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Chairman’s Foreword - George Glass
BlindVoice UK was formed in 1997 by a group of blind people who had a list of genuine access grievances. The vision of those pioneers means that because some people were willing to stand up and take action, BlindVoice UK can celebrate almost a decade of 'making blind people matter'. Countless lives have been changed for the better.
Anybody present at that inaugural meeting could not have predicted that within 10 years we would have a well equipped suite of offices, 3 dedicated and committed members of staff, an excellent team of enthusiastic trustees, an expanding range of high quality services and excellent prospects for a permanent future. Since the appointment of Christine Durnion as our Manager I can only liken life as being strapped to the front of an express train, my initial fears that she would be bored have been totally unfounded as she is the driving force behind our work. Aided and abetted by her Project Officer Jill Campbell, the pair work together producing amazing results.One of the greatest surprises for me is the fact that we are beginning to have a significant impact outside of Stockton and the Tees Valley. We are increasingly being approached for help by people and organisations from all parts of the country. This, after much deliberation, has necessitated a change in our constitution, our aims and objectives and even a change of name to BlindVoice UK to more accurately reflect the work that we are now doing with our transcription service. However, in our own area we will always be Stockton Blind People’s Voice.
My own quality of life along with others is improving daily. Through many successful funding applications, we have developed new and exciting services and have developed two excellent social groups and taken part in active sports funded by the Primary Club. During the past year I have been gliding, horse riding, power- boating, sailing, kayaking and I have spent an unforgettable day at the Riverside when Durham were playing Yorkshire in a county cricket match. We had a team of commentators to keep us up to date with play and we even had our own lounge.
My computer skills are improving and in May I won an individual achievement award in Adult Learners week. I am currently exploring the complexities of spreadsheets – a skill that until recently I assumed was reserved only for those with sight. This is the result of learning from two dedicated Stockton Adult Education Tutors.
I find that I am now much better informed on many things as I receive most information in a format that I can access. There is however, still progress to be made, as I still receive some documents in print, which of course are of no use to me. We will, through the marketing of our Transcription Service, continue to raise awareness in this area. Our Transcription Service has developed as an excellent social enterprise, and at the time of going to press we have reached, for the third time in three years, the final of The Evening Gazette’s Community Champions Awards, in the category of Social Enterprise Champion, for this service. We also receive much needed income – essential for our future viability.
Ten years of hard work and achievement is only the start. We must now build on what has been accomplished to ensure that blind and visually impaired people everywhere can pursue independent and
fulfilled lives.
George Glass
Chairman
Page 2
When he was four years old George Glass was diagnosed as having very little sight. At 18 his sight began to deteriorate rapidly and before he was out of his teens he was totally blind.
During the ensuing years he began to withdraw from the world, eventually becoming almost a total recluse. Not going out, not listening to the radio indeed the only pleasure he had was listening to his father reading books to him on every subject imaginable. At the age of fifty- five after the death of his parents he made an effort to break out of this seclusion and participate in the blind community, something he had always shunned, to try to have a better life.
George’s efforts to “come back into the world” as he has called it brought him many frustrating and humiliating experiences. This angered and embittered him and did nothing to improve his confidence.
He found (for example) it was generally considered that in learning environments, if classrooms were physically accessible, blind people were adequately catered for. No-one seemed to be able to comprehend that there were other aspects, and that merely being able to sit in a classrooms was not enough. Other students had the support of blackboards, computers, printed material, books all of which were utterly inaccessible to him. All of the things sighted people take for granted.
This was not the only example, it was true of a whole host of other things including entertainment, shopping everything that sighted people take for granted.
The almost universal lack of awareness of the enormous problems of mobility and access imposed by blindness, which underlay (and underpin) the lack of response to the needs of blind people baffled his attempts to obtain anything much in the way of fair play, convincing him that blindness was the “Cinderella of Disabilities”.
He longed to find voices, which would speak for him and obtain a fairer deal for blind people.
After years of disappointment, he realised that he must provide such a voice.
George freely admits that he is inclined to deliberate and even procrastinate before taking action and mulled over this project for years until he met someone who shared the same feelings. Ann Kallagher felt that she could help provide a voice, she had the enthusiasm and the dynamic personality needed, and people started to listen. The shared ideals of George and Annie lead to the creation of Stockton Blind People’s voice.
Helped by a sighted friend they called a meeting where a handful of blind people and a few supportive, sighted people met to try to tackle these problems. Stockton Blind People’s Voice developed from this meeting in 1997 in the Mulberry Tree public house in Stockton.
George’s anger and bitterness has been assuaged by the many improvements in the status of the blind in later years, especially with Adult Education, but he still feels that further advancement is required to obtain real equality of access and opportunity.
George Glass was named Rotary Club “Citizen of the Year” in 2000 for his unique contribution in raising awareness and campaigning for equal opportunities for blind and visually impaired people.
George says, “ I can not believe what has happened in recent months, a group started from such humble beginnings, has spent the most recent months on a roller coaster of success; funding from the Big Lottery Fund has enabled us to expand into a professional organisation with our first professional manager. We have been deeply honoured to be Winners of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2004, we have received further funding for another project “Blind Routes to Work” and now we have this amazing opportunity from the BBC in winning a competition for a professional company to design our web site. Angelfish Media has spent the week working with our Manager Christine and Val Hydes one of our Trustees who completed the winning application, to create this web site in just a few days.
I hope that through this web site we will be able to reach people everywhere. Our profile in the community is high in Stockton and I hope that anyone accessing our web site will contact us for any help and support we may be able to offer.”
We have no boundaries.
George Glass
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