Supporting people with sight loss in Essex
Registered Charity number: 1169324
SIGHTLINE
Spring 2017
Welcome to the Spring Edition of
Support 4 Sight’s Newsletter
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Welcome
Welcome to an exciting 2017. There are lots of events and activities
taking place this year for everyone to get involved with.
If you have any ideas of features for our Sightline newsletter that you
would like to see included, please contact the office on 01799 523700
and we will do our best to insert them into future editions.
Membership
A membership renewal form is included with this issue - please let us
know if you need help completing the form. This year our membership
fee is £15 for single and £16 for joint membership. Please note the £1
increase.
Just to let you know that membership renewals are due by 1st April.
We would be grateful if you could forward it to us as soon as you can.
If you are unsure about whether or not you have paid your
membership, please call the Centre and we can look this up for you.
You can be sure that your membership really helps us to continue
providing our many services.
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News from Support 4 Sight
Fundraising Activities
Volunteers braved the cold on 20th December at Tesco Saffron Walden
and collected an amazing £261.50! We also collected at Audley End
Miniature Railway and listened to the beautiful voices from Cavell
Community Choir, Saffron Building Society Choir and Saffron Harmony
U3A Choir who kindly donated their time to create a lovely festive
atmosphere on the day, raising £78.01. Donations have also been
received from Mullucks Wells (Bishops Stortford) who raised £500 at
their Charity Christmas Lunch and the Saffron Walden Golf Club
Seniors have raised £2,300 for Support 4 Sight. We really appreciate
all your efforts in helping us raise money in these ways.
Sponsored Dog Walkies!
We are looking forward to our Sponsored Dog Walk for Support 4
Sight Event on Sunday 19th March. It starts at 10.00am, finishing at
Audley End Miniature Railway. It is a 2.5 mile walk around Audley End
Park and it is £10 per dog that is registered in advance. Participating
dogs will get a fundraising pack and goody bag. Their owners will get
a complimentary hot drink. There will also be a dog show and
refreshment stalls at the venue. Please come along and join the fun!
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Support 4 Sight Events and Activities
Coffee Mornings
Do come and join us for a cup of tea or coffee at your local group. If
you have any questions about the coffee mornings, or need
information on how to get to the venues, contact us on 01799 523700.
Do you live in the Great Dunmow area?
Why not join us once a month at our great Dunmow coffee morning?
We meet every second Thursday of the month at Banks Court,
Chequers Lane, Great Dunmow, from 10.30am until 12 noon. Support
4 Sight coffee mornings are a great way to meet other people with
sight loss to share tips, as well as having a laugh and feeling part of a
community. Members of the group also attend regular lunches and
trips out and family members or assistants are always welcome to join
us.
Harlow
Second Tuesday of each month at the Potter Street Baptist Church
‘Coffee Stop‘, 98 Potter Street, Harlow CM17 9AW from 10.30am until
noon.
Dates: 14th March, 11th April, 9th May and 13th June (a strawberries and
cream special).
Chelmsford
Last Wednesday of each month at Broomfield Village Hall, 158 Main
Road, Broomfield, CM1 7AH, from 1.30pm to 3pm. Please note the
afternoon time.
Dates: 29th March, 26th April, May 31st and June 28th - a strawberries
and cream special)
Saffron Walden
Last Tuesday of every month at the Bowls Club, Abbey Lane from
10:30am till noon.
Dates: 28th March, 25th April, 30th May and 27th June (a strawberries
and cream special).
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Great Dunmow
Second Thursday of every month at Banks Court, Chequers Lane,
Great Dunmow from 10.30am till noon.
Dates: 9th March, 13th April, 11th May and 8th June (a strawberries and
cream special).
Braintree
Last Thursday of every month at Church House, St Michaels Lane,
Braintree from 10:30 to noon.
Dates: 30th March, 27th April, 25th May and 29th June (a strawberries
and cream special).
