Insight
Winter 2015
Sight Support Ryedale Newsletter
Happy New Year to all our readers and
listeners. Looking out of my office window
whilst writing this, there is snow on the
ground but the sun is bright. So far, we’ve
been able to run all of the groups and
Malton, YO17 7AA
activities that we had scheduled for the
01653 698860 beginning of 2015, the snow and ice
haven’t interrupted anything! In addition
www.sightsupport to our usual groups, we’ll also be running a
creative arts project, starting on 5th
ryedale.org
February and running over four Thursday
Reg. Charity no:
afternoons. The project will be led by a
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local textile artist, and is being run in
conjunction with Pickering Library, with
Staff:
funding from the Arts Council. Participants
Janice Every
Vicky Stott
will learn the art of felt making, which
involves compressing wool fibres together
Newsletter compiled with water to form cloth which is colourful
by Christine Collins
and unique, and which will then be used to
create a wall hanging and other individual
If you would pieces. The course is specifically for our
like an audio members, and you don’t need to have any
artistic ability. Get in touch if you’d like a
version,
please let us bit of creative fun in your life!
Sight Support
Ryedale
39 Yorkersgate
know.
We have just heard that we have been
Sight Support Ryedale
01653 698860
successful in a joint bid to the Big Lottery for funding to
employ a part time development/outreach worker. We will be
partnering with several other sight loss organisations - Hull &
East Riding Institute for the Blind, Selby District Vision,
Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind, South Lincolnshire Blind
Society and York Blind & Partially Sighted Society – together
with RNIB - to deliver this innovative new project. We know
from our own experience locally that there are many people
with sight loss, especially in the early stages, who are not
currently receiving any support, information or advice. Many
older people in particular accept deteriorating sight as an
unavoidable part of getting older and don’t realise that there
are services, treatment and support which can make a big
difference to their lives. By employing someone for 2 days a
week for the next two years, we will be able to contact many
more people who have, or are at risk of, sight loss and let them
know about the help that’s available to them, as well as
working with partners to offer more local support. We hope to
have the project up and running by the summer.
We’re delighted with the successful funding bids which will
enable us to run the above two new projects. However, 2015
will be a challenging year financially as we have yet to secure
the funding required to cover all of our other ongoing projects
and activities, together with transport, office and staffing
costs. In addition to applying to grant-making trusts for
funding, we would like to be ‘adopted’ by a local business as
their chosen charity, so if you know of any local business or
philanthropist who might be interested in supporting our vital
work, we would love to hear from you.
Janice Every
Chief Officer
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£200 received from Yorkshire Building Society
We were presented with a cheque for £100 by both Pickering
and Malton branches as part of Yorkshire Building Society’s
community giving. We had been nominated at both branches
by our members and volunteers, so our thanks to you!
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Sight Village 2015
Sight Village is an exhibition
of technology, equipment
and services for people with
a sight impairment. The
main exhibition will be at
Birmingham, New Bingley
Hall, on 14th & 15th July, with
roadshows available around
the country, the closest of
which for Ryedale will be in
Manchester at the
Renaissance Hotel, 29th
September. The exhibitors
are commercial companies
and voluntary organisations
from around the world.
Admission is free. For more
information, and to book,
please visit:
www.qacsightvillage.org.uk
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Sight Support Ryedale
Friends of Sight Support
by Deborah Burton, Chair of
‘Friends’
We have held a number of
successful fundraising
events since our first event
last June, and are planning
to focus on more collection
days at local supermarkets
over the next few months.
We’ll also be holding a
Valentine’s Bingo/Quiz night
at Bright Steel’s Social Club
in Norton on Friday 13th
February. As a newlyformed group we would still
very much welcome more
people to get involved.
Could you – or someone you
know - give up an hour to
help at a collection day?
You can pick a time that
suits you, and bring a friend
to keep you company if
you’d like to – although we
guarantee that you will meet
lots of people and
supporters!
We would like the following
for other fundraising events,
and raffle prizes – can you
help?
01653 698860
Chocolates, wine, etc
Unwanted gifts
Books
Bric-a-brac
Unwanted clothing, any
condition, including
shoes and bags. (What
is not suitable to sell at
Car Boots, we can be
paid scrap price by
weight).
