Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.

Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.

In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby was joined by Broadcaster, Author and Climber Red Szell who for six years presented Read On the Audio Book show here on RNIB Connect Radio and can now be found presenting the AMI show My Life in Books.

To find out more about Red’s AMI show My Life in Books do visit the following website - https://www.ami.ca/My-Life-Books/recent_episodes


(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.

Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.

In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby was joined by Richard Lane, a Medical Science Journalist who worked for the Lancet for 19 years and may be one of the only or if not very few blind wine Teachers having qualified as a Wine Educator with the Wine Spirit and Education Trust in 2021.

You can find out more about Richard by visiting his LinkedIn profile - 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-lane-6ab71b219/


(Image shows a head and shoulders shot of Richard, a white man with grey hair, in a burgundy shirt with white dots, smiling towards the camera in his garden with some plants and a green shed in the background)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.

Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.

In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby was joined by Itto Outini, a totally blind and multilingual journalist, public speaker, and Fulbright scholar.

Born and raised in the mountains of Morocco, Itto was deprived of education as a child. At 17, her uncle’s wife blinded her, and her family abandoned her in the hospital. Itto spent six years homeless before graduating from high school at 23 and, with support from an American couple, pursuing her BA in applied linguistics. In 2017, Itto came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Master’s in journalism. Itto is now a permanent resident in the US and lives with her husband, Mekiya in Kansas City, Missouri.

You can find out more about Itto by visiting her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ittooutini/


(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.

Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.

In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Professional Artist, Contemporary Sculptor and sight loss charity Ambassador, Victoria Claire, who was first diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at the age of 19. This autumn will see a final exhibition of her work in Ireland as Victoria retires from the art industry to start a new chapter in her life.

We will start Victoria’s Tracks of my Life journey with Victoria at the age of 5 or 6 with the theme to that classic film and subsequent TV series from the early 1980s Fame, which was all about wanting to make it in the performing arts and to live forever with memories of the clothes style from that time including the leg warmers! 

Then we move to Art College time for Victoria with fond memories of college life with a track from her favourite movie from those days, Top Gun. At the time Victoria and her best friend from college who also loved the film, gave each other nicknames from the film, Victoria was Maverick and her friend was Goose. Although having been diagnosed with RP at the age of 19 at this time Victoria was still able to drive and they both used to boo bomb their cars along with Danger Zone blaring out of their car stereos. 

Next we will come to a track which is definitely a bit of a club anthem to mark those days of club life for Victoria with memories of going to clubs with a good group of friends during those College days and also dancing the night away at the Ministry of Sound and other clubs in London.

Then it is off back packing around America for Victoria with one of her best friends and a trip to do while Victoria had some good useful vision to take in all that was visually on offer from that trip.

Before we come to Victoria’s final track, the one that she would like to pass on to others. We have two very powerful tracks for Victoria one that helped Victoria get through quite a difficult time in her life when she felt lost and alone and another dance track that reminds Victoria that even in her darkest of hours music can lift her and make her want to get up and dance.

To find out more about Victoria do visit her website - https://www.victoriaclaire-beyondvision.com


