Did you know there is a web app that can massively improve the customer experience for people with a range of disabilities and also help businesses, confidently, deliver a bespoke customer experience by supporting their staff?



RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell spoke to Gavin Neate, about wel-co.me and how you can help electrical retailer Curry's test the system in the West Midlands.



For more details about the West Midlands Curry's trial, which ends on April 28th 2024,  go to www.wel-co.me/welcome-at-currys 



to set up your own profile and try it out in your own area, go to www.wel-co.me



#RNIBConnect go to 

Image Shows Gavin Neate from Wel-Co.Me


S2 Ep453: Customer Service Solution For People With Disabilities Expands It's Reach

RNIB Connect Radio is the UK radio station for blind and partially sighted people to find out what is happening in the community. You can also contribute and share your stories by emailing radio@rnib.org.uk (mailto:radio@rnib.org.uk) . Get involved and join the conversation.

Other great podcast channels from RNIB Connect Radio

Conversations (https://audioboom.com/channel/conversations) - Blind and partially sighted people speaking about a wide range of topics.

Read On (https://audioboom.com/channel/readonair) - The Audiobook show all about accessible reading.

Tech Talk (https://audioboom.com/channel/techtalkpodcast) - Technology for blind and partially sighted people.

Sport (https://audioboom.com/channel/sport) - See sport differently.

The Happy Hour (https://audioboom.com/channels/5022411) - Mental health, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing.

Tracks of My Life (https://audioboom.com/playlists/4634228-tracks-of-my-life) - Take a journey through our guest's life.

Support (https://audioboom.com/channel/rnib-support) - Other podcasts from RNIB.

TV Guide (https://audioboom.com/channel/tv-guide) - Daily audio TV listings

Non-Profit

Government & Organizations

National

Regional

Government

Each week, RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell sits down with Matt Stringer, CEO of RNIB, to look at some of the big stories coming from the UK sight loss charity.



This week Matt talks about the new Vision Partnership of charities, Vivian Francis discusses RNIB's brand and why were they both at the BBC?



If you, or someone you know, would like information on the support and services available from RNIB, go to www.rnib.org.uk



You can also call our Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or ask Alexa to call RNIB's Helpline.

#RNIBConnect

S2 Ep551: Matt Stringer's Weekly Update

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next in his regular Connect Radio theatre reviews.



This week we have one of Vidar’s favourite musicals with Willy Russell’s legendary musical Blood Brothers at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre with description by Professional Audio Describer Jonathan Nash. 



About Blood Brothers:



Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving tale of two twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with fateful consequences.



Few musicals have received quite such acclaim as the multi-award winning Blood Brothers. Bill Kenwright‘s production surpassed 10,000 performances in London’s West End, one of only three musicals ever to achieve that milestone. It has been affectionately christened the “Standing Ovation Musical”, as inevitably it “brings the audience cheering to its feet and roaring its approval” (The Daily Mail).



The superb score includes Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True.



To find out more about access at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre including details of audio described performances do visit the access pages of the theatre’s website - https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/plan-your-visit/access/





(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)

S2 Ep548: Vidar Hjardeng MBE - Blood Brothers, AD Theatre Review

Each month, RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell is joined by some of the RNIB Campaigns Team to discuss some of the big projects they’re involved in and ask for your input to bring positive change to the lives of blind and partially sighted people, throughout the UK.



This month’s topics include an update on the Out Of Sight Vision Rehab campaign and some great accessibility news from London North East Railways (LNER).



If you’d like more information on campaigns or want to get involved, email campaigns@rnib.org.uk



Visit rnib.org.uk/news or call our Helpline on 0303 123 9999



If you like your socials, follow @RNIB_Campaigns on Twitter for campaign specific updates.



#RNIBConnect

Image Show RNIB Logo, White Background, RNIB in Bold Black letters with a Solid Pink Line Underneath

S2 Ep547: UK Sight Loss Charity’s Monthly Campaigns Update

On Tuesday 28 May 2024 Tate Britain unveiled to the press Grace, a major new commission by Alvaro Barrington, bringing sound, painting and sculpture to the dramatic architecture of Tate Britain’s neo-classical Duveen Galleries.



