JUNE & JULY 2019 Editor: Jo Wood

ISSUE 62

Your local charity promoting the health and wellbeing of blind & partially sighted people

‘Painting by Touch, Not by Sight’

To develop their children’s understanding of diversity and disability, the theme for Ferndown First School’s Arts Week this year was ‘Painting by Touch, Not by Sight’. Pupils learnt about artists who are blind or visually impaired and how they overcome their disability through using the sense of touch. The school was delighted that our Chief Executive Philip and member Jean visited at the beginning of April to introduce the theme in assembly. The Society also loaned several pieces of art for the children to view and ‘experience.’ Some of the art had been created by blind people and some created for blind people. After the assembly, Philip and Jean visited classes to take part in activities designed to encourage the children to use the sense of touch and describe objects they were feeling rather than looking at them. Jean explained how losing sight has meant she has had to learn to use her other senses to rediscover the world around her. With the older children, Jean answered questions that enabled pupils to become more aware of the needs of the sight impaired. They also came up with ideas of how they could help a person they met who had reduced sight. Ex-Headteacher Jean inspired pupils with her positive attitude of ‘there’s no “t” in can!’ and really enjoyed her morning back in school. ‘It was such great fun!’ she declared. (continued on page 2)

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Each year group had different focuses during the Arts Week. Younger children explored Braille inspired art, another group made clay sculptures of cross sections of fruits and vegetables. Year 4 produced 3D drawings in an impasto style of thick layered paint.

In Year 3 natural landscapes and tactile art were created, based on the popular children’s story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. We thank our blind receptionist Barbara who had produced Braille signs for this finished piece, which is shown below. Barbara had also printed the Braille alphabet and other signage to assist the Arts Week project.

The Art Co-ordinator said, ‘We had a fantastic Arts Week across the school! All the art created by the children has been designed to be touched. The results are truly amazing and we look forward to sharing them at our Open Evening on 23rd May, 5 - 6.30pm. Members of Bournemouth Blind Society are invited to attend.’ 2

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Walking Group

The Walking Group had a great day out at Moors Valley at the end of April. Several brave members didn’t let a little shower put them off and managed a 3 mile walk. It was also great fun to explore wooden tactile tree carvings and venture up to the Lookout over the top of the forest. The next walk will be on Friday 31st May at Stour Valley. Please note a change of date for the June walk to Upton Country Park. This will now take place on Friday 21st June, (not on the 28th as previously advertised). On Friday 26th July the group will go to Avon Heath. Please call 01202 546644 to book for any of these walks.

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Outdoor Archery

As the weather improves and we can make the most of the lighter evenings, we anticipate that the Archery Group will be able to start shooting outside from the end of May. Tuesday evening sessions will take place near Knighton Farm in Canford Magna (weather dependent!), where members will appreciate the opportunity to shoot their arrows over longer distances. We are really fortunate to have qualified, experienced tutors and helpers from the Sagittarii Archery Club who assist our Group. We thank them once more for their patience and continued dedication.

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Cricket Season

Our next FUNdraising Quiz Night will be on Saturday 22nd June. The friendly competition starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 for 6 rounds of questions, a Fish & Chips supper and ice-cream. A Licensed Bar and Raffle runs through the evening. Please call the office on 01202 546644 to book in your team.

The local VI cricket team have already completed their first 3 matches of the season. Starting off at Delph Woods on 28th April, the Dolphins earned a brilliant winning draw against Surrey. On Sunday 5th May the team travelled in our minibus to face Hampshire in a derby match. In a tense, nail biting finish, the Dolphins lost on the last ball of the final over but can be proud of their great team spirit and a resilient performance. On 19th May the cricketers went to play against Berkshire.

They will next travel to London for a T20 match in June. If you would like to support the Dorset Dolphins, please go to Poole Park on Sunday 14th or 28th July, when they will be in action once more.

Summer Fun

As we head rapidly towards the summer months, we have several ‘special’ events lined up for your enjoyment: On Monday 3rd June we make our first visit of 2019 to the Branksome Dene Community Beach Hut. This is always a good day out, including a salad lunch, ice-creams, strolls along the prom and paddles in the sea. We recommend you book early for this popular day out as transport spaces may be limited. On Monday 29th July we will hold our annual BBQ Party here at the Centre. On Saturday 3rd August, the Wessex Chorus will perform their new concert ‘Music on a Summer Evening’ here in our Rooper Hall. Tickets cost £7.50. A Licensed Bar will be open and Refreshments will be available to purchase during the interval. Please let us know if you require minibus transport for the concert.