(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Liverpudlian comedian and actor Chris McCausland, who you may have seen as a guest recently on many TV panel shows. Chris also took his topical comedy to the Royal Albert Hall for his first appearance in front of members of the Royal Family for the 2021 Royal Variety Performance.
We will start Chris’ Tracks of My Life journey with his early life growing up in Liverpool and a love of the Back to the Future films which remains his favourite film trilogy today. The Back to the Future films also inspired his love of all things time travel related which got Chris into a very specific type of Sci-Fi which he still indulges in today.  
Then we will come to the first vinyl record that Chris brought aged 11 when he was at Worcester College which was Trash by Alice Cooper and Chris still has that same record from those early school days which actually still plays today. As Chris says at that age his musical tastes were more influenced by older kids  at school and it was a lot of cheesy hair metal time for him back then.
We then have a track by Chris’ favourite band Nirvana and one from their MTV Unplugged album which took his musical tastes down a more grungy American route. With memories of how back in Liverpool when Nirvana’s Unplugged show was on MTV, he asked a friendly guy in the street to tape the show on to VHS for him to watch again later and how that Nirvana MTV Unplugged record has been a bit of a comfort blanket for Chris over the years.
We will then hear how Chris and his wife first met while he was performing up in Edinburgh and a track by Perl Jam that they used to sing along too together in the car and one that he proposed to his wife to at a Pearl Jam concert in Hyde Park with thousands of people around them and maybe not the best lyrics to propose to!
Chris’ Tracks of My Life journey will then step back to University days and his time down in Kingston upon Thames, how a lecturer at the RNC encouraged him to apply to University, why he decided to choose Kingston, with again more widening of his musical tastes and how he has still kept in touch with some of his University friends from back then. Oh and not forgetting all the gigging he did during those University years to see many different bands too!
Chris will then reflect on how the Covid Pandemic and all the lockdowns affected him as a Comedian and performer, not being able to get out there and gig, although he was lucky in many ways as he did a lot of radio and TV work during the lockdowns. It was hard for Chris not being able to go out gigging, but it was as he says good for his health and mind to have a break from touring for a while. More time at home gave Chris time to rediscover new music and again widen his album collection  too.
For his final track Chris will first talk about the track he would have liked to have chosen, a track by a blind rapper which we could not have played on the station due to the language, but he thinks people should definitely look him up though. His actual final track is one from the musical The Greatest Showman, a musical his daughter loves, and the track was performed by Keala Settle at last year’s Royal Variety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall where Chris performed too. Chris was very lucky to be on his own in the Royal Albert Hall to watch a very moving rehearsal performance by Keala Settle too. This track certainly for Chris sums up so much of his life where he is now, his comedy career, his home life and a new found love of musicals too!
If you would like to find out more about Chris, details of when he is next out and about gigging, sign up to his mailing list or just have a watch or listen to some of his comedy then why not visit his website for more - https://chrismccausland.com

You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.  Please note that there will be an extra repeat of Chris McCausland’s Tracks of My Life this Easter Bank Holiday Monday (18 April 2022) at 5pm too.


(Image shows Chris in a dark blue denim shirt with his hands behind his back, smiling towards the camera)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life, Toby is joined by Vision Australia’s Senior Adaptive Technology Consultant and all-round tech guru David Woodbridge.
We will start David’s Tracks of my Life journey with a Simon and Garfunkel track that takes David back to life in his early twenties working as a Social Worker around direct drug and Alcohol crisis counselling which may have been a lot to take on at such an early age. A job that he was in a way pushed into as a good career for a blind person because all blind people are good at listening! Social work at the time was a job that gave David  real job satisfaction as he did hear back from a couple of his clients who told him how much his counselling had helped them to turn their life around.    We will then move to the early 80s with the theme music to the TV show Knight Rider although it was more of the technology that the car Kit had rather than the acting that impressed David at the time. It was around this time when David started getting into working with technology through a nun that he met at work who used to work on a computer that she labeled Moses and she would say to David let’s go up and chat with Moses! She also encouraged David to do what ever he wanted to do in life which  inspired him to make a career change from social work to technology; which he had always wanted to get in to before he took the social work route.
We then have a track that is for younger children and their parents or just people like David with a real passion for storytelling and making stories up for their children. Followed by a track that is dedicated to his second wife with David telling the story of how they first met on a commuter train late one night, not quite Brief Encounter but very much a chance meeting that was slightly helped by David’s Guide Dog at the time.
Before we come to David’s final track we first have a track that very much reflects his out look on life and maybe a view that has been influenced by him becoming a Grandad. Then a track that will certainly spark people’s imagination and maybe make them think about how inaccessible the world can be but with a bit of thought and maybe just thinking for a moment the world could become a better place for everyone. 
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.