I look forward to hearing
from you – just give me a
ring on 01653 691576.
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Ryedale Talking Magazine
Accompanying our
newsletter this time is a CD
from Ryedale Talking
Magazine, a small local
charity that has been
providing sight impaired
Ryedale residents with a free
monthly magazine for over
30 years.
Each month volunteer
readers bring a wide variety
of articles to read, many of
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Sight Support Ryedale
which are of local interest.
These are recorded and
edited onto an 80 minute
programme and sent out in
Freepost wallets. Listeners
can choose to return the CD
or keep it, and just return the
special wallet, post free.
Peter Rickard, editor of the
magazine, says, ‘Often
readers bring their own
stories and experiences to
read, so it is certain you will
not hear these items
anywhere else. Some of you
may already be familiar with
the magazine, but if you’re
not, then do please give the
CD a listen – we are sure you
will find something of
interest.’
If you would like further
information, or would like to
receive a regular copy of the
monthly magazine, please
call Val on 01751 476499, or
Irene on 01751 473387, who
look forward to hearing from
you.
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01653 698860
Member Profile
John Milor
by Vicky Stott
John was born in Newcastle
– in the well-known Byker
area of the city – in 1950, and
has one older sister. After
leaving school, John worked
for Pickfords, eventually
heading up the import
department, and later worked
for the Civic Centre. John
then went on to work for The
British Transport Police and
worked for them for over 30
years.
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Sight Support Ryedale
John met his wife-to-be, Ann,
when they were teenagers.
They had a lot in common,
and enjoyed weekends away
hiking. They married in 1972
and have two children, Helen
and Phillip. John is now a
proud grandparent with four
grandchildren.
John’s sight started to
deteriorate in the early 90’s
when he became diabetic.
He has Retinitis Pigmentosa
which affects the blood
vessels in eyes.
Painting and reading have
always been two of John’s
hobbies, and he is a member
of the Sight Support book
group. He also enjoys being
part of the Malton In-Touch
Group. Recently, he and
Ann bought a caravan at
Seahouses, a beautiful spot
on the North East coast, and
he is loving spending time
there, particularly with the
family.
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01653 698860
Equipment
The new Penfriend from
RNIB – Penfriend 2 – is now
available. The RNIB have
redesigned their easy-to-use
labelling machine by
improving the tactile
operating buttons and have
created an on/off recording
button making it even easier
to use. The Penfriend is
lightweight and comfortable
to hold, slightly larger than a
marker pen, and is used to
label anything with your own
voice by simply recording on
to special self-adhesive
labels. Use it to label food
items with use-by dates and
cooking instructions, CDs,
medicines, diary dates,
paperwork, and phone
numbers. Once you have
recorded on to the label it
will repeat your message
when the pen is placed over
the label. The Penfriend
comes with 100 labels, and
three magnetic badges ideal
for use on tins. It also now
comes with free software
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Sight Support Ryedale
which works with Jaws
Screenreader. Additional
labels can be bought
separately including
washable laundry labels.
The labels can be rerecorded many times over.
The price is £70.79, and can
be ordered direct from RNIB
(0303 123 9999), or via Sight
Support.
Daylight-type lightbulbs: If
you are partially sighted
these can be very helpful for
reading or hobbies. They
provide a light similar to that
of a bright Spring day, and
come in all sizes and types
of fittings. These energysaving bulbs are muchimproved on what they used
to be and come up to full
light quite quickly. We keep
a selection in the Resources
Centre at our offices, and
can order them if we haven’t
got what you need in stock.
The prices are: 20w
(equivalent to 100w) £4.30,
30w (150w) £6.30, 45w
(225w) £8.80.
01653 698860
Film highlights the dangers
of ‘shared spaces’
Shared space is where clear
demarcation between
vehicles and pedestrians is
removed, and has become
popular over recent years
with planners and councils.
A film ‘Walking into Trouble’
has been produced by Sarah
Gayton to highlight the
dangers for blind and
partially sighted people in
navigating their high street
independently. The idea of
making a film came to Sarah
when a shared space was
created in Leek, where she
lives, as part of a new
supermarket development,
and was effectively
excluding sight impaired
people from the town centre.