Braintree Support Group
Our Braintree support group meetings are always held on the second
Wednesday of the month, from 2pm to 3.30pm, at Braintree Baptist
Church, Blyth's Meadow, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7
3DA. We have speakers from many different organisations and enjoy
a cup of tea or coffee. We are very lucky to have great support from
the Rotary Club who transport some of the members and who also put
on wonderful teas for us at different times of the year.
Dates: 11th January, 8th February, 8th March, 12th April.
Focus Day
Support 4 Sight is holding a focus day with Professional Vision
Services, Dolphin and Calibre Audio Library on Tuesday 21st March,
10am to 2:30pm
Come along to look at the latest screen reading and magnification
software, alongside the most up to date electronic video magnifiers.
If you enjoy listening to the latest novels on USB, CDs or streaming
audio, why not chat to Calibre Audio Library who will also be present
on the day.
All welcome, no appointments needed.
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Harlow Exhibition
On Thursday 25th May, 10am to 2:30pm, Support 4 Sight will be
holding its annual exhibition at Harlow Central Library, Cross Street,
Harlow, CM20 1HA.
This popular event will be supported by a range of suppliers and local
organisations demonstrating the latest low vision equipment and
technology. Attending so far are the RNIB, Optelec, Pamtrad and Paul
Pemberton from Essex Fire and Rescue. This is a worthwhile
exhibition to attend. Come along to talk to staff and volunteers from
Support 4 Sight for information and advice.
Social Trips
Wednesday 22nd March Saffron Walden Social Lunch
Thursday 23rd March
Dunmow Social Lunch
th
Wednesday 19 April
Guildhall Museum, Finchingfield and lunch
Make a Will Week
Heckford Norton Solicitors have very kindly agreed to waive their fees
in exchange for a minimum donation to Support 4 Sight of £100 for an
Individual Will or £150 for Mirror Wills.
You can take advantage of this opportunity during the week beginning
20th March by contacting Heckford Norton Solicitors’ Saffron Walden
Office at 18 Hill Street, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1JD.
For more details, or to make an appointment, please contact Yvonne
Rains at Heckford Norton on 01799 581090 or by Email at
[email protected]
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What’s On Further Afield
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Up close & personal: Degas & Rodin bronze sculptures Wednesday 26
April, 2.30 to 4.15pm. A unique opportunity to handle some beautiful
bronze sculptures of horses, dancers and other figures by famous
French Impressionist artists Degas and Rodin. Learn how and why
they were made, with Dr Vicky Avery, Keeper of Applied Arts.
Entrance is free, but booking is essential.
This is a touch tour with audio description, including a tea and coffee
break. Guide dogs and companions are welcome to all sessions.
Please contact [email protected] or telephone 01223
332904.
The Outlook Trust
The Outlook Trust is the only charity for blind and visually impaired
children that organises and provides activity and residential breaks for
blind, partially sighted children and young people with other disabilities.
A regular programme of fantastic fun activities give children the
opportunities that other organisations cannot provide. The children
love experiencing the same activities that fully sighted children take for
granted, develop independent living and mobility skills, form long term
friendships and most of all have FUN!
Activities include:
Sailing, Kayaking, Gorge Walking, Cycling & Tandem Cycling, Rock
Climbing, Abseiling, Zip Wire & High Ropes, Horse Riding, Canyoning,
White Water Rafting and Skiing.
More information can be found at www.outlooktrust.org.
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Concert for Charity
The Manuden Singers are organising a concert to raise money for
Support 4 Sight. They will be performing Brahms German Requiem on
Sunday 9th April at 7:30pm in St Mary’s Church, Manuden. Tickets will
be on sale at Support 4 Sight or by calling 01279 812157. Tickets are
£10 for adults and £5 children.
Support 4 Sight Recent Outings and Events
Christmas Celebrations
We certainly had fun at our various Christmas Coffee mornings and
afternoons. Our members from Chelmsford certainly had the
Christmas spirit as is shown in the photograph below!
