Royal Blind iSite - Summer 2016

In this Issue:

iSite

Breaking ground on Paisley development Page 5 Alex Gray & Sue Reid Sexton – accessible formats Page 6 What’s it like to work at Braeside House?

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Summer 2016 RoyalBlind.org

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Ian Rankin at the Royal Blind School iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Ian Rankin presents creative writing prizes to talented student

Royal Blind is Scotland’s largest visual impairment organisation. We create life-changing opportunities for visually impaired children and adults of all ages.

Royal Blind School student Andrew Pettigrew made the headlines after winning two writing awards – and the admiration of best-selling crime writer Ian Rankin.

Please make a donation to support our work. www. royalblind. org/donate

Braeside House A nursing home specialising in care for visually impaired older people.

The Royal Blind School Specialist education for young people aged up to 18 years.

Scottish Braille Press A leading provider of high quality Braille, large print and audio transcription services.

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Forward Vision A residential and respite service for young adults aged 17-25.

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Making a donation to Royal Blind. Every donation makes a difference.

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Learning Hub Support, training and resources for education professionals that teach visually impaired pupils.

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You can donate: Online: www.royalblind.org/donate Telephone: 0131 229 1456 Cheque: made payable to Royal Blind, 50 Gillespie Crescent, Edinburgh, EH10 4JB.

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Kidscene An after school and holiday club for children of all abilities.

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Scottish War Blinded Our sister charity provides assistance to veterans of the armed forces.

Andrew is the recipient of a Pushkin Prizes creative writing award for Scottish students and the winner of the Seeing Ear Creative Writing Competition.

The teenager was presented with his prizes by Ian Rankin, the author of the internationally best-selling Rebus crime series, in April in a special event at the school.

Speaking at the event, which was attended by Andrew’s parents, Josephine and Alan, as well as his teachers and fellow students, Mr Rankin said he was ‘very impressed’ with Andrew’s ability.

He said: “Let me say what a thrill it is to be here. All human beings have imagination and creativity, especially when you’re young.

“At some point the adult world usually says you’ve got to grow up and stop doing that, you’ve got to put away your imaginary friends and stop creating these imaginary worlds in your head and on paper.

“Writers say no thanks, I’m going to be a kid the rest of my life.

“I hope you will refuse to grow up and keep using your experience to keep writing. I will congratulate you again, these are wonderful prizes you’ve won, I’m so thrilled for you, pal.”

Andrew entered three pieces into the Pushkin Prizes competition – a poem about his hero, Louis Braille, an article about death and a short fantasy fiction story. His prize was

to take part in a week of creative writing workshops in Moniack Mhor.

He was awarded £800 worth of Dolphin assistive technology software from the Seeing Ear contest.

Andrew added: “I wasn’t interested in reading until I lost my sight when I was young.

Then I used action figures to tell stories and from there I started writing them in Braille.

“I was so happy when I found out I won the awards I did a bit of a victory dance and it was a real thrill to meet Ian Rankin.”

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iSite in alternative formats To receive iSite in large print, Braille or audio CD please contact Colleen Watt on 0131 229 1456 or e-mail colleen.watt@royalblind.org

Royal Blind is a registered charity SC017167 Scottish War Blinded is a registered charity SC002652

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Royal Blind School work experience Every year in June the Royal Blind School’s senior pupils take part in a week-long work experience programme to help them prepare for adulthood and gain confidence and independence.

Reece Watt joined Royal Blind’s Marketing & Fundraising department for his work experience programme.

As part of his placement we asked Reece to record his experience and write an article for iSite magazine.

And the 18-year-old did just that, utilising his excellent interview technique and writing skills to pen this article recording his and his friends’ work experience.

Work experience week

By Reece Watt

The Linburn Centre Today, I was out at the Linburn Centre with the Royal Blind marketing department on work experience. Linburn is a day centre for people who have previously been in the war, and have lost their sight over a period of time. I talked to some of the veterans who are members of Scottish War Blinded. One of the veterans, whose name was Rob, was aged 65 and had joined the navy when he was 16. He was in the navy for ten years during the Cold War, which took place in the 1960s. After ten years, Rob went on to join the fire service.