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Chief Executive Philip attended the Dorset LOC (Local Optical Committee) AGM earlier this month. Most of the attendees were local practising opticians. During the meeting a talk was given by Visualise Training about the needs of the visually impaired. Bournemouth Blind Society was recognised as playing an essential role in supporting people with sight loss to remain independent. Philip gave a brief talk about the charity and the services we can provide before distributing leaflets. If your optician doesn’t have any of our literature, please ask them to call us on 01202 546644. Philip says, ‘this was a good opportunity to promote the services that we can deliver. Building a strong relationship between Bournemouth Blind Society and local opticians is important to ensure that those in need are aware of our services.’

In the Community OT Training

On 9th May, Philip and the Community Support Manager Geraldine presented a Sight Awareness session to first year students in Occupational Therapy at the Bournemouth University. The majority had quite limited knowledge of sight loss before the session, so various sight conditions were explained. Training included a mixture of theory and practical ‘fun’ work. Students wore blindfolds for a while to empathise with the challenges that the visually impaired face. A range of equipment to assist blind and partially sighted clients was introduced. The students were encouraged to think how to communicate with anyone with sight loss and were taught how to guide people safely. At the end students were more confident in assisting clients who had a visual impairment and felt this would be a valuable skill to take into their future careers as OT’s.

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Sight and Hearing Resource Centre

Quiz Night

Newsletter

We remind you that we can send you our newsletter in a variety of different formats: Large print Audio - CD or USB Text only in an e-mail (this

may be more appropriate for those who use a screen reader on their mobile, PC or tablet).

If you ever wish to change the format by which you receive your newsletter, please let us know in the office. Don’t miss out on reading/hearing all the news from the Society or finding out about upcoming events!

Our next FUNdraising Quiz Night is on Saturday 22nd June, starting at 7.30pm. For just £10, teams play six rounds of friendly competition, battling to beat Quiz Master Philip and claim the winners’ prizes. A Fish & Chips supper plus ice-creams are provided. A Licensed Bar is open and a Raffle also runs through the evening. Please call us to book in your team ASAP!

Open from 10am - 1pm Monday - Friday

We would like to make people aware that anyone can visit our Resource Centre. You do not have to be a member of Bournemouth Blind Society or even live in Bournemouth to receive a warm welcome here! Sara will offer visitors full demonstrations on a range of useful equipment, including talking clocks/watches, talking microwaves and bathroom scales; enhanced lighting, kitchen equipment, eye shields (particularly vital at this time of year with the challenges that the sun’s glare causes), tactile games, large button phones and electronic magnifiers, to name just a few! In the Hearing Centre you can also try out TV listeners and amplified telephones.

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We give huge thanks to everyone who so generously supports our charity, both by attending FUNdraising events or giving donations. The Quiz Night in March was extremely well attended and over £1400 was taken. The Bourne2Sing Male Voice Choir concert was thoroughly appreciated by an enthusiastic audience. Over £800 was taken from the night and we are excited to announce that the choir have agreed to come back for another performance next year (11th July 2020). The annual Easter Egg Raffle raised over £140. Thank you to all who bought tickets. Congratulations to members Carol and Rosie for winning the prizes.

The Charity’s Toy Tombola and games stalls at the May Day

Fete in Kinson raised just over £400. It was nice to see so many from the local community out enjoying themselves and we thank Bournemouth North Rotary Club for inviting us.

Supporters are encouraged to join the Bournemouth Blind Society Balls Eye Club. This is a great way for you to raise funds for us whilst having a bit of a flutter! The cost is just £2 per month (preferably paid by Standing Order). 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes are paid out every month. Call us today for more details or to join this Club!

Fundraising Thanks

Please support Bournemouth Blind Society in the local community lottery. Draws take place every Saturday. Each ticket costs £1 and prizes of up to £25,000 can be won.

To buy a ticket and support us, visit bhcoastallottery.co.uk and select us as your chosen charity. Thank you.

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Bournemouth Blind Society

5 Victoria Park Road Bournemouth BH9 2RB

Tel 01202 546644

Supporting blind and partially sighted people to remain independent and part of the community

www.bournemouthblindsociety.uk

Company No: 5792657 Charity No: 1114570

‘Music on a Summer Evening’

Saturday 3rd August

7.30pm £7.50 Licensed Bar

Raffle

Collection in aid of

Forest Holme Hospice

Summer Concert