At the press view in the Duveen Galleries RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey caught up with Hannah Marsh, Assistant Curator Contemporary British Art at Tate Britain to find out more about Alvaro Barrington’s work and the inspiration for Grace.



About Grace by Alvaro Barrington at Tate Britain



Through Grace, Alvaro Barrington takes visitors on an intimate journey through time and place. Addressing the profound impact that women and their care within Black culture have had on his upbringing and artistic practice, this site-specific installation centres three key figures – his grandmother Frederica, a close friend and sister-figure Samantha and his mother Emelda. Staged in three acts, the installation brings together the artist‘s personal history, drawing on his experiences of Caribbean carnival culture and memories of his upbringing in Grenada and New York.


Visitors enter the Duveen Galleries at the heart of Tate Britain under a suspended corrugated steel roof that offers cover from a tropical rainstorm heard above. This multimedia work is inspired by Barrington‘s childhood memory of seeking shelter in his grandmother’s home in Grenada during a storm. The sound of rain hitting the roof is combined with a soundtrack featuring NTS radio programmes selected with Femi Adeyemi, newly commissioned compositions by Kelman Duran, Andrew Hale, Devonté Hynes and Olukemi Lijadu and songs by Mangrove Steelband. Under the roof are ratan and plastic seats embellished with braided elements and draped with plastic quilts containing embroidered postcards and works on paper by Barrington’s longtime collaborator Teresa Farrell. Wooden walls containing windows and textile works transform this vast, open hall into a series of more intimate spaces. Evoking feelings of safety and protection from his childhood, the artist invites us to take a moment to pause as we shelter together under the same roof.


Emerging from the rainstorm, a four-metre-high aluminium sculpture of a dancing figure greets audiences in the centre of the galleries. Based on and made in collaboration with Barrington‘s close friend, Samantha, the figure stands on a large communal steel drum and is adorned with 'Pretty Mas (masquerade)‘ jewellery by designers L’Enchanteur, costume by Jawara Alleyne and nails by Mica Hendricks. Paintings hanging from scaffolding depicting ‘traditional Mas’ characters and carnival revellers along with vast archway canvases overhead taking us from sunrise to sunset form a vibrant carnival streetscape. The scene refers to the Caribbean tradition of ‘J‘ouvert’, in which participants cover each other with paint, mud and oil and dance at dawn on carnival Monday. Barrington invites us into the protective space that the carnival community has created in the streets for Samantha to freely celebrate herself.


The installation concludes in the North Duveen gallery where light shines through a stained-glass window onto a boarded-up corner kiosk made to American prison-cell dimensions, creating a contemplative, cathedral-like atmosphere. The kiosk sculpture is fitted with moving shutters and surrounded by crowd control barriers with barbed wire, alluding to issues of mass incarceration. Church pews covered with plastic quilts containing pillowcases which feature drawings by Barrington face this somber scene. Inspired by the artist’s adolescence in New York, this final act references the unwavering love and fear felt by Black mothers for their children, who are frequently at risk of harm amid state violence.


Grace by Alvaro Barrington continues in the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain until 26 January 2025. Description tours are available for blind and partially sighted people but need to be booked in advance via hello@tate.org.uk or on 020 7887 8888.



More details about Grace by Alvaro Barrington at Tate Britain can be found by visiting the following pages of the Tate website - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/alvaro-barrington





Image shows the central Duveen, a giant silver female figure mid-dance wearing gold on her arms, a black durag with gold details, a golden top with purple, red, green and blue tassels and blue shorts, obscured from the knee down by pieces of corrugated tin.

S2 Ep548: Tate Britain Commission: Grace by Alvaro Barrington

What is a lay executor? How do they help RNIB honour the wishes of someone who has passed away? 



Amelia spoke to Daniel Pepper from the RNIB Legacy Team to learn more.



Learn more about leaving a gift in your will on the RNIB website - https://www.rnib.org.uk/get-involved/fundraise/gifts-in-wills/



Image shows RNIB Connect Radio logo. RNIB is written in bold black capital letters and underlined with a bold pink line. Underneath, 'Connect Radio' written in smaller black letters. 

S2 Ep453: Customer Service Solution For People With Disabilities Expands It's Reach

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