Wednesday 8 June

Thursday 9 June

Tuesday 7 June

Interview with Harry at the Royal Commonwealth Pool I went to the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh today, where I interviewed Harry Lovett. I asked Harry a range of questions. Harry said that he found it useful doing a variety of different jobs, from helping out at reception to being at the poolside. Harry wants to be a lifeguard when he is older. Harry has found the gym particularly busy at lunchtimes and he has found the communication headsets a challenge to wear.

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iSite Magazine Summer 2016

Wednesday 8 June

Interview with Scott at Preston Street Primary School I was at Preston Street Primary School today interviewing Scott Hilson. Scott said that every day as a classroom assistant varied, depending on what the class were doing that day. For example, yesterday was sports day so Scott had to watch the children take part in various sports and assisted when required. In the afternoon Scott helped make smoothies with the children.

Scott has also helped groups with mental arithmetic and other classroom activities. Scott said that he has enjoyed working with children this will be a positive experience for his CV. Interview with Daniel and Junjie at RNIB Today, I went to interview two pupils, who were on work experience at RNIB. Daniel said that it was fun and that he had spent the majority of the time sending emails, and using spreadsheets. Daniel also said that he carried out various typing tasks for the managers, whose names were Allister and Billy.

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Paralympic Torch tours the Royal Blind School

Mhairi Black MP breaks ground on Paisley development

Pupils at the Royal Blind School were given a taste of Rio de Janeiro as they escorted the 2016 Paralympic Torch around their school.

Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black has launched the official start of construction on Royal Blind Group’s £12 million development for blind and partially sighted people in the West of Scotland.

Ten students were chosen to act as ‘guardians’ and carry the flame through the school at the end of term as part of the ParalympicsGB Rio 2016 Torch Tour.

The visit came shortly after former Royal Blind School pupil Stephen Clegg was selected to represent Great Britain in swimming as part of the Paralympic team, ParalympicGB.

Ms Black took part in a groundbreaking ceremony at the Paisley site in July attended by representatives of Renfrewshire Council and local sight loss and veterans’ organisations.

The torch visited 100 schools this Summer as part of a project to inspire young people ahead of the Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

The 20-year-old is the younger brother of silver-medal winning Paralympic sprinter, Libby, and swimmer James, who won bronze in the men’s 100m butterfly event in the 2012 London Paralympics.

The Royal Blind School was the fourth school on the tour and one of 13 schools in Scotland to be included in the programme.

Royal Blind School Head Teacher Elaine Brackenridge said she was honoured that the school was included in the tour.

She said: “The Rio 2016 ParalympicsGB Torch Tour was so exciting for the young people – it’s a once in a school career opportunity.

“We’re so proud of our former pupils’ success in the Paralympics.

We don’t know what the future holds with regards our current pupils’ sporting ambitions, but the Royal Blind School seeks to maximise the potential of all our students.”

The Rio 2016 ParalympicsGB Torch Tour aims to inspire young people and raise awareness of the Paralympic movement and the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Royal Blind is constructing Jenny’s Well Care Home to provide specialist care for visually impaired older people. The care home will provide a mix of local authority funded and private places for older people living with visual impairments.

Alongside the care home Royal Blind’s sister charity, Scottish War Blinded, is building the Hawkhead Centre, a rehabilitation and activities centre for military veterans with sight loss.

The names for the new services were chosen by local residents Ian Lochhead, Nadia Obike and Lynn Lock in our Name the Building Competition.

“ I was very pleased to be invited to become involved with this great project right at the start.

The Royal Blind Jenny’s Well Care Home, and the Scottish War Blinded Hawkhead Centre are going to have a huge impact on the lives of so many people in and around Renfrewshire.

“I can’t wait to come back and visit when the services open in 2017.”

