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 Naomi Riches MBE, who is an Adaptive Rowing Paralympic Bronze and Gold medal winner 2008 and 2012 respectively and is now using  her Paralympic rowing experience and achievements through motivational speaking to inspire professionals and others to reach their goals and be the best they can be in life.

In Naomi’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from slightly tricky times at a mainstream school, then  to better times at New College Worcester  before going on to University and  then to the first time Naomi stepped into a competitive adaptive rowing boat in 2004.  

We will then hear from Naomi about what it was like for her competing in the first world adaptive rowing championships in Spain that same year.  

Then Naomi will reflect on how coaching young  people to row helped her to recover after a very serious accident which could have put a stop to her  competitive rowing career.

Finally Naomi will share from an athlete’s point of view what it was like competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games,  and how Naomi ended up singing along with a certain new romantic pop star who’s track due to the many GBR gold medals was played quite a lot during 2012!!

To find out more about Naomi Riches MBE, do check out her LinkedIn profile page - 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomiriches-motivationalspeaker/ 

Or why not follow Naomi on Twitter and Instagram.

Instagram: @naomiriches_mbe

Twitter: @NaomiRichesMBE

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.

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 Jonathan Huxley, a very successful British Contemporary Artist who is also visually impaired.

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In Jonathan’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from his early teenage school days  in the 70s and 80s at a school for visually impaired people in Coventry.  

Jonathan was the first student   from the school to study art, firstly at Berkshire College of Art, before studying Fine Art at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic and then at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

We will then move from London to New York during the early 90s as  Jonathan made a name for himself as a club visual artist firstly in London and then to New York City, including art work for Grace Jones' birthday party at the infamous Tunnel Club.

Jonathan  also shares  memories of watching old Western movies with his Dad and how the genre has both influenced and appeared in some of his work.

Finally Jonathan reflects   on the  strong relationship he has with his partner Jane and how he has also shared  some of his life experiences with his teenage son. 

To find out more about Jonathan and view some of his art work do visit his website -

https://jonathanhuxley.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.

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 Anna Tylor who is the current Chair of RNIB having joined the Board of Trustees in July 2020.  

Anna is a long-time advocate for greater inclusion of disabled people and especially blind and partially sighted people.  

Anna is visually impaired herself and in her personal blog The Blind Truth she takes a wry look at living a colourful life with limited sight.

In Anna's Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in the Home Counties  to teenage life striking out on her own and taking the world on for size.  Reflecting on life bringing  up her son as a visually impaired single parent and her first experience of being actively involved as a campaigner.  Working hard during the 80s and 90s to support her son.  Anna’s  love of Bulgaria and her connection with the work of the charity Karin Dom which supports children with complex needs and their families in Bulgaria.  finally, Anna shares why it is so important to keep those long-term friendships and relationships going over the years.

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.

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 Blind Dave Heeley OBE.

Dave Heeley is best known as Blind Dave to all those who know him and those who are aware of all his charity fundraising challenge sports events.

Blind Dave's fundraising challenges have ranged from taking part in the ultimate World marathon Challenge - 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents, the Top2ToeChallenge - running and cycling from John O'Groats to Land’s End The Great North Run and the London marathon to name just a few of his successful fundraising challenge sports events!

Through Blind Dave’s tracks of my life we will go on a journey from his early days at school, at the age of 10 realising that he was losing his sight and becoming a sort of celebrity to his school friends.  Meeting his wife Deb and sneaking off to Gretna  Green to get married.  Reflecting on some of those epic fundraising challenges he has completed over the years, with more to come too.  And finally, we will take a peek into Dave's woodwork workshop to find out how Blind Dave is able to do most of the DIY jobs around the house as well as creating some wonderful pieces of woodwork.

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. 

Do visit Blind Dave's website for more about Dave and all his fundraising challenge sports events.

https://blinddaveheeley.co.uk/

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 Katriona Taylor.

Katriona Taylor is A very successful visually impaired British singer/songwriter who has performed with the likes of George Benson and the James Taylor Quartet, to name just a few.  

In Katriona's Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in Portugal at her parent's tennis centre with the sounds of Brazilian music in the background.

Then to student life at Brunel University while studying law, after graduation then off to London to start her law career as a young Solicitor, working hard, enjoying London life, and dancing the night away at salsa bars.  

Then after a few years Katriona decided to follow her love of singing, auditioned, and successfully gained a place at Central School of Speech and Drama.     

Katriona soon became a singer with an established reputation for live performance, bursting on to the London jazz scene and selling out top venues such as Pizza Express Jazz Club and Cafe Royale as well as performing at international gigs and festivals. 

Katriona has opened for the Grammy-winning soul legend George Benson in Europe as part of his world tour.

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. 

Do visit Katriona's website for all her latest news, music, gigs, and details of her latest album titled Blind passion -

https://www.katrionataylor.com/about-katriona/.

