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 [...]
Blind Dancing | So you think you can’t dance?
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month So you think you can't dance? That assumption is not strictly true! Today, 10 October 2024 is World Sight Day and also World Mental Health Day. And as part of Blindness Awareness Month, VICTA Changemaker Grace busts some myths around dancing when you are blind or partially sighted and the positive impact is has had on her mental health. Dancing is an incredibly visual art form, but it is also very inclusive, even if you live with a vision impairment. This is something I didn't think could [...]
AI tools for blind & visually impaired students | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month Artificial intelligence (AI), much like the internet, has become an integral component of our daily lives in recent years. Despite popular scepticism fuelled by mainstream media and misinformation on social networks, AI plays an important role in improving educational accessibility. Specifically, for blind and visually impaired learners, AI tools can significantly improve the learning experience by providing personalised assistance, increasing independence, and improving the accessibility of educational content. In this article, details are presented of various apps and websites that utilise AI to assist blind and visually impaired people, particularly [...]
University and work journey | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month My name is Bilaal Ali. I'm 21 years old and live in Sheffield with my family and I’m severely blind. I have a syndrome called BBS (bbsuk.org.uk) which affects my eyesight, overweightness and slight learning difficulty. Despite having this rare condition, I always work hard and am determined to not let anything get in my way of life and just carry on thriving. I’m an undergraduate student at Sheffield Hallam University studying accounting and finance. I’m currently on my placement year after completing the first two years [...]
Influential VI people through history | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month Hi everybody, I’m Rhiana and I’m partially sighted, with a number of different causes and variables. I am 20 and live in South West Wales. I have always had a love of history. I have enjoyed writing this article for you. It was so much fun to research new people, as I am a massive history fan. How many historical figures do you know with vision difficulties? Galileo Galilei was born on 15th February 1564 in Pisa. He was an astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. He [...]
Blindness Awareness Month – A VICTA Changemakers Takeover
October is Blindness Awareness Month The VICTA Changemakers are taking over the Student Portal throughout Blindness Awareness Month, bringing you the topics that matter to them. Whether you have a vision impairment yourself or are looking to learn more about living with sight loss, our team are here to share their stories to connect and inspire! Starting tomorrow, make sure you stay tuned throughout October and sign up to email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. We will also be sharing across VICTA's social media channels @VICTAUK, so like, follow and subscribe! Many [...]
Introducing the VICTA Changemakers
Introducing the VICTA Changemakers We're excited to introduce to you our team of VICTA Changemakers for 2024! Passionate about sharing their views on the topics that matter to young vision impaired people, they'll be bringing you their stories, videos, podcasts and more across the year. So watch this space and stayed tuned. It's time to meet our Changemakers, find out what they enjoy, what inspires them, and what they'd like to change about the world. Hi, my name is Lucy Booker Wilson... I have recently finished my A-levels in biology, chemistry, [...]
Moving house – tips for home buyers with a vision impairment
By Jack Tomlin After living in a small village for six years I finally decided it was time to move on, I was seeking more space, a bigger garden and a more central location. I had been wanting to move for a while, but it never quite felt like the right time. In December 2022 I started looking and viewed a few places to see what was on offer. Eventually I found the perfect cottage in a nearby village. It had a few drawbacks but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. I signed all the paperwork and within a [...]