Mhairi Black PAISLEY AND RENFREWSHIRE SOUTH MP

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iSite Magazine Summer 2016

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Authors Alex Gray and Sue Reid Sexton on accessible formats

Best-selling crime author, Alex Gray

It was a busy Spring at the Scottish Braille Press with the launch of three new books in Braille. To celebrate the release, iSite spoke to authors Alex Gray and Sue Reid Sexton about why they choose to release their work in accessible formats.

Meet Alex Grey

she was a member of the City of Glasgow Chorus.

Best-selling crime author Alex Gray “One of our members was blind visited the Scottish Braille Press and read music in Braille and ahead of the launch of her latest I thought how wonderfully novel, The Darkest Goodbye. inclusive Braille can make The highly-anticipated thriller is things like music,” she said. the thirteenth in her popular “That really inspired me. Nobody Detective William Lorimer series. should be kept from doing All of Alex’s work is available in what they love. Literature Braille and she wanted this novel should be for everybody.” to be no exception. “I strongly believe that all books should be The Darkest Goodbye follows the accessible to everybody,” she said. investigation of the murder of an

“I was shocked when I was told that elderly lady after being visited in the early hours of the morning just 5% of books are transcribed by someone dressed as a carer. into Braille. I feel very honoured that mine are published by the “The book leaves some unfinished Scottish Braille Press. I was thrilled business, it will make the when I found out that was going to reader think “oh!” and want happen and that they were being to know more,” Alex said. made in large print and “It explores the morality around audio format too.” right to die, which is a subject that Alex, a former English teacher, Lorimer feels very strongly about.” first encountered Braille when 6

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

Nobody should be kept from doing what they love. Literature should be for everybody.

Alex became a professional writer in the 1990s after she was diagnosed with ME. Today she has awards including the Scottish Association of Writer’s Constable and Pitlochry trophies under her belt, is a regular on the bestseller lists and has cofounded successful crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland.

She added: “The Scottish Braille Press does a wonderful job to bring books to those who cannot read them any other way and I feel humbled and thankful that they consider my work worth all the effort.”

Wild camping adventure author, Sue Reid Sexton

Meet Sue Reid Sexton

in solitude, often avoiding the campsites in order to ‘wild camp’.

When she bought her first “The van is where I am happiest,” campervan ten years ago, Sue she said. “When I first started using Reid Sexton intended to use it for holidays in the Scottish countryside. it as an office my then husband and I had six children in their teens and But for the past ten years, the 20s living with us at any given time, author of gripping novels Mavis’s so it was hectic to say the least.

Shoe and Rue End Street has “The first time I went off in the van been using her van as a mobile on my own to write, I worked for office, disappearing for days days solidly, it was fantastic. And or weeks at a time to write I’ve been doing that ever since.

I was honoured to work with the Scottish Braille Press to print Mavis’s Shoe and Rue End Street in Braille and I am excited that Writing in the Road has been released in Braille on the same day as the print edition.

“The book is in two halves, Outer and Inner. In the second part of the book I deal a lot more with that human aspect of wild camping.”

As for advice for aspiring wild campers? “Just do it,” says Sue. “I would always tell people not to do anything that pushes them too far out of their comfort zone. Wild camping certainly isn’t for everyone, but if it’s something you’re interested in, do your research and go for it.”

In 2011 Sue’s novel, Mavis’s Shoe, became the first piece of new Scottish writing to be released simultaneously in print and in Braille, transcribed by the Scottish Braille Press. Three years later, its sequel Rue End Street was also released in Braille on the same day as it was published in print.

Sue added: “I think everybody should have access to literature in some way. When you read a book it is an intimate and private experience. I love audiobooks but they take away some of that privacy for the listener, because it’s someone else’s voice, someone else’s interpretation of the words.

“I was honoured to work with the Scottish Braille Press to print Mavis’s Shoe and Rue End Street in Braille and I am excited that Writing in the Road has been released in Braille on the same day as the print edition.”

