Articles in Blind and partially sighted

Navigating the World in Darkness: A Beacon of Light on International Women’s Day

Written by Siobhan Meade

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


Today marks International Women’s Day, a day earmarked to celebrate the indomitable spirit of women across the globe, I find myself reflecting on my journey, not just as a woman but as a blind woman navigating a world designed for the sighted. This day serves as a poignant reminder of the collective and individual strength of women, especially those of us within the disability community, striving to make significant contributions in our unique ways. 

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Graphic headed "Thomas’ Blog: Making Videos For BuDS With The Reach4Work Digital Team". Text boxes read "My time at BuDS... [is helping] me to improve my motivation and confidence to work independently " and "These are all valuable skills that will help me to get employment either now or in the future"

Making Videos For BuDS With The Reach4Work Digital Team

Written by Thomas, a member of the BuDS Reach4Work Digital team. 

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees. 


Since I joined the Reach4Work Digital Team in January, I have been working both on my own and with a the Digital Team, to create Videos. We usually work as a team in co-production, creating different components for the final video I have worked on several different videos. In blog I would like to talk to about a video we have just finished about Agile Project Management, to add to an article the team had previously written.

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Graphic headed "Huw's Blog: My Experience Of Joining BuDS" with the volunteers' week logo. Text boxes read "I started volunteering with the Reach4Work team 2 weeks ago" and "Whilst I am at BuDS I will be able to gain some valuable skills that I will be able to use in any future job that I may get"

My Experience of Joining BuDS

Written by Huw Feakes for Volunteers Week 

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees. 


“My Name is Huw, I first heard about BuDS through my employment coach at Talkback, this is because I am looking to gain some experience to help me get a paid job in the future. After taking a couple of weeks to officially join I started volunteering with the Reach4Work team 2 weeks ago. 

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A person looking at a laptop. On the laptop screen are pictures of 4 people in a video call.

Why Is Now The Best Time To Volunteer & Join Reach4Work?

Written by David Bennett

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


The Covid pandemic triggered a truly remarkable effect upon the workplace. Before Covid, everybody was expected to attend an office and sit at a desk where they could be seen to be “working”. In some enlightened workplaces, the advent of remote communication technology allowed employees to work from home. This managerial concession had led to some workers being allowed to occasionally work from home when circumstances demanded it. Indeed, there were some that were allowed to work 100% from home but these were the exception rather than the rule. With the onset of the pandemic, it became imperative if work was to continue, then employees had to be enabled to work from home. Due to technological advances, this proved far easier than managers thought. 

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A man holds another man by the throat, pushing him up against a wall. A woman films on her mobile phone.

Joining BuDS and the Attitudes and Hate Crime Project

Written by Hope Heeley

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


Hello!

My name is Hope, I am the Disability Hate Crime Officer here at BuDS. I began working for BuDS in January 2023. BuDS is my first true experience of the working world and I have never felt more welcome.

“BuDS is an incredibly supportive and hard-working charity.”

BuDS is an incredibly supportive and hard-working charity. Their sole aim is to help disabled people in any way they can, this has been made clear to me in our most recent projects.

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A person wearing blue jeans, boots, and a tan coat, walking in a park with a white stick held out in front of them. The white stick has two red stripes.

To The Edge of Despair and Beyond

Written by Siobhan Meade

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


24 years ago, I heard five words that will haunt me forever, “you’re never going to see again”.

This is how an Ophthalmologist at a Kent hospital broke the news to a distraught 16 year-old girl, who’s one remaining optic nerve finally gave up the ghost and snapped after I walked into a door at school.

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My Self-Care Routine – Meditation

Written by Janneke Elford

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


“I started meditation on and off years ago, when I started getting into Yoga, as they kind of go hand in hand. But it has only been in the last year I have really thrown myself into it, and what a difference it has made!

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My Experience Joining BuDS

Written by Lily Cleminson

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

Lily has joined BuDS recently as our Reach4Work Youth Worker. This post was kindly funded by The Rothschild Foundation as part of a 3-year SEND Transitions Service project. Lily tells us about her experience joining BuDS.


“Working at BuDs has been a very different experience from other work places. I already love working with the Reach4Work Team, despite only ever having met them online. My days are self-structured which enables me to manage my long-term health condition in a way that really works for me, and as a result I am able to work at my most productive each day. It’s wonderful to feel the benefits of having such an inclusive and understanding workplace, and to know that these types of solutions really can work to everyone’s benefit.

Even better, is the fact that I’m researching something I feel really passionate about and have personal experience of – the barriers disabled people face when they transition from school to employment. I’ve spent a lot of my working hours reading reports and statistics about disabled people in the workplace, and soon I’ll have the chance to build on this research by interviewing and surveying BuDS volunteers on their personal experiences of finding and maintaining suitable employment. I’ll also be asking people about the types of employment support services they have used to help them, and whether they experienced any barriers in looking for work or receiving the right type of support. This will all be collated into a report in which recommendations will be made on improvements to the local provision of employment support services.

The thing I’m most looking forward to next is getting the results from the surveys which I’m hoping to have in the new year. This will be when we really find out about people’s concerns and what real change is needed in Bucks to help young people make a healthy transition into employment. It’s a feeling of real possibility, not yet knowing the exact direction the project will take, as it will be responsive to the views of disabled people themselves. It’s a very special feeling to be working on something so worthwhile with the support of a committed team of employees and volunteers.”

Have You Heard About The DecodeME Project?

Written by Liz Hobbs.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


A few months back it was Chronic Fatigue Awareness Day.  I really wanted to write a blog about it, but at the time my own chronic fatigue symptoms were so bad that I didn’t have the energy, focus or ability to do anything about it.  I promised myself that at some point I would write something.  This isn’t quite the blog that I was going to write – still not enough health to do that, unfortunately.  It was going to be all about how CFS has affected my life and how it impacts so many people in so many ways.  However instead, having just attended a webinar, on 16th November, I’m going to ask you a very important question:

Have you heard about the DecodeME project?

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Reflections On Disability: 1956 vs 2022

Written by Liz Hobbs.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.


The fight for disability rights and inclusion is nothing new.  Back in 1950 the wife of my great grandmother’s stepson (Rosalind Chalmers) contracted polio.  As a result of this she suffered from its lifelong effects and disabilities.  In 1966 she wrote an article called ‘Victim Invicta’ about how disability affected her and her family’s life.  She contracted polio when her children were just 5 weeks old and 2 years old.  14 years on she was paralysed, used a wheelchair, needed daily personal care, couldn’t look after her children and had to constantly rely on others to help her.   It also talked about how things should be improved for disabled people.  ‘Victim Invicta’ was published in a book called ‘Stigma – The Experience of Disability’.

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