Sarah says: “Although many
reports have been written on
the problems of shared
space for blind people, many
key stakeholders involved in
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Sight Support Ryedale
urban regeneration schemes
involving shared space just
did not understand the basic
need for kerbs and crossings
for blind and partially
sighted pedestrians to
navigate their high streets
independently. I knew I had
to bring the issue to life in
the form of film to show the
sighted people the problems
visually impaired people
were faced with.”
Richard Hayes, President of
the Institute of Highways
Engineers, lent his support
to the film, promoting it as
something that all highway
designers should be shown.
The film was awarded the
National Federation of the
Blind Grimshaw Award 2014.
To view or listen to the film,
go to:
https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=NOObDPOSm-g
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01653 698860
RNIB report 'Being There
When it Matters'
New research by RNIB
reveals 44% of UK adults
said they feared losing their
sight more than any other
long-term health condition.
People are more afraid of
losing their sight than they
are of developing
Alzheimer’s or any other
long term health condition.
RNIB, which has recently
launched a new report ‘Being
There When it Matters’, is
campaigning for every eye
department in the UK to have
access to a qualified sight
loss adviser so that people
are properly supported as
they adapt to life with
reduced or no vision. The
current picture is bleak; only
30% of eye departments in
the UK have access to a
qualified eye clinic liaison
officer (ECLO).
ECLO’s offer both practical
and emotional support.
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Sight Support Ryedale
Recent research has
revealed that ECLO’s create
significant financial savings
for health and social care
budgets. Hadi Zambarakji,
Consultant Ophthalmic
Surgeon, says:
"Ophthalmology
departments are under
increasing pressure and
ophthalmologists depend on
sight loss advisers to
provide information about
the range of support
available to patients. We see
this part of the service as a
significant benefit to
patients.
Not only is provision of
ECLO’s poor owing to lack of
funding, but many of the
positions that do exist are in
jeopardy because future
funding is uncertain. RNIB is
calling on members of the
public to demand that their
local MPs engage with
decision makers to highlight
the important role of sight
loss advisers/ECLO’s.
01653 698860
Ryedale patients currently
have access to an ECLO
(Vanessa Camp) at York
Hospital, but
Scarborough/Bridlington
currently has no provision.
On Thursday 6th March,
Action for Blind People will
be hosting a reception at the
House of Lords to talk about
the importance of ECLO’s
and providing sight loss
support at the point of
diagnosis.
Fight for Sight and Glaucoma
Association partner to fund
new research
Researchers at the
University of Liverpool are
starting a large-scale hunt
for some of the genes behind
glaucoma. A research grant
co-funded by Fight for Sight
and The International
Glaucoma Association will
aim to uncover what role
certain molecules
(microRNA’s) play in
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Sight Support Ryedale
regulating the eye’s drainage
system. The eye maintains a
constant pressure by
continuously producing fluid
(aqueous humour) while an
equal amount of the fluid
drains out of the eye through
what’s known as the
trabecular meshwork. In the
most common type of
glaucoma, known as
‘primary open-angle
glaucoma’, the trabecular
meshwork becomes blocked
slowly over time. As
pressure in the eye mounts
the optic nerve becomes
damaged, leading to serious,
irreversible sight loss if left
untreated. It’s known that
complex networks of
microRNAs control whether
proteins are produced or
destroyed in the body, both
in health and disease. In the
healthy trabecular network
microRNAs are involved in
cell death and how the tissue
responds to mechanical
stress and scarring. But it’s
not yet known which
microRNAs might play a part
in primary open-angle
01653 698860
glaucoma or which proteins
they control.
“We plan to assess the
microRNA genes in tissue
from patients undergoing
surgery for glaucoma and
compare this with normal
trabecular meshwork
tissue,” explains Colin
Willoughby, Professor of
Ophthalmology and
Honorary Consultant
Ophthalmologist at the
University of Liverpool. “We
will use the latest
technologies to assess over
2000 microRNAs to
understand which
microRNAs are linked with
glaucoma.”
Russell Young, CEO of The
International Glaucoma
Association said “It is
exactly this type of research
that can ‘open doors’ and
ultimately help improve the
future management of
glaucoma patients or
potentially lead to a cure.
