Vision magazine
October/November 2015
Issue 74
Welcome
We have a reading and writing theme this edition as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of our much-loved Talking Books. So take a journey into your imagination, with an entry for this year’s members’ writing competition. We have a fantastic panel of judges including authors Robert Macfarlane and Chris Cleave. We also have creative writing tips, products and telephone writing groups run by authors, to help you get started. We look forward to reading your entries!
Harper Lee’s much-talked about novel, Go Set a Watchman, is reviewed in this edition by RNIB Trustee, Vidar Hjardeng. You can share your thoughts on the novel and any other tips, as well as read or listen to Vision content, on your new members’ online community: Vision – Your community.
Did you know that, over the past year, we’ve provided advice services to 66,000 people and identified nearly £15million in unclaimed welfare benefits? Our Chief Executive, Lesley-Anne Alexander, and Chair, Kevin Carey, outline some of the highlights of the past financial year in our annual report.
Plus news of the first “bionic eye” implant, updates on campaigns, a recipe for a warming curry, eye health and much more. I hope you’ll find your Vision useful and enjoyable!
Clare Conley, Managing Editor
News
Celebrating 80 years of RNIB Talking Books
A star-studded cast will perform a live recording of an Agatha Christie novel to celebrate the 80th anniversary of RNIB Talking Books this autumn.
The live recording of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd will take place at the British Library in London. This title was one of the first books recorded by RNIB back in1935. A special anniversary CD including the recording will be available for members of RNIB – we’ll bring you details in a future edition of your Vision magazine.
Eighty years ago, our Talking Book Service revolutionised reading for people with sight loss. Today, thanks to the support of donors, publishers and the hundreds of staff and volunteers who work hard behind the scenes, our growing collection of more than 23,000 unabridged books is listened to by nearly 30,000 people, in a wider range of formats than ever before.
Read with RNIB
Subscribe to RNIB Talking Books to enjoy more than 23,000 books on DAISY CD or USB stick, or more than 20,000 books by digital download using RNIB Overdrive at rnib.org.uk/overdrive
To request a free sample or trial of your preferred listening format, call our Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or email
October is a great month to... wear dots!
We are delighted that so many people are taking part in our Wear dots...raise lots, to raise awareness of braille and fundraise for RNIB.
Hundreds of schools, offices and groups around the UK are donning their dotty clothes and holding picnics, fashion shows and dotty tea parties. In Tadworth, the children of Co-operative Childcare made their own dotty T-shirts and invited parents, friends and colleagues to their special fashion show.
Get involved with Wear dots...raise lots
For more information or a free fundraising pack, go to rnib.org.uk/weardots or call 0845 345 0054.
Making TV more accessible to all
Many blind and partially sighted people tell us that they have difficulty or find it impossible to use their on-screen electronic programme guides (EPG). The guides include written, and therefore visual, information and details about when programmes are on and whether audio description is available.
Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, is now seriously considering revising its code of practice regarding EPGs, including accessibility issues. To start this process, the regulator has drafted a revised code of practice and is consulting upon whether to go ahead and make the changes it suggests.
Tell Ofcom what you think
We encourage you to respond to this new consultation to help convince Ofcom that the requirements on accessible TV need to be strengthened.
Visit rnib.org.uk/ofcomconsultation or call 020 7391 2123.
Dame Shirley Bassey and Barbara Windsor back our See the need, demand support campaign
Last month saw the launch of our See the need, demand support campaign. The message is simple: access to sight loss advisers in UK eye departments is simply not good enough. We demand more!
Celebrity supporters of RNIB including singer Shirley Bassey and actor, Barbara Windsor are backing the campaign by starring in online films. Adverts will also run on radio, billboards, buses and online and work to secure news stories around the UK, to get our message heard.
Every 15 minutes someone in the UK will be told they’re losing their sight. But only one in three eye departments currently has access to a sight loss adviser.
Behind the scenes, we’re working hard to secure long-term funding for sight loss advisers with local societies and partners. Each valuable signature will give us stronger power when speaking to local health bosses.
How to get involved
Sign a letter now at rnib.org.uk/see
Watch and share our films at rnib.org.uk/see
Call 020 7391 2073 to order a poster to place in your local community.
Need it to read it: your NHS information
We have a big success to share with you! In July 2015 theStandards Committee for Care Information (SCCI)approved a new NHS Information Standard.
The 1605 NHS Information Standard includes rules about:
· How and when NHS and adult social care services record your information and communication needs.
· Sharing your information and communication needs across services (with your permission so you don’t have to keep requesting alternative formats).
· How your information and communication needs are met.
Healthcare providers have until July 2016 to fully implement the standard, but there are elements that need to be implemented earlier.
This is a huge achievement and our thanks go out to everyone who has worked hard to support this RNIB campaign so far.
Join us and ensure your NHS information is accessible
We need to coordinate this campaign carefully so that we can track progress. The key steps will be:
1. Notify your GP officially about what format you need – please get in touch with us to find out how and when to do this.
2. Let us know that you have informed your GP so we can keep track.
Please pledge your support by visiting
rnib.org.uk/accessible-information-campaign
or call 020 7391 2123.
Call on NHS England to change decision on uveitis treatments
NHS England has rejected two treatments (Humira and Remicade) for patients with severe refractory uveitis. RNIB believes that this decision is wrong and could put around 100 children and 200 adults at risk of losing their sight every year.