(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Artist Angela Blackwell who, as she says, ‘Came out as a blind Artist’ through her recent Arts Council funded exhibition ‘What are You Looking At?’.
We will start Angela’s Tracks of my Life journey at the age of twelve at a very normal comprehensive school, starting to get into music and going to her first gig with a friend who’s Brother gave them tickets to see the Police in concert in Brighton. Her friend’s Brother offered cotton wool to protect their ears as the concert would be very loud but Angela refused the offer, she loved it all and a truly memorable experience that changed her life for ever.
We will then move on a couple of years to secondary school for Angela, getting into art, the influences of the music, fashion and culture of the early 80s. An iconic performance by Julian Cope with Teardrop Explodes on Top of the Pops with Julian wearing a nightshirt and his frizzy blonde hair an image at the time that Angela could really relate to.
We then move to Art College time for Angela at Worthing Art College when Angela was a Goth for a few years. A Saturday job at a bakery in Brighton which helped to pay for those Saturday night’s out along with  maybe a gig in the week too.
Then after Art College Angela started working at Our Price Records where she met her husband to be, buying their first house together in Brighton and a trip to New York with tickets coming from a free offer at the time with a purchase of a Hoover vacuum cleaner. The offer had very tight conditions for the tickets but thankfully as they both worked in the record store they could get the time off. After spending time in New York and before returning back home they went on to Vegas and LA too.  Some of the experiences of that trip to America also fed back into elements of Angela’s paintings at the time. 
We will then have a track that marks the time when Angela and her Husband got married in a registry office in Bridport with the track raising a few eye brows at the time as maybe not the usual type of music to be played out during a service at a registry office. 
Next we come to a track that marks the time when Angela and her husband brought their beloved camper van which they have had many adventures in with Angela’s Guide Dog too and some trips to the beauty of the English Riviera.
Before we come to Angela’s final track Angela will reflect on how, as she says, coming out as a ‘blind artist’ through her recent exhibition ‘What Are You Looking At?’, has in a way made her freer as an artist with people now knowing that she is an artist who just happens to be visually impaired too.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.


(Image shows Angela smiling and wearing a navy blue blouse with small white dots in front of a white wallpaper background with repeated illustrations in black pen of a woman posing wearing a raincoat and boots interspersed with bins with a drawing of a dog on them with red blotting over the images)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Mark Upton the first blind Chief Executive of OxEyes, the local sight loss charity supporting blind and partially sighted people in Oxfordshire.
We will start Mark’s Tracks of My Life journey at the age of 14 with a rock album that featured many great guitar solos which could be described as the best air guitar album in the world and one that kick started his love of rock and heavy music. This album also started his discovery of, as he says, real music for him too with a certain Queen track that was featured famously in that classic 80s film Wayne's World.
We then move to GCSE exam time for Mark and school days that were perhaps not the best for him with a track that takes him back to those spring days when he knew school was almost over and that sense of freedom which was just a couple of months away. Although with maybe a bit of an unknown future ahead for Mark.

Then to college for Mark which he says were his lost years in a way doing a practical course in wood work that probably was not the best choice thinking about a future career but a choice that his parents fully supported him in. Although Mark had a small group of good friends at college, in some ways he felt that he did not really fit in. College was very different to school and there was again that sense of freedom during this time marked by another heavy rock track from an album that Mark used to listen to and get lost in on the train journey in and out to college.
We then come to a change in Mark’s musical tastes which was influenced by one of his house mates when he was living in Chichester working in retail for a short period of time before starting on his career in the sight loss sector. One day by chance Mark came across a job at 4Sight (formally West Sussex Association for the Blind) when browsing the internet and joined 4Sight as an Assistant Out Reach Worker. A job that Mark says he could be good at, he could enjoy and one where he felt he was able to give something back to other visually impaired people and an amazing start to his career in the sight loss sector.
Before we come to Mark’s final track, we have one for his wife Erika who he met through a dating site when he moved to Oxford to join OxEyes and a track for their son who arrived in to the world in the autumn of 2020 from one of Mark's favourite films, 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' which mark used to sing to him when he was in the womb and as a baby too.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.