These books and others can be purchased in Braille at www.royalblind.org/shop/scottish-braille-press iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Kidscene scores ‘excellent’ rating in Care Inspectorate report Royal Blind’s after school and holiday club has been praised for creating an ‘exciting and dynamic’ environment in its latest inspection report.

Kidscene was awarded the highest possible grade, ‘excellent’ (6), in the environment category after the Care Inspectorate visited the centre in January.

The service was also awarded ‘very good’ (5) in the quality of care and support, quality of staffing and quality of management and leadership categories.

The report praised the extensive range of accessible facilities and the way children were taught about the impact of visual impairment.

To read the full Care Inspectorate report visit our website www.royalblind. org/child-care

children about the impact of visual impairment. All of this impacted on the children’s awareness of themselves and others. Throughout the inspection we observed children taking responsibility for keeping each other safe in the environment.”

The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland and inspects services as part of its commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of all children.

The inspection also highlights the ‘friendly and respectful’ atmosphere between both children and It states: “Staff had worked with staff, reporting that staff are children to respect individuality, ‘enthusiastic about their roles both their own and others. Children and committed to providing high had learnt the importance of quality experiences for children’. valuing people’s differences.

It states: “Children were kind and “A young person from the Royal caring towards each other and Blind School had spoken to the staff. The atmosphere within the club was friendly and respectful.”

Welcome to our new Depute Head!

Royal Blind is excited to welcome a new Depute Head Teacher to the Royal Blind School, RNIB’s former Education and Family Services Manager, Dominic Everett.

Dominic Everett, who has been at RNIB Scotland for the last five years leading their education programme, joined the senior leadership team at the Royal Blind School in May. As well as managing the school alongside Head Teacher Elaine Brackenridge and Depute Head Angela Russell, Mr Everett will oversee the smooth running and development of the Royal Blind Learning Hub – the charity’s new service providing support to education staff in mainstream schools that teach visually impaired children.

Mr Everett, who is a Qualified Teacher of Visually Impaired, previously worked in Uddingston Grammar School in South Lanarkshire for 19 years before joining RNIB in August 2011.

He has been Chair of the Scottish Association on Visual Impairment Education (SAVIE) and is a member of several national steering groups including the Scottish Vision Strategy Advisory Group and the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Visual Impairment.

“It is a real privilege to join the team at Royal Blind School. I see this as an ideal opportunity to work alongside professionals across Scotland to ensure that blind and partially sighted children and young people can maximise their potential.”

Dominic Everett

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iSite Magazine Summer 2016

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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‘It’s a special place to work’

An interview with Braeside House carer Hajra Hamzah Having worked in the care industry for nine years, Care Assistant Hajra Hamzah says she has never worked anywhere quite like Braeside House. Hajra describes what it’s like to work in Scotland’s only care home for visually impaired older people.

How did you come to work at Braeside House?

I’m from South India originally, but I was brought up in Malaysia before I moved to the UK to study in 2007 and I’ve worked in care since then. My husband and I moved to Edinburgh last year after we fell in love with Scotland and I started working at Braeside House in September 2015.

What do you do on a typical day at Braeside House?

In the morning we help get everyone ready for the day and they have breakfast. After that there may be an activity they want to join in with, like the newspaper reading group, so we help residents to get there if they need us to.

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There’s lunch, and more activities in the afternoon for those who want to attend. We take a tea trolley round, then there’s dinner and bedtime in the evening.

How is Braeside House different from other care homes you’ve worked in?

Everyone who lives here has a visual impairment. The way I think about it is that the residents are borrowing your eyes to see the world, so you need to consider that at all times.

What do you like best about your role?

The people are so friendly, that’s what makes it special. It feels like a family and I miss the residents when I’m away. The staff are treated

very well too which creates a nice environment. The Care Assistants are given some flexibility so whilst we have a schedule of tasks that we need to complete, if a resident wants to do an activity, or do something different, we can make it happen. That’s really lovely.

