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April 2008
A message from our General Manager – Steve MartinHello everyone, Firstly I need to start this issue with a huge thank you to everyone who responded to our appeal for funds in our last Newsletter. The response was brilliant and will really help in our efforts to continue not only the work we are currently doing, but will help us expand the services we offer. We are not writing to everyone that has made a donation - I’m sure you’ll appreciate the time and cost this involves - but you can be assured your donation, no matter how small, will make a difference. So on behalf of the 3000 and more blind and partially sighted people that we help, a BIG THANK YOU for your support. Many of you will know that we are currently being redecorated. By the time you read this we hope that we will be nearing the end of this project. It’s a big job and has caused chaos whilst it’s being done. This has meant that we have only been able to offer a limited service as access to equipment, information and other resources has been very difficult and sometimes impossible. All this is being done to make the Centre more ‘user friendly’ and could not have been achieved without the work being carried out free of charge by the Community Payback Team. Our thanks to them and to those of you who have made donations towards the cost of the materials. Hopefully we will be fully operational again in May and we look forward to seeing you then. Our Resource Shop is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm. And remember - all items we sell in the Shop are on a non profit making basis. You buy the products at the same price we pay for them, so come along and have a look around our newly refurbished Resource Centre - we’d love to see you! Best wishes Steve Martin, General Manager NEWSA warm welcome to the GCAB team . . .
Did you know about the number 99 Bus?This is a Stagecoach Service which runs from Cheltenham to Gloucester at frequent intervals, Monday to Friday. This is a limited stop service, picking up and setting down only at Cheltenham Race Course, Albion Street, Cheltenham General Hospital and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. This looks a really useful service to me and I’d be interested to hear if anyone has used it and how they got on. We do have a copy of the timetable in the office which we will happily copy and send to you or of course, you can contact the Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 for more information. Soundings no longer available . . .I was sorry to hear that the regular news tape, known as Soundings, originally BT Soundings, is no longer available. This very useful tape had a lot of information for blind and partially sighted people. It seems as if the charity running Soundings, which has been available since the late 1980’s, ran out of funds. I feel this is a sad loss as I found the tape very informative and easy to listen to. There is an alternative, according to Roland Myers of Soundings, the RNIB funded Insight Radio. However this is only available to us via the internet . . . and not everyone has a computer Mr RNIB! Benefits updateThis month sees the annual uprating of benefits. There follows the main benefits that blind and partially sighted people may be able to claim throughout the UK, subject to age and other circumstances. We are able to offer specialist help, including the completion of the forms, for Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance. For advice on the other benefits we may refer you to another agency if we are unable to help. For advice and for fact sheets on these benefits please telephone our Resource Centre on 01242 221170 Attendance AllowanceFor people who become disabled after their 65th birthday and require help or supervision during the day and/or the night. Lower rate: £44.85 Higher rate: £67.00 Disability Living AllowancePeople who have sight loss before age 65 may get Disability Living Allowance (DLA). They can get the care component if they need help or supervision. Claimants who need guidance to get about in unfamiliar places for most of the time can get the mobility component. Care component:Lower rate - £17.75 Middle rate - £44.85 Highest rate - £67.00 Mobility component:Lower rate - £17.75 Higher rate - £46.75 Carer’s AllowanceCarer’s Allowance of £50.55 can be paid to someone who cares for a person who gets either Attendance Allowance, or the middle or highest rate care component of DLA, for an average of 35 hours per week. Pension CreditClaimants aged 60 or over can get the guarantee Pension Credit if their weekly income is low enough. This normally means income of less than £124.05 for single claimants, or £189.35 for a couple. But some claimants (including “severely disabled” people and carers) may have a higher income and still get guarantee credit. People aged 65 or over who have “modest” retirement income and/or savings may get the savings Pension Credit. State PensionCategory A or B: £90.70 Category B (lower), C or D (non-contributory): £54.35 The State Pension is normally based on the claimant's national insurance contributions. It can also be payable to women over pension age who are married or widowed, and some widowers and surviving civil partners. Income Support People under 60 can get Income Support if they have a low income and their capital is not too high, and are in a group not required to “sign on” for work, such as carers. People who work 16 or more hours a week cannot usually get Income Support. Income Support examples: A single claimant, aged 25-59, and entitled to the disability premium, will be entitled to Income Support if their income is less than £86.35 per week. A couple, one entitled to the disability premium, the other to the carer premium, will be entitled to Income Support if their income is less than £159.55 per week. