Inclusive Voices short story competition for vision impaired young people
Celebrating Audio, Braille, and Community To mark HiVis Fortnight 2025, Calibre Audio is proud to relaunch the Inclusive Voices short story competition – a celebration of creativity, accessibility, and diverse storytelling. Whether you love to write poetry or prose, they're inviting entries from people of all ages and abilities. Craft a story of up to 550 words that includes at least one of our themes: Audio, Braille, and Community. Who Can Enter? Everyone is welcome! Calibre encourages entries from: People with print disabilities, including current and potential Calibre members. Budding writers of all ages, with or without a [...]
Shadow of Light – International Music Competition
By Ellie Wallwork Hi everyone, as some of you might already know, along with being a Changemaker, I am also a visually impaired actor. Below is a wonderful project which I feel so privileged to be involved in! Shadow of Light is an upcoming international feature film, in which I will be playing the lead role of Georgia. If you're a composer for acoustic guitar, you have the chance to be part of it too by submitting your own original piece of work to be featured in the film. You can find out more about [...]
An original thriller – written & recorded by Talha Noor Tahir
By Talha Noor Tahir Hi, I’m Talha Noor Tahir, a proud Changemaker with VICTA. As a creative writer and voice artist, I specialise in dramatic, suspenseful storytelling that keeps you hooked from the very first word. What you’re about to hear is the prologue of an original thriller - written, voiced, and narrated by me. It’s a glimpse into the kind of immersive, emotionally charged work I love to create. Hope you enjoy the ride. Click below to listen! To get in touch with Talha, please email students@victa.org.uk and we'll pass [...]
Hear from some of our World Book Day Competition Entrants!
Here are some of our little bookworms' favourite stories! “My favourite book is The Rainbow Fish because it was not kind and then it was kind in the end.” - Gabriella “So my book review is about Harry Potter. What I like about it is Rubeus Hagrid because he is really kind to Harry and he helps Harry a lot in all of the seven books. If you’ve not read them they’re really good. And what I don’t like about it is Lord Voldemort because he’s [...]
Join blind artist & VICTA Changemaker Ruqaiya’s on a tour of her exhibition
Join VICTA Changemaker and blind artist Ruqaiya Asim for a tour of her current exhibition 'Can You See Me Now?' The exhibition is all about spreading disability awareness and sharing Ruqaiya's experiences of how she navigates the world as a blind person. Ruqaiya talks you through the features she's put in place to make sure her art is accessible for you to experience if you have a vision impairment. You can still catch 'Can You See Me Now' in person until 29 March Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, from 9 am – 5 pm. Location: [...]
Join our World Book Day Celebration
Sorry our Voxblock offer has reached capacity and is now closed. If you would like to be added to a waiting list should more devices become available, or would like to tell us about your love of books for your chance to win a set of POGS headphones, please email students@victa.org.uk. Hi, I’m Catherine and I have been working for VICTA since November 2024. As a child I was a huge Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy fan. I really enjoyed reading books about little girls my own age and imagining what it would be like [...]
The Verses That Make Us: A Personal Journey Through Change
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month By Ellie Wallwork In mid September, I stood on a stage with a band arrayed behind me, four pages of braille paper clutched in my hand. I'm an actor but I felt the most acute stage fright of my life, voice caught in my throat and knees shaking as if I had run a marathon. I didn't think the words would come - until I started to speak. I hadn't thought of myself as a poet. I used to tap words out on a keyboard when I [...]
Be inspired. VI art student Millie-Jayne’s digital art
Image description: A high contrast digital image. The background image is an abstract photo that has been flooded with colour - bright pink and dark grey, a person is just visible in the centre of the image. In the top-right corner a white flower is overlaid over the other image with transparency allowing the background colours to show through. In the bottom-left there is a blue image overlaid of a tulip with bright yellow accents. Braille dots have been overlaid over the image reading: 'Better to be blind and see with your heart than have two [...]
Things that make me feel joyful
A poem by Mahalia Creft The blue-purple hue of an early early morning as I lay twisted up in yellow with my eyes just barely open. The taste of chocolate melding deep into the corners of my taste-buds as I sneak a stray biscuit before mum brings in a “proper” breakfast. The feel of a warm plate on my lap when the sun is at its highest point and my belly is at its largest. The scent of something sweet, ringing melodically in my nostrils and my throat. The sound of music that I hear, caressing the innards [...]
So, how long do you think it will take to get the book finished?
By Mahalia Creft “So, how long do you think it will take to get the book finished?” I tried my very best not to freeze as the realisation dawned on me… ooooohhhh they actually want me to write a book. This was the reaction I had after attending an information evening targeted at helping individuals start their own business. I had made the mistake of thinking this information evening was like most others I had attended, in which you sit for an hour, maybe an hour and a half while some guy whose internet connection keeps dropping out [...]
