W’EYES
(Walsall Consumer Group
for Blind and Partially Sighted People)
NEWSLETTER
Issue 12
Autumn / Winter 2006
This Newsletter is available in large print, on audio cassette, computer disk and as an e-mail attachment.
To obtain a copy, or to send comments and contributions, telephone the Editor,
Anita Warrender, on: 0121 353 4893
or e-mail:
Alternatively contact Deputy Editor, Stella Brough, on:
Registered Company No. 5391672
Registered Charity No. 1114741
Contents:Hello and welcome ………………………………………... / p. / 3
Possible Future Forays ………………………………….. / p. / 4
W’EYES website …………………………………………... / p. / 4
Good Practice guidelines …………………………………. / p. / 4
W’EYES autumn outing …………………………………… / p. / 5
May meeting 2006 ………………………………………... / p. / 8
June meeting 2006 ………………………………………... / p. / 9
An article by Jane Pitt from Heartlands hospital, Birmingham ………………………………………………… / p. / 10
July meeting 2006 ………………………………………… / p. / 13
Points to ponder …………………………………………… / p. / 14
Small talk ultra ……………………………………………... / p. / 14
What was that I herd? …………………………………….. / p. / 15
Lakeland Products ………………………………………… / p. / 16
Door Stopper ………………………………………………. / p. / 16
Speak on …………………………………………………... / p. / 17
Sight Village 2006 …………………………………………. / p. / 18
Cobolt Systems Ltd ……………………………………….. / p. / 20
The Bacon Tree ……………………………………………. / p. / 21
Art workshops for people with impaired vision …………. / p. / 22
Social Care and Inclusion ………………………………… / p. / 25
Transcription Service Libretto ……………………………. / p. / 25
Walsall Disability Centre (WDC)………………………….. / p. / 25
Have you ever used WD40? ……………………………... / p. / 26
Low Vision Services Committee …………………………. / p. / 28
Walsall Pride ……………………………………………….. / p. / 28
Hello and welcome
to the W’EYES
Autumn / Winter Newsletter
2006
Our most important news is that W’EYES is now a registered charity. It has been a long hard road to achieve this status, and our thanks go to Michael Hodgson, who never gave up! This development gives us more scope to apply for funding, to keep involved in the wealth of innovative projects that we have become known for, and which many visually impaired people in Walsall find so helpful and useful, from this Newsletter to our own transcription service and more. New projects are always being considered.
We meet on the first Thursday of every month, except August, at the Disability Centre, 114 Lichfield Street, Walsall from 7pm to 9pm. All are very welcome.
Contact details are on the front of this newsletter.
Possible Future Forays
1. A countryside walk in the springtime.
2. A Christmas / New Year meal out.
3. A social evening: December 7th, 7–10pm at WDC.
4. An Open day.
5. A visit to an audio described theatre performance.
W’EYES website
The W’EYES website is still expanding… The latest minutes and newsletters can be downloaded and, following the distribution of the Good Practice Guidelines in paper format, it is now possible to download these from the W’EYES website itself in PDF (Portable Document Format).
We have also added an events calendar – anyone wishing to contribute should contact Craig at – the busier our calendar is, the happier we are!
Craig Bates - site organizer.
Good Practice Guidelines
This is a new document produced by W’EYES members, in collaboration with the local GP’s, pharmacies, hospital eye care clinics, ophthalmologists and the PCT and is our latest successful project. Many W’EYES members were reporting some difficulties with services due to their visual impairment. It was decided to work together, with service providers, to produce some guidelines which were acceptable to all interested parties. These, we decided, must be cost effective, user friendly and simple ideas, easy to put into practice. The resulting guidelines have been accepted by the Walsall doctors’ committee, pharmacists’ committee, optometrists, opticians, and hospital eye care staff. The Primary Care Trust printed the well presented, attractive, easy to read document and paid for it to go to all Walsall doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, opticians, optometrists and any other interested parties such as visually impaired residents, and our local MP’s. If you would like a copy either in standard print or large print or on cassette tape or in Braille, then please phone DIAL on 01922 622227.The Good Practice document can also be read on the W’EYES website.