What advice would you give to someone hoping to become a Care Assistant at Braeside House?

I would just say go for it, it is such a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds and experiences.

People who work here seem to stay for a long time and it’s great to be part of a team that really care about what they’re doing.

Forward Vision saddle up for Wild West barbecue!

Forward Vision residents and staff were joined by their family and friends for their annual summer barbecue.

Staff transformed the Forward Vision grounds for the Wild West-themed party in July.

Guests looked the part in fancy dress while they enjoyed their food in the sunshine – accompanied by live country music.

The barbecue was a chance for residents’ families and friends to meet one another, and to welcome a new Forward Vision resident who will join the service later this year.

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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National Braille Week – get involved!

National Braille Week returns in October.

Coinciding with World Sight Day, the weeklong celebration aims to raise knowledge and understanding of the importance of Braille and alternative formats.

Inside a Learning Hub seminar: Teaching science to visually impaired pupils For many students science is most fun when conducting noisy and dramatic experiments.

Luckily for Royal Blind School pupils, that’s exactly what science teacher, Anna Christal, recommends for teaching the subject to visually impaired young people.

Anna was one of the expert speakers at Royal Blind’s Learning Hub subject seminar in March.

Teachers and teaching assistants attended the event to find out more about supporting young people with visual impairment and other complex needs in mainstream schools.

Having taught at the Royal Blind School for eight years, Anna has

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become an expert in making the subject accessible to all of her students.

And one of her top tips?

Make demonstrations as loud, smelly and tactile as possible.

Speaking at the seminar Anna said: “One way teachers can accommodate their visually impaired students is to demonstrate experiments that have fizz or bang or create smells. Doing this can benefit their sighted students too.”

Anna also recommended handling real materials where possible, for example showing a student what a real flower feels and smells like, or

Visit the Learning Hub website for free resources about educating people with visual impairment: www. royalblind.org/ learninghub allowing them to examine animal organs during anatomy classes.

Attendees were also given the chance to examine some specially adapted scientific equipment including 3D models, tactile graphics and materials.

Anna added: “When you have a young person who has had a visual impairment from a young age, it is important to be aware that there may be gaps in their knowledge because they do not have the same opportunities for incidental learning – picking up information from the environment and by seeing what’s around them.”

Each year in October families, educators, celebrities, community groups and businesses come together to show their support of National Braille Week by organising awareness-raising events, activities and lessons.

Now Royal Blind is inviting iSite readers to do just that for this years’ event, running from 10-15 October, with the help of our free online resources.

The National Braille Week website has informative links, worksheets, powerpoint presentations, games and puzzles.

You can also fill in a contact form to enquire about getting a Royal Blind staff member to speak at your school or organisation – or to ask for advice on organising your own awareness raising event.

How does Braille work?

Raised dots represent the letters of the print alphabet for people who are blind or partially sighted. Braille contains symbols for punctuation marks and provides a system of contractions and short form words to save space, making it an efficient method of tactile reading.

Braille symbols are formed within units of space known as Braille cells. A full Braille cell consists of six raised dots arranged in two parallel vertical rows each having three dots.

The dot positions are identified by numbers one to six. 63 combinations are possible using one or more of these six dots.

Cells can be used to represent a letter of the alphabet, number, punctuation mark or even a whole word.

Braille is not a language. It is a code by which all languages may be written and read.

Through the use of Braille, people who are blind are able to review and study the written word. It provides a vehicle for literacy and gives an individual the ability to become familiar with spelling, punctuation, paragraphing and other formatting considerations.

Visit www.royalblind. org/national-brailleweek for more information.

iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Friends of Scottish Rugby Friends of Scottish Rugby has donated £1,250 to Royal Blind after their Life President’s grandson was diagnosed with a rare condition which caused him to lose the sight in his right eye.

The group held a tribute dinner in honour of Donald McNab at the Caledonian Club in London. Her Royal Highness Princess Ann was the guest speaker at the event and the proceeds from a collection at the dinner were donated to Royal Blind at Mr McNab’s request.