(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by easy listening music fan and presenter of Connect Radio’s Sunset Melodies show, Gary Moritz.
Gary’s Tracks of My Life journey will start with his preschool days and time spent round at his Grand Parents home. Gary’s grandmother had a profound influence over the years on his musical taste and feeding his fascination with nostalgia which would later form the foundation for his Connect Radio show Sunset Melodies.
We will then move to teenage years for Gary and his discovery of the music of Elvis Presley which then lead Gary to appreciate his Mum’s record collection and introducing Gary to easy listening vocalists. Then later to the discovery of Frank Sinatra which started with a track from what might be the very first concept album. With fond memories also of spending many hours in a local record shop collecting Rock 'n' Roll records and later of course Frank Sinatra records too.
At the age of 16 Gary was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) which came as a shock to Gary and his Mum at the time. Being diagnosed at an early age and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to drive Gary decided to travel and at the age of 19 Gary along with a close friend went on an Elvis inspired trip to Hawaii. Sadly towards the end of their time in Hawaii a hurricane hit which forced them to stay in their hotel watching old films on the TV and seeing the musical An American In Paris really started Gary’s love of old movies.

Gary will then reflect on his time playing cricket at Stanmore Cricket Club under the captaincy of his Dad who was a pretty good Cricketer. Gary even played alongside a famous England cricketer and he has fond memories of great times in the club bar after the games listening to engaging stories from some of the older members of the club. Due to the deterioration of his sight there came a time for Gary when he had to give up playing Club Cricket which gave him the opportunity to spend his free weekends painting in his art studio which included painting portraits of Rock ’n’ Roll and Pop stars while listening to the Des Carrington show on the radio which furthered Gary’s love of easy listening music.
Gary will then reflect on the time when he started out as a mobile DJ with 15 years of disco work which expanded his musical tastes further into 70's and 80's music and recalling how a certain disco track which was always a good floor filler!
Before we come to his final track Gary will talk about the time when he decided to take medical retirement from his office job to bring up his children at home. With very fond memories of fun times with the kids and playing at full volume one of his easy listening tracks that his kids would also sing along to.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
To hear Sunset Melodies with Gary do tune in to RNIB Connect Radio every Wednesday at 7pm repeated Sunday at 6pm. 


(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)

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Lord Colin Low of Dalston CBE, former Chair and now Vice President of the RNIB.
We will start Colin’s Tracks of My Life journey with an essay on the composer Hugo Wolf which won Colin a scholarship to Queen’s College, Oxford with fond memories for Colin of many good relationships made at the time and an ‘opening of his ears’ as Colin says in Oxford to a wider range of classical music and composers.
We will then focus in on a particular vivid performance for Colin at the regular English Bach Festival in Oxford of Messiaen’s Turangalila symphony that swept Colin up into the music of Messiaen. Colin feels that the Turangalila symphony is a great example of modern classical music which is very accessible and exciting to listen to and get immersed in. 
Then we come to an uplifting performance of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and for Colin as someone who has played the piano it is not just the performance but the understanding of how the music has been put together that really enhances Colin’s enjoyment of music when it is being performed live. 
We return back to the English Bach Festival in Oxford but this time a few years later with an almost three hour long enjoyable Sunday afternoon performance of another Messiaen piece but this time for solo piano which was heavily inspired by bird song and again for Colin, a bit of an insider's view of the music with his background in piano playing.  
Then to fond memories for Colin of a trip to Bayreuth, the home of Wagner which was helped by some of that scholarship money Colin won to support him through his studies in Oxford and the trip really started Colin’s great love of Wagner. The more Colin listened to Wagner the more  he became under the spell of this great composer.
Then time for a bit of Jazz and a track by a well-known blind American Jazz Pianist Art Tatum which Colin was very much swept up by when he was first introduced to Art’s great jazz piano playing.
Before we reach Colin’s final track, time for Colin to reflect on his work in the House of Lords and whether he feels life for blind and partially sighted people has got better over the years or is there still a lot more that needs to be done to improve society for visually impaired people and of course all disabled people too.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.


(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)