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Noticeboard
We have in the centre a Humanware Prodigi electronic video magnifier
for sale at £500 ono. This is for sale from one of our members who no
longer finds it useful, so we cannot offer any guarantees on the
machine. If you are interested, please call the centre to arrange to
come in and try this out for yourself.
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Also for Sale is a Humanware Prodigi Connect 12 advanced digital
magnifier with access to Google.
Bought in November 2016. Hardly used, in excellent condition. Cost
£2,000 looking for £1,200 or near offer.
Phone Caroline 07790 234 126
Focus On
Sainsbury's Telephone Shopping Service
Are you housebound and unable to travel to the shops? Or is online
shopping just not your ‘thing’? Sainsbury’s have good news. Their
Assisted Shopping Scheme enables you to make shopping orders over
the telephone. Orders placed before 6:00pm can even be delivered the
next day.
You must first register via the telephone before you can use the
service. Call 0800 328 1700 then press option 1, then option 3
followed by option 1 to finish.
Call 0800 328 1700 again and Customer Services will create an
account and give you a Customer Number. There is a £25 minimum
order, a charge for delivery and also a £2.95 telephone charge. Your
orders will be taken by Customer Services and we understand that
they are really helpful.
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The New 12-Sided £1 Coin
The pound won’t be round for much longer and the current £1 coin is
being replaced for the first time in over thirty years because of its
vulnerability to sophisticated counterfeiters. Approximately one in
thirty £1 coins in circulation is a counterfeit. The new coin has a
number of features that make it much more difficult to counterfeit.
It’s 12-sided – its distinctive shape makes it instantly recognisable,
even by touch.
It’s bimetallic – it is made of two metals. The outer ring is gold
coloured (nickel-brass) and the inner ring is silver coloured (nickelplated alloy).
Latent image – it has an image like a hologram that changes from a ‘£’
symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles.
It has micro-lettering – it has very small lettering on the lower inside
rim on both sides of the coin. “One pound” on the obverse (heads) side
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and the year of production on the reverse (tails) side, for example
2017.
It has milled edges – it has grooves on alternate sides.
It has a hidden high security feature – a high security feature is built
into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future.
So how will it affect me?
The new 12-sided £1 coin is being introduced into circulation on 28th
March 2017. You will start to see the new 12-sided coin in the days
and weeks following this. Businesses across the UK who handle cash
have been informed of the need to prepare for the introduction. Many
will have upgraded their machines to accept the new £1 coin, however,
not all machines will work with the new coin from the date of
introduction. The legal tender status of the round £1 coin will be
withdrawn on 15th October 2017. From this date shops will no longer
accept these coins, but you will still be able to take them to your bank.
We would encourage you to use your coins or return them to your
bank before 15th October.
Cards and Games for the Visually Impaired
Still waiting for the days to lengthen and get warmer? In the meantime
if you are looking for activities to do in the evening then how about
some of these? All are available from the RNIB:
Sudoku £10.20
Packed with 225 Sudoku puzzles to solve, ranging from easy to hard.
Each level is marked on the top of each page by a star rating from one
to three stars.
Printed on high quality paper with bold black print in 47pt font,
featuring one puzzle on the page. You can check your answers to the
solutions by flicking to the back of the book where you'll find them in a
clear print 24pt font.
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Large print playing cards £9.59
Playing cards can provide hours of entertainment with family and
friends of all ages. This pack of large print playing cards are embossed
in braille with the denomination and suit at the top left and bottom right
hand corners.
Bingo £8.39
Large print bingo cards guarantee that you won't miss a number! Each
set contains 100 cards with one game to each card.
The card is approximately the size of an A5 sheet of paper and the
numbers are printed in easy-to-see 12mm font.
Chess £35.94
The large raised black squares make it easy to feel your way across
the board and each black chess piece has a tactile pin in the top. The
board has drilled holes in each square so the pieces slot into the hole
to prevent them from falling over. The board is 33cm.