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit These are means tested benefits, paid by local authorities, to help people on a low income with their rent and their council tax. The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is introduced from April 2008 to pay rent in private sector accommodation only. (For example, rent on council properties and housing associations is not affected). From this date it will apply to people making a fresh claim for help with rent, and existing H B claimants who move address, within the private sector. Tax CreditsTax Credits are income-based benefits that can be paid on top of other income including wages and benefits. Claims are based on gross taxable income for the tax year prior to the year of application. They are administered by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Working Tax Credit (WTC) can be paid to top-up wages of people who work at least 16 hours a week. A claimant who gets a disability element, and works 30 or more hours per week, could get WTC if their annual income is less than £19,020. People who are responsible for a child may get Child Tax Credit. A disabled child element is included in a claim for a family including a child who is registered blind or gets DLA. Incapacity Benefit Short-term rate: Lower rate - £63.75 Higher rate - £75.40 Long-term rate: £84.50 Incapacity Benefit can be claimed by blind and partially sighted people who are deemed unable to work, or while they are seeking work. Claimants must normally have paid the relevant national insurance contributions, but there are exceptions for young people aged under 25. CLUB NEWSLIST OF SPEAKERS BOOKED FOR THE IRIS CLUB : 2008
VOLUNTEER NEWSAfter successful training sessions on 1 and 18 March we are very pleased to welcome Heather and Jim who have joined the Hospital Information Service at Gloucester Royal; Mandy, Pauline, Mary and Peter who have joined the visiting service and Suzanne who will helping with the Low Vision Assessments at GCAB. On the downside we are sorry to lose Doreen, who has been a volunteer for almost 10 years at Cheltenham General. She will be missed by patients and GCAB. Thank you Doreen for all your help and support. In addition to our new colleagues, we are still hoping to recruit more volunteers in a variety of areas: Visiting Service - particularly in Gloucester, Cheltenham and the Forest areas. Hospital Information Service – Monday and Wednesday mornings in Cheltenham. Club leaders for Gloucester and Stroud Insight - our weekly advice session in Gloucester library - could you (with training and support from GCAB) - meet and help members of the public at an open advice session? If you, or someone you know, would like to join us as a volunteer please get in touch with me, Celia at GCAB 01242 221170 or e-mail: volunteering@glos-blind.co.uk. ITEMS FOR SALEIf you have any items, such as CCTV’s, Scanners etc that you would like to sell, please let us know. We will gladly list the item in our next Newsletter. From Ella Huggins who can be contacted on 01452 502040: We have 2 Chatterbox Scanners for sale. They were purchased for us at a cost of £1085 each 2 years ago. Any reasonable sum we could receive for them now would be very acceptable as we need to purchase something more suitable. Aladdin Colour CCTV 18 months old and only used once. For more details please contact Mrs Hall on 01453 765289 YOUR VIEWS . . .We love to hear your comments, good and bad, so please write, e-mail or phone - we're always glad to hear from you! Firstly a letter from Gill Blake FRCOphth DO, who comments on our Hospital Information Service (HIS) and the excellent work of our volunteers there. Dear Steve, I recently took part in a morning of discussions with a group of sight impaired patients at the hospital. More clinics are being set up for the treatment of wet macular degeneration and we want to look at the best way to run these. The staff at the hospital were eager to listen to the views and experiences of sight impaired patients who had already attended clinics and improve the way we deliver services for them in the new clinics. As I sat and listened to the discussion, I was so pleased to hear all the thanks and positive comments about the GCAB and the Hospital Information Service Volunteers. Patients do appreciate the advice and support given to them by the trained volunteers in the busy clinics. Patients remember just how they felt when they left the doctor’s consulting room, and how the HIS helped them find a positive way forward enabling them to adjust and make the most of their remaining vision. So please thank all those volunteers who man the HIS, and give up