Alice Findlay, RNIB Customer Voice Insight Co-ordinator shares the latest opportunities for blind and partially sighted people to get involved in with RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey.

Opportunities highlighted this week included:

Award-winning filmmaker turned media artist, David Van Eyssen, creates work about time and memory. His latest project, “The Private Life of Public Transport”, is a virtual reality experience constructed from sound and image.

In undulating bubbles around an abandoned bus, visitors discover the voices of blind and partially sighted "witnesses” who share their personal experiences and truths. This is the testimony of the missing passengers, and a platform for their voices to be heard.

Opening in Central London this October, the installation is designed for sighted and non-sighted to explore. To contribute your story via a telephone interview with the artist, please contact [email protected] by 10 September to shape this narrative. 

Hair & Care is a non-profit organisation founded by award winning session hairstylist Anna Cofone in which she and other volunteer hairstylists introduce blind and partially sighted women and girls to the fundamentals of self-care and hair styling. 

Through their regular monthly workshops, blind and partially sighted women and girls have the opportunity to come together in a safe environment to gain knowledge, skills and tools to develop their self-care, build their self-esteem and increase their confidence by positive coaching and peer support.

Hair & Care are currently looking for blind and partially sighted women aged 18-60 years old to take part in their upcoming focus group. 

The focus group will be taking place on 19 October 2023 from 11am to 12:30pm and it will take place online via Zoom. 

This focus group will allow Hair & Care to scale its impact. So far Hair & Care have supported up to 300 women, but they want to reach many more. Currently based in London, Hair & Care also want to expand their workshops so that they can reach people from across the UK. 

If you are interested in taking part in the focus group, please email [email protected]

Inma is a doctoral researcher in football commentary at the University of Westminster. Inma is particularly interested in fans’ experiences of listening to the game on the radio or in the stadium via audio-descriptive commentary, typically addressed to blind and partially sighted fans. 

The aim of Inma’s research is to gain a better understanding of what audiences like, what they need, and how commentary (both radio and audio-descriptive commentary) can be improved and enriched to enhance the experience of listeners.

If you’d like to help Inma with their research, you can complete their survey. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and your responses will remain anonymous. 

To thank you for your time and input, you will be given the chance to win one of two £100 amazon vouchers. 

If you’d like to complete the survey, please email [email protected] and Inma will send you the link. 

To find out more about these Connect Voices opportunities and how you can get involved with RNIB Connect Voices do visit-

https://www.rnib.org.uk/connect-community/connect-voices-network/connect-voices-current-opportunities

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