Thank you for your

support!

ESPC After a year of fantastic fundraisers, Royal Blind’s time as ESPC’s charity of the year has now drawn to a close.

“The Royal Blind School has a special relevance to ESPC as we also sponsor Royal Blind’s ambassador, Paralympian Libby Clegg, who is a former pupil.”

The property company selected Royal Blind as its chosen charity in 2015 and has helped raise a grand total of £5,632 for the organisation during the past 12 months.

ESPC and Royal Blind held several fundraisers together including the ESPC Winter Ball which raised £2,550 for Royal Blind, and a pub quiz which raised £2,400.

And in February the company held one its most Highlights of the partnership included the ESPC Winter memorable fundraisers ever, inviting members Ball, a team-building pub quiz and Royal Blind Week of the public to try and break the record for event the Blindfold Smarties Chopsticks Challenge. eating the most Smarties using chopsticks, while blindfolded, as part of Royal Blind Week.

ESPC’s CEO, Paul Hilton, presented Royal Blind’s Marketing Manager, Davina Shiell, and Fundraising Officer, Natalie Reid, with a cheque in July.

Mr Hilton said: “Over the past year we’ve enjoyed working closely with Royal Blind to support the fantastic work that they do.

“At ESPC we believe in supporting local charities and Royal Blind provides vital services for partially-sighted children at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, as well as providing care and employment for blind and partially sighted people throughout Scotland.

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Mr McNab’s grandson, Greg, has Eales Disease, a rare condition that affects the retina. The disorder is most prevalent among young males and normally affects both eyes. Usually, vision is suddenly blurred because the clear jelly that fills the eyeball behind the lens of the eye seeps out. This is known as vitreous haemorrhaging.

Greg was diagnosed with the condition in 2014 and has had laser surgery to seal the leaking blood vessels in his eyes. He has also undergone cataract surgery and a vitrectomy – surgery to remove the vitreous humor from the eye.

The teenager, who will graduate from high school this year, now wears glasses and is learning to drive.

He is also a photographer for his school sports team and whilst he will no longer be able to pursue a career in the military, he plans to travel when he leaves school.

Greg’s mum, Fiona, said: “I am immensely proud of him. He has coped amazingly well and remained positive no doubt helped by the ribbing from his cousins!”

Ciara’s Team An intrepid team of friends hiked the length of a marathon through some of Scotland’s toughest terrain in just 12 hours, raising £519 for Royal Blind.

“We don’t often get the opportunity to pay back to the community or charities that have helped us but feel it’s our duty to pay something back when we can.”

Rosie McGearey, of South Queensferry, tackled the Great Glencoe Challenge on July 2 to ‘say thank you’ to Royal Blind’s Forward Vision service for caring for her daughter, Ciara.

Ciara, aged 19, lost her sight after contracting meningitis as a baby. She attended the Royal Blind School and now has several nights respite care each week the transitional service for young adults.

And 48-year-old former RAF medic, Rosie, who is a full-time carer for Ciara, said she felt it was her ‘duty’ to pay the Forward Vision team back for its support.

“Ciara has now spent the last seven years blossoming under the Royal Blind umbrella, firstly at the Royal Blind School and now for a few nights per week at Forward Vision,” she said.

Find out more about supporting Royal Blind by visiting www.royalblind.org/how-you-can-help iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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Green-fingered veterans win two awards at Gardening Scotland A year of research, planning and hard work paid off for Scottish War Blinded members when the veterans’ Gardening Scotland entry scooped the Best Newcomer and Silver Gilt awards at this year’s event.

Scottish War Blinded’s garden was inspired by a visit to the First World battlefields of Ypres last year and was called ‘Silhouettes in the Fog.’ The garden commemorates the experiences of soldiers who suffered the life changing effects of mustard gas and evokes the memory of trench warfare.

