle, an electronic book which is available from Amazon.co.uk for about £89. Then it is possible to choose your own font, background and the Kindle is backlit to prevent glare. Reading to yourself can become a pleasure again.
Metro Sports and Social Club
This is a London based sports and social club for visually impaired people of all ages primarily living within the M25. The ages of the current members range from 13 to 80+.
The Club Aims:
1To enable visually impaired people to participate in sports at any level.
2Where possible to offer some form of financial assistance to allow them to participate at sometimes costly events.
3To organise social events across a wide range of interests
For further information call Maureen Brace on 01708 456 832
Time for a Smile
The company asked for a password seven characters long so I gave them ‘The Seven Dwarves.’
What is it with these half-men, half-horses? They always want to be the ‘centaur’ of attention!
BBSI Fundraising
The Quiz supper on 15thOctober raised £655. This year there were 83 guests at St Paul’s-in-Finchley. They finished with very high scores, answering questions varying in subject from‘songs for the very young’to identifying initials such as VIP. Of course, this means ‘Visually Impaired Person’!
Thank you for listening/reading!
The views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of BBSI.
Editor: Sandra Roeder, 15 Wickliffe Avenue, N3 3EL
Tel: 020 8346 7641 e-mail:
Items for inclusion in the next issue should be submitted not later than: 10th January 2012
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