Your comments would be appreciated. Please send them to me. Anita - Editor.
The following two articles were sent in by Dee Dewhurst, a W’EYES member, and her daughter Talia.
W’EYES autumn outing
Our outing was arranged for Wednesday 4th October 2006. The first part of the morning was spent visiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Glasshouses. On arrival we were met by our guide who was a former schoolmaster, so we were all on our best behaviour of course! The gardens were first opened in 1832 and are definitely worth a visit for anyone who has not been before. The 15 acres are beautifully maintained with tropical glasshouses, a ballroom, gallery, restaurant, café, shop and study rooms for schools and colleges. The outside gardens have two play areas, one suitable for under 5’s and the other for slightly older children. They are very brightly painted, and the smaller area has a section of different textures to touch. There are also a bandstand, woodland habitats and picnic areas, plus many specialist gardens such as a sensory, organic, herb and Knott garden to name a few. On the terrace you can see peacocks gently roaming, and there are two sets of aviaries. We were told that in the 18th Century a boa constrictor and crocodile were allowed to wander at will, in the tropical greenhouses, but in recent times thankfully, there are just birds. Various events are held throughout the year: the Victorian secret garden where you can dress in Victorian costume for the day, family days, autumn gift fair etc.
The tropical glasshouses were very humid with huge plants, trees, ferns, water plants etc, which need these conditions to survive, and they are even growing chocolate there! The water features make it a very relaxing and warm setting. The gardens are disabled friendly, though there is quite a lot of walking. Certainly a great place of interest for all ages, to be considered when planning a day out. The gardens are not council or government funded, so they very much rely on people support, so if you haven’t been, we can recommend it. If you have been, then maybe consider another visit?
Botanical Gardens tel: 0121 454 1860.
The second part of our day was spent at Aston Villa Football Club. Upon arrival we were taken to the Corner Flag restaurant where we had lunch. A nice selection for a two-course meal – starter / main, or main / dessert. The food was wonderful with quite original dishes, served in a spacious restaurant of claret and blue colours (of course!) and a very friendly waitress service. Also enjoying lunch was the President of the Club, Mr Doug Ellis who was most obliging; he spoke to some of our party and was happy to give autographs. As we left the restaurant we began our tour, and our guides for the afternoon were George and Vicki who were full of information and enthusiasm for the club, answering lots of our questions and making the tour even more enjoyable. We began in the new building and on entering the foyer there is a model of the club when originally built. On the first floor there is another model of the club as a new project. Hoping to increase seating in the stadium, the next phase is due to start soon, following the arrival of a new owner and putting the club in a better situation financially.
We then viewed the Trophy display cabinets, ranging from the European to an award from Africa for the Villa youth team. There was a good opportunity to take photographs and view the Directors’ suite, which was for the home and away team Directors on match days, with complimentary bar, leather suites and several TVs in case of bad weather. The Directors’ box overlooks the best view of the pitch with luxury folding seats, and the press box is situated just in front.
We then moved on to the dressing rooms where each named player’s shirt is hung on the wall. There are a number of baths, showers and a huge spa bath. The room had an aroma of aftershave, and one trade secret: the players use ‘Wash ‘n’ go!’ The pressroom was probably not as you would expect it to be, with sponsor advertisements on a wall, and only enough room to interview a couple of players at a time. Finally we were led out to pitch side by our team mascot, Curtis, from our party to the player’s theme match tune, which highlighted the tour as we stood and viewed the super stadium, quite over-awed by the size of it, and the magnificent grass, made of a mixture of real grass and nylon. A great afternoon and lunch and well worth a visit for anyone, whether interested in football or not!
Thanks must be given to Mike Romano, for his hard work in organizing a super outing, helped by Anita and Balvant. Thanks also to Julie and Anita for securing funding from the National Lottery.