Crossword and Puzzle books £3.33
We also have a selection crossword, Sudoku and Word Search books
for sale in the Support 4 Sight centre.
Messages Under Your Feet
There is a whole world of pavement messages to help you get around.
Perhaps the most familiar is ‘bubble paving’ - a section of pavement
covered in dimples. There are many other types of messages
embedded in the surfaces of pavements and streets.
But many of these textured pavements are also passing messages to
sighted people as well – without them necessarily realising it. This
subtle form of communication is not just confined to the pavement,
either: increasingly, motorists and cyclists are also unknowingly
‘getting the message’.
A good example is the ladder and tramline patterns that mark the start
of shared cycleways and footpaths. A horizontal pattern of raised lines
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going across the pavement tells blind and visually impaired
pedestrians that they are on the footpath side; raised lines running
along the direction of travel indicate the side designated for cycles. A
wide, raised line divides the two.
But something else happens here, too. Because the raised bumps are
unpleasant to ride across, cyclists instinctively are drawn toward the
tramline pattern which runs in the same direction as they are traveling.
It ensures that the cyclists stay on their side of the path.
For those who know where to look, another secret message lies
hidden around pelican crossings – the pedestrian crossings where
someone pushes a button, then waits for the signal to walk. Tucked on
the underside of the box with the push-button is a small, innocuous
cylinder. When the lights change to show the green man, this cylinder
spins to indicate it is safe to cross.
Elsewhere, it is possible to find raised, rounded ribs running across a
pavement, creating a corduroy pattern. They look like they might be
there to provide additional grip; in fact, they are sending a warning to
anyone who stands on them about what is ahead. These indicate you
are standing in front of a hazard, like a set of stairs or a level crossing.
There are also information surfaces – for example a change in texture
that is sometimes placed in front of key amenities like telephone
kiosks, ATMs, ticket offices or post boxes. In pedestrianised areas,
some local authorities have installed textured pathways with flattopped bars running in the direction of travel. The idea is to guide
people through busy areas and around objects by drawing them along
these raised lines. For visually impaired pedestrians, they are
invaluable.
This is a shortened version of an article from the BBC website’s ‘BBC
Future’ page. For the full piece by Richard Gray go to:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170206-the-tricks-being-played-onyou-by-uk-roads
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Springtime Poem
Child's Song In Spring by Edith Nesbit
The Silver Birch is a dainty lady,
She wears a satin gown;
The elm tree makes the old churchyard shady,
She will not live in town.
The English oak is a sturdy fellow,
He gets his green coat late;
The willow is smart in a suit of yellow
While brown the beech trees wait.
Such a gay green gown God gives the larchesAs green as he is good!
The hazels hold up their arms for arches,
When spring rides through the wood.
The chestnut’s proud, and the lilac’s pretty,
The poplar’s gentle and tall,
But the plane tree’s kind to the poor dull cityI love him best of all!
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Contact us
If you want to speak to us at Support 4 Sight, our Centre is open from
9.30am to 2.30pm; telephone 01799 523700. You’re welcome to drop
in without an appointment, for a chat and a coffee. It’s a good
opportunity to meet the staff, our volunteers and other members.
Here is the list of staff at Support 4 Sight:
Madeleine Cassidy – Chief Executive
Paul Atkins – Resource Centre and Volunteer Manager
Linda Pollard & Michael Lovell – Paul’s Support Workers
Vanessa Cowell – Community Support Worker
Natalie Emuss – Community Fundraiser
Gemma Golab – Financial Controller
Jane Myers – Volunteer Coordinator
Amanda Jarvis – Assistant to the Chief Executive
Alison Pilkington – Resource Centre Administrator
Produced by Support 4 Sight (Essex)
2 & 4 George Street, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1EQ
Telephone 01799 523700
Registered Charity No. 1169324
With support from:
All information in this Newsletter is checked and believed to be correct at the time of
publication, but cannot be so guaranteed. Support 4 Sight shall not be liable for any
loss suffered directly or indirectly as a result of its use.
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