Although patients with this condition currently receive steroids and immunosuppressants, these drugs only work in 60 per cent of individuals. The remaining 40 per cent are either not responsive or are unable to tolerate the side effects of these drugs and therefore these people need another option to save their sight. This is where Anti-TNF drugs (Remicade and Humira) could be used. Without rapid treatment, individuals with severe refractory uveitis are at risk of losing their sight.
RNIB’s Policy and Campaigns Manager, Clara Eaglen, is calling on supporters to help overturn this decision. She said: “RNIB needs your help to fight this unfair decision by writing to NHS England and urging them to reconsider. Let them know you object to allowing people to lose their sight when a treatment option exists. If enough pressure is applied, this decision could be reviewed and possibly changed in the coming months”.
Voice your views
Write to NHS England or send our electronic form at http://bit.ly/1N408I0 or call 020 7391 2123.
Help us defend rehabilitation support
Local councils are now deciding their budgets for 2016/17 and we need them to understand how important it is to continue providing funding for rehabilitation services. We know that councils are facing tough decisions in the face of further budget cuts, so we need you to help us to defend rehabilitation.
As many of you are aware, rehabilitation provides blind and partially sighted people with the support they need to live independently and to adapt to living with sight loss. It includes learning skills and building confidence for:
• Mobility to learn regular travel routes.
• Living at home safely and independently including kitchen skills, cleaning and maintaining the home.
• And also identifying and supplying the right equipment to assist people both in and outside the home.
Contact your local council
Ask your council not to reduce their spend on rehabilitation support. You could share your experiences of what a difference it’s made to you. Visit rnib.org.uk/socialcarecampaign or call 020 7391 2123.
On my street
A number of councils have taken action on street blockages and agreed to meet up to develop a Street Charter, following our fortnight of action for our Who Put That There? campaign this July. Thank you to everyone who got involved and made it such a success.
During the fortnight, our campaign supporters set up blindfold walks, making councillors and other key decision-makers more aware of the obstacles and dangers blind and partially sighted face when walking down the street.
As a result of the fortnight of action, councils including Bath and North East Somerset, Newcastle, Exeter, Clitheroe and Colchester have agreed to review street policies.
What can I do to stop street clutter?
You can get involved by contacting your local council and other key decision makers and urging them to create a Street Charter. Street Charters can be tailored to tackle the particular problems in your area.You’ll find ideas and advice at rnib.org.uk/onmystreet or call 020 7391 2123.
Stagecoach signs up to our bus charter
Our bus campaign has scored another success. Stagecoach, the UK’s second largest transport group, has signed up to our bus charter and pledged to make improvements to their bus services for blind and partially sighted people.
Over 20 campaigners joined the Chair of RNIB Scotland, Sandra Wilson, at the launch of the charter at Stagecoach's headquarters in Perth this July. Representatives from Scotland and England's youth campaign groups, Haggeye and Envision, also went along. Campaigners spent time talking to drivers, inspectors and managers about their experiences using Stagecoach buses.
Stagecoach Managing Director, Robert Montgomery, said: “Across the country, our drivers and other staff have taken part in Swap with me events as part of our drive to understand the practical issues faced by blind and partially sighted people. We are committed to making bus travel an easier choice."
A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the success of our bus campaign – but we still have more work to do.
What next for our bus campaign?
The UK's two largest bus operators, First Bus and Stagecoach, have now signed up to our charter. So our next target is Arriva, the third largest bus company.
Read the bus charter and more information about our bus campaign at rnib.org.uk/bus or call 020 7391 2123.
First bionic eye implanted for AMD
Surgeons in Manchester recently performed the world’s first “bionic eye” implant on a patient with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The groundbreaking procedure was carried out as part of a trial of the Argus II retinal implant, at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. Ray Flynn, 80, who had no central vision after being diagnosed with dry AMD eight years ago, was able to see the outlines of people again after the treatment.
Professor Paulo Stanga, Professor of Ophthalmology and Retinal Regeneration at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital carried out the four-hour operation. He said that these initial trials are only for dry AMD but if they prove successful, they could look at trying it on patients with the advanced and scarred wet form of AMD. Implants have previously been trialled for people with retinitis pigmentosa.
Patients with the implant wear glasses fitted with a small video camera. This sends images wirelessly to the implant, stimulating the remaining working cells in the retina, which can result in the patient seeing patterns of light. With practice, patients may learn to interpret these signals and regain some meaningful sight, like seeing outlines of people and objects.
Are you interested in taking part in trials?
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital is recruiting four more patients with advanced end stage dry AMD to take part in trials. Contact Danielle Ridyard in the research office on 0161 701 7691 or email or for more information, visit research.cmft.nhs.uk
Your voice: writing competition
Create a journey
Take a step into creative writing and enter our annual competition.
The theme of this year’s competition is journeys. Are you a budding Bill Bryson or a latter-day Kerouac? Or would you rather travel somewhere in your imagination? Maybe you’d rather take the theme more metaphorically and write about an emotional journey? Transport us in any genre – fiction, non-fiction or poetry. The choice is yours and you’ve got till 15 January 2016 to take us there!
Authors Robert Macfarlane and Chris Cleave join judging panel
We’re delighted to announce that authors Robert Macfarlane and Chris Cleave will join last year’s competition winner, Allan Mabert, on our judging panel this year.