Aston Villa tel: 0121 327 2299
Talia and Dee Dewhurst.
May meeting 2006
Our guest speaker for May was Justine Decesare. Justine is an Aromatherapist Consultant, and she gave a talk and demonstration on how to use Aromatherapy as a healer, stress buster, inflammation reducer, relaxer and more. Aromatherapy can offer help with skin irritations (such as dry skin) and other skin conditions. Justine opened up a new way to use oils and creams to enhance our lives, and also offered her products for sale. W’EYES members were able to smell and try the products on offer. Justine pointed out that all the items she used and sold were gentle and safe to use. Justine’s talk and products were so well received, that a number of W’EYES members expressed an interest in another Aromatherapy session in the future.
June meeting 2006
This month’s guest speaker was Ken Whittingham from Walsall Society for Deaf People.
He introduced us to 2 schemes upon which he is currently working:
1. Disabled Person’s Housing Register – it is planned that by July 2006, the above will be operational from the Walsall Living Centre (formerly Independent Living Centre) based in Bridge Street. The plan is to hold a register of all housing in and around Walsall that has been adapted especially for disabled residents. The register will include both privately owned and / or council owned properties. It is hoped that this will allow better use of existing housing resources and theoretically save money by preventing the removal and then re-instalment of specialist resources, which has sometimes happened in the past.
2. Walsall People – It is planned to start a new, non-profit making service, run by Walsall people, for Walsall people. The idea is to set up a register of people, volunteers and trades people prepared to help the elderly and disabled people of Walsall to have those small but awkward jobs done. Small jobs can often prove difficult and expensive – whether it be changing light bulbs, putting up curtains, or mowing lawns! The scheme is supported by Walsall Voluntary Action, along with Walsall Job Centre and Links to Work. Ken however stressed that the service may not be operational for some time yet and that the aim is to perform small everyday jobs – so, no garden landscaping or major decorating! For more information, please phone Walsall Voluntary Action on 01922 619840 and ask for Walsall People.
An article by Jane Pitt,
from Heartlands hospital, Birmingham
Hello, my name is Jane Pitt. I have been a nurse for over 30 years, training and working in a variety of hospitals, NHS and private, in the Birmingham area. I specialize in eye nursing – known as ophthalmology. As you can imagine I have seen many changes in the NHS over the years working with ‘Matrons’ the first time around and again now, but they aren’t quite so scary as they used to be! I now work at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, and my job is part Diabetic Research nurse and part Training Manager for Diabetic Retinal Screening.
For my Diabetic Research nursing I recruit patients for studies, who have some diabetic changes at the back of their eyes. One of the studies I am working on is looking for an alternative to laser treatment, to treat diabetes complications with a tablet. So far it is looking very positive. It may surprise you to know it can take at least ten years of research before a drug is available to the doctors for everyday prescription use.
The other part of my job is Training Manager for Diabetic Retinal Screening. The screening for diabetes changes is about to become more technology based. At Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in the Retinal Grading Department we have an up-to-date training centre in which we train opticians and retinal screeners from all over the country. We run approximately six courses per year. The training is about a new software programme which, together with the digital camera, will be the new form of screening in the community and hospital diabetes services. The screening will consist of two images of each eye, taken from the diabetic population, so allowing monitoring of any changes due to complications, on an annual check basis. This is in a bid to alleviate blindness from diabetes in the UK. The optician or retinal screener using the software is able to carefully scan the images and grade them, to consider if the patient may need referral to hospital eye services. The digital image of the patient’s eyes will be sent via secure e-mail to the local hospital, for the eye specialist doctor to look at. The doctor is able to make a diagnosis about the eye condition, using these images and, if there are no changes, maybe saving the patient unnecessary hospital appointments. The doctor is also able to have the original eye images shown on the computer when examining the patient, checking for further changes which may have occurred since the digital image was first taken, and urgent treatment could be started immediately if necessary.