their time to help the visually impaired. I want them to know just how much they are appreciated by the staff and patients. Many thanks to Celia and her band of helpers - a big ‘THANK-YOU’ to you all. Next an e-mail from Sally-Ann Rhodes of the Everyman Theatre who comments on the GCAB trip to watch Gary Wilmont in Half a Sixpence. Hi Steve, Thank you so much for your kind email. I have forwarded to everyone concerned. I'm so pleased it all went so well as I must confess at being a little nervous as you know! We all enjoyed having you here and met some truly wonderful people. The whole thing will certainly go down as one of the most memorable days that I have worked here. Did you get to meet Gary Wilmot? He came into the foyer and met some of the people who were still waiting for lifts. Was wonderful that he was so agreeable with him only having a few hours break before the next show! I look forward to meeting with Barbara very soon to start advertising and arranging the next visit! Kind regards, Sally-Ann Rhodes - Everyman Theatre Steve Martin replies: Yes it really was a super show and I’m looking forward to the next one! I don’t usually like to see shows twice but on returning home and raving about the show, my wife wanted to go. The problem was we couldn’t get tickets! So a word of warning, if you would like to go to the theatre with us, join our theatre group . . . quick! For more details see the article entitled Group News. And yet more praise for the day . . . Dear Steve, Thank you very much for organising today’s event at Everyman Theatre. The whole thing was so much appreciated by us all in Gloucester City Macular Group. We found the Everyman staff so very helpful and considerate and the food was much enjoyed by all. The Show itself was fantastic and the icing on the cake was meeting Gary Wilmot at the door afterwards. Everyone was delighted. I appreciate all the hard work that goes into an event like this, but I can assure you that it has been well worth your time and hassle. Thanks again to you all at GCAB. It was a pleasure to meet you all at last. Yours sincerely ELLA (Huggins) FUNDRAISING NEWSFancy tackling a new Challenge? Gloucestershire County Association for the Blind would like to invite anyone who wishes to enter the Cheltenham Circular Challenge help raise money for us. There are 4 walks to choose from with great views. One walk takes you over the Cotswold escarpment to overlook Gloucester and the Severn Vale or you can walk through lush meadows or enjoy views of Cheltenham and the Malvern’s. Make your challenge more fun and get a group of friends together. So if you’re free Sunday 22nd June 2008 and fancy a challenge then please contact us for an entry form. Fancy a cuppa?Everyone loves a cuppa and a chat with friends so why not include us? GCAB have free coffee morning packs for anyone who wishes to have a coffee morning in their own home. The packs include tea bags and coffee as well as invitations to send out to friends and family. All the money you raise will help us continue our work with blind and partially sighted people in the County. If you are interested in holding a coffee morning in your home then please contact Lucy Gooding between 9am-1pm Monday to Friday on our usual number. We are also holding our first public coffee morning on Saturday 21st June at St Michael’s Hall. Doors are open from 9:30am - 11:30pm to everyone. All help is welcome so if you can come along then please contact us. Collection DaysOn Saturday 19th April volunteers from GCAB will be at Tewkesbury Garden Centre from 10am - 5pm. Everyone is welcome. If you’re not free that day then on Saturday 10th May we are at Wyevale Garden Centre from 10am - 5pm. Again all support is welcome. Bishops Cleeve Street Fair - Sunday 8th June from 12pm till 4pm GCAB are going back to the 1940’s for Bishops Cleeve Street fair! We hope to have on our stall a number of fundraising activities. We would love anyone’s support so if you want to help out on the stall that day then please let us know. GROUP NEWSWe are trying to form more specialist groups which will enable our blind and partially sighted clients to meet, socialise and enjoy a mutual interest. Here’s some news from the Groups. Computer GroupThis group meets every Thursday afternoon at our Resource Centre to learn IT skills. The tutor, Peter Moore who is visually impaired, is fully qualified and an accredited Dolphin Supernova Tutor. The original idea was to run the group for 13 weeks and see how things went but it seems the general opinion is that it should run for longer! However, as is always the case, funding this group may prove difficult in the future. Theatre Group After such a terrific day out to see Half a Sixpence at the Everyman more trips were inevitable. Pygmalion was next on the 24th April, and the demand for tickets for this was also high. Our grateful thanks goes to Barbara who has volunteered to organise future events. Without her help we would not be able to run this group - thanks so much from all of us who enjoy the theatre, Barbara. Sally-Ann Rhodes from the Everyman theatre discusses future visits with GCAB volunteer Barbara Naylor If you’d like to include your name in this group, please let us know. We will then advise you of the programme