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Sight Support Ryedale
Vision Strategy
Implementation Group event
outlines priorities
Towards the end of last year,
more than 150 leading
professionals from across
the eye health and sight loss
sector, as well as health,
social care, government and
voluntary sector
representatives, came
together to discuss the
implementation of the
England Vision Strategy.
The event, titled ‘Turning the
England Vision Strategy into
Reality’ was sponsored by
sight loss charity Thomas
Pocklington Trust and
outlined priorities for change
across the country.
Conference delegates heard
talks from many leading
voices from across the
sectors. Peter Corbett, cochair of the UK Vision
Strategy England
Implementation Group and
CEO of Thomas Pocklington
Trust, said: “It was
wonderful to see so many
inspirational people from
01653 698860
across the eye health and
sight loss sector come
together to share best
practice and discuss how we
can implement Vision
Strategies across the whole
country.”
Lucentis licence change
Novartis, the company which
holds the licence for
Lucentis, has announced
that it is no longer a
requirement for patients to
be monitored on a monthly
basis, as long as their
condition is stable. Novartis
hope that this will ease the
burden for both patients and
the NHS. The change has
come about as clinical trials
have shown that the
frequency of injections
required can vary between
patients. Lucentis is a drug
that is used to block the
development of abnormal
blood vessels in the eye, and
can be used for the
treatment of wet age-related
macular degeneration, and
some other eye conditions.
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Sight Support Ryedale
John Scoble wins award!
John Scoble, who runs our
Ukulele Group, has been
awarded a Certificate of
Achievement by the Ryedale
Lions Club in recognition of
his success in helping
others. John and the other
local ukulele players have
taken part in concerts and
helped raise over £5,000 for
charity over the last 18
months. John has also set
up a programme of teaching
the ukulele in many local
schools. “Not in my wildest
dreams did I ever imagine so
many people would want to
learn a musical instrument
01653 698860
and show such enthusiasm”,
says John.
Lions president David
Tomlinson, who presented
the award, said: “John uses
his energy, skills, knowledge
and sense of humour to
spread a bit of happiness
and help people achieve
something they might never
have thought possible”
Congratulations, John!
Students challenged to
design audio and visual
tools to improve travel for
blind and deaf passengers
Transport Minister Baroness
Kramer has launched a
competition for students to
devise ways to make bus
travel easier for people who
have sight or hearing
impairments. Baroness
Kramer said: ‘We want to tap
into the creativity we know is
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alive and kicking in our
classrooms to find ways in
which we can make local
transport more accessible.
Disabled people have the
same rights as anyone else
to access public transport,
but there remain obstacles. I
am open to any ideas that
could make buses more
user-friendly.’
Research shows that the
perceived high cost of
existing technology has
meant that some bus
operators have chosen to
currently not provide audio
visual information on buses.
Driving test needs
modernising
Researchers from City
University London have
found that the visual
component of the UK driving
test is outdated. The
findings might prompt the
01653 698860
design of a fairer eye sight
test ensuring that only those
safe are on our roads. It was
found that a loss of the
upper part of someone’s
visual field had a larger
impact on their ability to
detect driving hazards than
those with a loss in the lower
part. Unfortunately the
current test used to assess
patients with eye disease
tends to test more areas in
the lower part of the visual
field. David Crabb,
Professor of Statistics and
Vision Research at the
university, said: “The current
test is far from ideal. The
visual component of fitness
to drive is a very tricky to
assess. Yet, at the moment
some people are losing or
retaining their driving licence
on a far from perfect test. We
need more research in this
area, especially on what
parts of vision are needed
for safe driving.”
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Upcoming Events
New creative arts project, in
conjunction with Pickering
Library. Dates: 5th and 19th
February, 5th March, and 2nd
April. Get in touch for more
information – no skills
required!
We have a weekly exercise
class, and a Book Group
which meets every two
months. If you would like
more information about
either of these, please do
give us a ring. We provide
door-to-door transport.
Friends of Sight Support presents
Valentine’s Bingo and Quiz Night
Friday 13th February, 7.30pm
Bright Steels Social Club
Wood Street, Norton
Lots of great prizes to be won
Just come along on the night
All proceeds go to Sight Support
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