The brains behind the garden was Centre Officer Caroline O’Hara - the green fingered guru of the Linburn Centre, and Chris and Sam Shaw of Ian White Associates,

who came up with the design of the garden.

The team’s hard work came to fruition with an appearance on BBC2 Beechgrove Garden, a silver gilt award for show garden, and the best newcomer award.

The garden was developed in partnership with Jon Lessels landscaping, Binny Plants, Greenspace landscapes and 3 Rifles Battalion - who donated sandbags for the gardens ‘trench’.

The focal point of the garden conjured up life in a 1915 trench with dense, dark colours and

smoke evoking some of the tension, fear and anxiety felt by Allied soldiers on the Western Front during a poisonous gas attack.

Portraits Project

Former soldier Stephen Porteous has been raising the profile of the country’s 4.8 million veterans since the launch of his stunning photography project, Veterans Portrait Project UK in May 2015.

Now the faces of Scottish War Blinded members have been added to his collection.

The photographer, who served for more than 20 years in the British Army Royal Engineers, was inspired to take on the project after discovering US veteran Stacey Pearsall’s Veteran Portrait Project.

Stephen visited the Linburn Centre to take members’ portraits earlier this year. Their images have featured in his exhibition and have been His mission is to maintain veterans’ included in his online gallery. presence in public consciousness

to ensure that support for former soldiers’ is maintained.

You can view the full gallery of Scottish War Blinded members and find out more about Stephen’s project at www. scottishwarblinded.org.

Mary

William

The wooden trench feature was crafted by visually impaired veterans at the Scottish War Blinded Linburn Centre in West Lothian. The ceramic poppies were hand made by military veterans with sight loss, and formed a moving cascade down from the trench.

The garden was visited by thousands of members of the public, many of whom commented on how moved they were by the garden’s commemoration of World War One.

Hugh

Jack

Peter

Mary served as a hairdresser and member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) which was the women’s branch of the British Army during the Second World War. William was a cook in the British Army Catering Corps from 1955-

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1960 and undertook Reserve service from 1960-1964.

Hugh was a Lance Corporal Army of the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1942-1946. The 92-year-old World War 2 veteran landed on Sword beach during the D-Day landings.

Peter completed his National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1954-1964, latterly in the Reserves.

Jack was a Special Operator in the Royal Navy from 1941-1946 and undertook Reserve service from 1948-1974. iSite Magazine Summer 2016

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How you can help!

Regular donations are crucial to our work. Direct debit donations enable us to plan our work into the future, transforming the lives of blind and partially sighted people of all ages. If you would like to set up a direct debit then please complete this form.

Your support is really appreciated.

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Make your donation worth almost a third more at no extra cost to you.

If you are a taxpayer, you can make your donation worth more with Gift Aid. For every pound you give to us, we get an extra 25p from the Inland Revenue. All you need to do is check the statement below and tick the box. To qualify for Gift Aid, what you pay in income tax or capital gains tax must at least equal the amount we will claim in the tax year.

I declare all gifts of money that I’ve made to Royal Blind in the past six years and all future gifts of money that I make from the date of this declaration are Gift Aid donations.

Please notify us if you want to cancel this declaration, change your name or home address or no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains.

DATA PROTECTION – Royal Blind is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998, registration no. Z5603032. Information on the use of personal data by Royal Blind is available from: 50 Gillespie Crescent Edinburgh EH10 4JB. Registered Charity No. SC017167. Royal Blind values your support. We would like to keep you up to date with information about our fundraising appeals and our charitable work.

Please tick here if you would prefer us not to contact you by post. Royal Blind will not pass your details to non-associated companies but we may provide your data to those associated organisations providing related products and services that may be of interest to you. These Organisations may contact you by post or by telephone concerning these offers. If you do not wish these organisations to contact you please tick here.

The Direct Debit

This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Royal Blind will notify you ten working days in

advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Royal Blind to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by Royal Blind or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and

immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Royal Blind asks you to. You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society.

Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.