of shows we intend to enjoy. COMING SOON! At the Everyman in Cheltenham We’ll Meet Again, a light-hearted look at wartime Britain, with a great line-up of comedy, music and song, set in a wartime Garrison Theatre with its ENSA artistes. Relive the spirit of the ‘Forties’ war-years with lots of singalong tunes bringing back memories of Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields, Donald Peers, Bing Crosby, and the comedy of Robb Wilton, Max Miller and Tessie O'Shea. GCAB has tickets on offer at £7 per seat for this special matinee show on Friday 27th June at 2.30pm. Telephone GCAB (01242 221170) to book your seat NOW. Please note: this show will not be audio-described. Reading Group We are considering running this group, meeting on a monthly basis, initially at the Resource Centre. If you like books, please call and ask to have your name added to the list. We’ll contact you with further details when they are finalised. EYE SEE . . .An occasional feature on eye health and developments in the treatment of sight problems . . . A tooth for an eye (taken from ITV’s This Morning programme). After being blinded in an accident at work two years ago, Robert McNichol, refused to accept he would never be able to see again. As part of Robert's job, he used a smelter, a large big brick oven-like box that heated scrap metals to 800 degrees. This allowed aluminium to heat up so much it liquefied and separated from other metals. On November 9th 2005 Robert crouched down to catch the aluminium in the tray and thought about putting the plug in, but within a split second there was a huge explosion. He explains: “From the moment the aluminium hit my eyes I was blinded.” Robert suffered severe burns to his eyes and face, his eye lids were melted and his body set alight. Many operations later, and refusing to believe he was permanently blinded, Robert found an expert in performing pioneering surgery known as Osteo-odontokeratoprosthesis (OOKP), a groundbreaking new medical procedure where a tooth is chiselled, a lens is placed in its core and it's then inserted into the eye. Just last December, a tooth donated by his son, Robert Jnr, was inserted into Robert’s right eye. Two days later, amazingly he could see. Robert now has partial sight in his right eye, and although he can’t fully see, he’s just so grateful he has sight at all. Robert still sees Dr Liu every few weeks for eye check ups, he still doesn’t have eye lids and needs more operations to correct them but his eyeball and his son’s tooth are getting on just great! Robert said: “I can watch TV now, go for a walk on my own without my cane, and even go into town. I’ll always be blind in my left eye, but I’m just so grateful I can see. I’ve got a whole new lease of life and I owe it all to my son and Dr Liu. They really are my heroes." Protein and eye disease A study by scientists at the University of Utah has revealed that a protein found in blood vessel cells could be an important target for drug therapies to treat two major eye diseases. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness in over- 65s while diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause among people of working age. Researchers found that when the protein Robo4 was activated in mice with AMD or diabetic retinopathy, damage from the eye diseases was prevented and, in some cases, reversed. The protein works by preventing abnormal blood vessel growth and leakage, both of which occur in AMD and diabetic retinopathy. Dr Hemin Chin, director of the ocular genetics programme at the US National Eye Institute, said that the discovery has direct clinical applications. ‘Given that vascular eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, are the number one cause of vision loss in the United States, the identification of new signalling pathways that prevent abnormal vessel growth and leakage in the eye represents a major scientific advancement,’ he said. However, the discovery could also have implications for a range of other diseases that involve the leakage of fluid from blood vessels, including serious infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). INSIGHTHelp, advice and information Available every Thursday at Gloucester Library, Brunswick Road, Gloucester From 1pm until 3pm Call in, We’d love to see you! USEFUL CONTACTSGloucestershire County Association for the Blind (GCAB)81 Albion Street, Cheltenham GL52 2RZ Tel: 01242 221170 e-mail: gcab@glos-blind.co.uk Gloucestershire Deaf AssociationColin Road, Barnwood, Gloucester GL4 7JN Tel: 01452 372999 Minicom: 01452 372600 Fax: 01452 372288 Deafblind UKTel/minicom: 01733 358100 Fax: 01733 358356 Action for Blind People14-16 Verney Road, London SE16 3DZ Tel: 020 7635 4800 RNIB Helpline: 0845 766 9999 Benefits Agency Helpline - 0800 882 200 Department of Work & Pensions Helpline : 0845 301 3011 Forge Centre for VIPsFoxes Bridge, Valley Road, Cinderford Tel: 01549 82 77 11 Gloucestershire County Council General enquiries: 01452 42 68 68 Guide Dogs for the BlindTel: 0118 983 55 55 Look - National Federation for Families with VI ChildrenTel: 01242 52 54 72 National Blind Childrens Society Helpline: 01278 76 47 64 NHS Direct - 0845 4647 Torch Trust - Tel: 01452 616947
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