How can blind people play sports?
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month This article is about sports and how visually impaired or blind people play them. There lots of different kind of sports VI people play such as football, goalball, baseball and much more. They can be played through sound, communication and connection. There are different levels of VI classification which participants can take part in – for example B1 is for someone who cannot see at all, B2 means they can see little bit, B3 is someone who can see bit more and B4 is someone who is partially [...]
Things I learnt training for the London Marathon
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month On the 21st of April, along with my guide runner, I set out to compete the 2024 TCS London Marathon. I had raised the money for charity (VICTA), done the training and now, it was time for the real thing. Weirdly I don’t remember much about the day itself. I remember the noise though. The cheering and shouting of thousands of families. There were kids banging tambourines in no apparent rhythm and timpani drummers playing in perfect synchronisation. There were out of tune recorder players and brass bands [...]
The Paralympics from a blind perspective
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month We are Scarlett and Eliza, two blind swimmers who competed at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. From the enjoyment of what started as just a hobby, to one day achieving your dream, our journey through the sport has given us many experiences that we shall never forget, and taught us valuable skills both in and out of the pool. We are sharing our experiences of the Paralympics from a blind athlete's perspective - not from the sights, but the sounds and feel of the Games. We know that no [...]
Be inspired. Park runs and marathons as a blind runner
Running or jogging is considered one of the best cardio exercises out there. Just 5-10 minutes a day can help to build strong bones and muscles, while lifting your mood and energy levels. For many, outdoor running can also decrease feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression. However, when you have a vision impairment, it's not as simple as just popping out for a quick morning jog on your own. So how can we enjoy the benefits of outdoor running while keeping safe? One answer to that question is guide running. The activity, which uses a ramble tag, enables [...]
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 [...]
Tactile Times online advent calendar
Tactile Times are getting into the Christmas spirit already and have launched a fully-accessible, online advent calender. If you fancy a change from printed advent calendars this one is fully-accessible with all major screen readers using a computer or a phone and you can access it with a Braillenote Touch. You might even hear a few familiar voices along the way! You can visit it to open the first few door right now: games.tactiletimes.org/advent The will have a new door unlocking each day, and a bumper day on the 24th. It is a great opportunity to [...]
Be inspired. Tune in to Lee’s first radio show!
As part of our #BlindnessAwarenessMonth celebrations, we chatted to Lee Roake about his fantastic achievement, launching his first radio show! Lee is a 17 year old with a rare genetic condition called WAGR Syndrome. Due to his vision impairment, Lee has been involved in VICTA activities from a young age, now taking part in our activities for 14 to 17 years. Lee has just started his very own radio show on Surrey Hills Radio and tells us how his volunteering led to this dream opportunity! Did you miss Lee's [...]
Be inspired. Fundraising success for this VICTA Young Achiever!
We are celebrating Dotty, who has had incredible fundraising success while earning her Young Achievers Community pin badge. So far, Dotty has raised over £600 through her sponsored walk, amazing! Dotty's parents tell us how she organised her fundraising event and what made it a great success: Dotty chose to do a sponsored walk as part of her Young Achievers Award with VICTA, we chose a 5 mile walk near Dotty’s School. We sent a message to Dotty’s friends and parents and WOW we were overwhelmed by the support we got. The walk started at West Hanningfield Village Hall [...]
Be inspired. International Mother Language Day
DofE VICTA volunteer Armaan tells us about growing up with English as his second language Hello, my name is Armaan, and I am bilingual meaning that I can speak two languages and those are ‘English and Bengali’ while I can also read Arabic and speak simple Spanish. Bangla was my first language and I learnt it from my Grandma at the age of one/two. Performing tasks such as singing in the language and generally talking with her, helped when my family moved here from Bangladesh because I could talk to them, therefore allowing me to be more connected with [...]
Be inspired. Campaigning for Braille
By Hannah Bromley-Challenor I have always loved writing, from creative writing, to making lists and notes. When my eyesight started to deteriorate in my mid-teens, I feared I would lose one of my favourite pastimes. That was until my school gave me the opportunity to learn how to read and write in Braille. Ever since then I have been passionate about Braille. It gives me the freedom to do everyday things such as write shopping lists, that I can take into town with my carers, or gather notes from lectures at university. With a Braillenote I can write emails, [...]
