Experiencing Live Theatre as a Blind Person
How do I enjoy theatre as a blind person? Theatre, along with TV shows, art, movies and a large variety of mainstream entertainment, is often viewed as inherently visual and therefore, not something you would expect a blind person to engage with. I have experienced many moments where someone will ask me what I enjoy watching, then catch themself and immediately apologise. However, musical theatre is something that I love engaging with, even though I can’t see what is happening onstage. There is so much to enjoy aside from the flashy costumes [...]
Falling into Freedom – skydiving completely blind
Millie reflects on her skydive! On 22 July, I jumped out of an aeroplane from 15,000 feet — completely blind. There are some things in life that, when you tell people you’ve done them, they immediately ask the same question: “But how?” Skydiving is probably one of them. For me, there was an additional question. “How did you skydive when you can’t see?” The answer is actually quite simple. I trusted. On 22 July, I took part in a skydive from 15,000 feet to raise money for SRSB — the Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind, [...]
Navigating two worlds at once
VICTA Changemaker Jerri discusses what life is like as a vision impaired carer. I’ve always felt like I was born into a world that wasn’t made for me. I was born visually impaired due to cortical visual impairment, and as a child, the world around me often felt daunting. I had so many questions about how I would cope growing up. But alongside learning to navigate the world as a visually impaired child, I was also navigating another world at home. My mum lives with bipolar disorder, and from a young age I became her carer. I [...]
A Guide to using Passenger Assistance for the First Time
Growing up as a blind teenager, I had no idea how I would ever learn to travel independently. The thought of navigating huge stations and busy crowds terrified me. Then I discovered something called Passenger Assistance, and everything changed. A Quick History of Accessibility This year, the British railway is celebrating 200 years of passenger service. For a long time, the needs of disabled people were ignored. It wasn’t until the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995 that rail operators started taking their responsibilities seriously. Even today, there is still a lot of progress to make (only 56% [...]
Anti-Bullying Week – The Art of Being Seen
VICTA Changemakers Anti-Bullying Week 2025 The Art of Being Seen by Millie-Jayne As a blind artist myself, I wanted to write a story that captures how it feels to be seen for who you are, not just what people notice first. “The Art of Being Seen” is about finding courage through creativity and how using your voice, your art, or your story can become its own Power for Good. Sometimes the most powerful change begins quietly, with someone brave enough to share how they see the world in their own way. Story Rowan was used [...]
Anti-Bullying Week – The Rainbow Cane Short Story
VICTA Changemakers Anti-Bullying Week 2025 The Rainbow Cane by Millie-Jayne This story was written for Anti-Bullying Week and inspired by this year’s theme, Power for Good. It reminds us that being different isn’t something to hide, it's something to celebrate. For children, kindness often begins with curiosity and grows into understanding. The Rainbow Cane is a gentle story about a blind girl who learns that her difference can brighten the world around her one ribbon, one smile, one kind action at a time. Story Lila’s cane was white, just like every other one. It helped [...]
Anti-Bullying Week – My Power Through Misunderstanding
VICTA Changemakers Anti-Bullying Week 2025 Growing up blind, I faced a lot of misconceptions — people assuming I couldn’t do things just because I am blind. Those misunderstandings sometimes turned into bullying, both in person and online. When I started posting my makeup looks on TikTok as a blind MUA the trolling got worse. People would comment things like, “It looks like your Guide Dog did it” or “You’re faking your blindness”. But instead of letting it break me, I used it as my power. Every time someone doubted me, I pushed harder — tried [...]
Use your Power for Good this Anti-Bullying Week 2025
It’s Anti-Bullying Week! As a proud member of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, VICTA is delighted to be celebrating this very important week, from Monday 10th to Friday 14th November. Join in with us on the VICTA Student Portal to learn more and encourage others to use their Power for Good. Power for Good This Anti-Bullying Week, young people are being empowered to use their Power for Good to safely speak up and raise awareness when they see bullying, face to face or online. How have you used your Power for Good? Comment on this post or email students@victa.org.uk letting [...]
Be inspired. Vote for Life of a Blind Girl in the Football Content Awards
Football Content Awards - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award – Individual Finalist 2025 We were excited to chat to Holly Tuke, writer and creator of Life of a Blind Girl, who is a finalist in this year's Football Content Awards. Holly has a couple of big passions: football and accessibility! After noticing many football clubs weren't including accessibility features on their social streams such as alt text, Holly reached out, struck up conversations and made a change. Her work opening conversations and raising awareness led to clubs improving their social accessibility, allowing vision impaired football fans to access [...]
Whispers in the Dark – by Ruqayyah Ullah
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month #WorldSightDay A poem by Ruqayyah Ullah Whispers in the Dark When I was little, whispers told me things. They told me the sky wasn’t just “blue” — it made you think of bubble gum ice cream. They told me the park was full of secret colours: the bench was supposed to be black but the colour had faded from age, use and weather it was now more grey like a stormy sky, the puddles were shiny like pennies, and the dog was wagging its tail, it sounded like wind. [...]