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 Joanne Roughton-Arnold.

Joanne is a visually impaired Opera Singer, Artistic Director, and co-founder of FormidAbility the world’s first opera company putting accessibility at the foundation of the creative process.

Joanne is a new Zealander who came to the UK in the mid-90s to follow her musical career firstly as a violinist before training as a professional opera singer.  Joanne has performed on many stages in Britain and across the world as a solo performer as well as  with the ParaOrchestra and her own company ForemidAbility. 

In Joanne’s Tracks of My Life we will be taken on a journey from her New Zealand homeland to her life now here in the UK.  Early memories of dancing around her Gran’s kitchen to her first chosen track and hearing the Nova Strings perform at school which inspired Joanne to learn the violin.  We will then be taken back to New Zealand with a track that features the unique sounds of New Zealand forest bird song, followed by a concert recording by two people who have played a huge part in Joanne’s singing career before hearing a track that Joanne performed on from the soundtrack to the amazing and inspiring Netflix documentary film, Rising Phoenix all about the rise of the Paralympic games.   It was watching the ParaOrchestra performing at the 2012 London Paralympic Games and performing with them that inspired Joanne to set up FormidAbility.

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 find out more about Joanne Roughton-Arnold and her Opera Company ForemidAbility do visit Joanne's website - 

http://www.joanneroughtonarnold.com/

or the FormidAbility website -

https://www.formidability.org/

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 Miles Hilton-Barber.  Miles is a blind adventurer who has certainly travelled around the world, taking on many challenges and breaking records at the same time too. 

Since the age of 50 Miles has set numerous world records, undertaking extreme events across all seven continents of the  world through mountaineering, desert and polar ultra-marathons, power-boat racing, scuba-diving, motor-racing and long distance, aerobatic and supersonic flying, to name just a few!

Through Miles Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey with him around the world.  From his early Life growing up in South Africa, hitch-hiking around Australia with a friend taking up 14 full-time jobs before the age of 21.  Realising at the age of 21 that he was going to lose his sight like his brother, with not much support out there. that Miles could see at the time.

And we will hear that after a bit of inspiration from a trip his brother did Miles decided to pick himself up and test his mind and body in many of the record breaking adventures and achievements he has done over the years.

Challenges have included ultra-marathons to a trip round the world with two other disabled friends that notched up quite several modes of transport and broke a couple of world records on the way 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. 

For more about Miles Hilton-Barber do visit his website -

https://www.mileshilton-barber.com.

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 Vidar Hjarding MBE, Vidar is currently the Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands.  Vidar is also a visiting Professor at Sunderland University.

Vidar grew up in the North East of England with his English Mam  and Norwegian Dad with frequent trips to Norway   to spend time holidaying with his Norwegian relatives.

Vidar studied French and German as an Undergraduate at Manchester University prior to  graduating with a Post Graduate degree in Journalism from City University in London.

Vidar is a great champion of the arts and especially accessibility of the arts for everyone with a keen  interest in 19th century literature, mainly relying on and enjoying audiobooks as he travels round the country on account of his professional work.

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.

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 Maria Oshodi.  As well as being a playwright in her own right  Maria is also the Artistic Director and CEO of Extant - a British based performing arts company run by, and for, visually impaired people providing a performance space for inclusive theatre for everyone. 

Maria’s first play The S. Bend was produced as part of the Royal Court Theatre’s young writer's festival in 1984.  Many of Maria’s plays and productions have been performed on numerous stages across Britain  and in Europe too.   

In Maria’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in Nigeria with her Mum and Dad, moving to London with her Mum and life in the Capital as a teenager when her sight started to deteriorate.  Maria will also reflect on life as a young person in London during the 80s and 90s, going to watch Madness and The Specials, club life in the 90s and reflecting on the success of the acclaimed Extant production Resistance in the mid 2000s.

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 find out more about Extant and all their great work do visit their website — https://extant.org.uk.

Welcome to my interview with Joanne Roughton-Arnold, visually impaired opera singer and cofounder of FormidAbility, Britain’s first fully accessible opera company focusing on their new R&D  opera project The Bridge Between Breaths. 

The Bridge Between Breaths is a new opera which has been inspired on the felling of Colston’s statue, set in Bristol in the late 18th century as Pero Jones mourns for his beloved from the Caribbean island of Nevis.  

A performance of The Bridge Between Breaths videoed  during recent rehearsals in London will be streamed via Zoom on Tuesday 8 September at 6pm to launch the Tate-a-Tate festival. 

Full details on how to watch The Bridge Between Breaths and support the FormidAbility R&D opera project can be found by visiting tete-a-tete.org.uk. 

When I met up with Joanne via Zoom we chatted about the background to The Bridge Between Breaths,  where the powerful storey for the opera had come from, it’s links to the current times we are in at the moment, how FormidAbility is again breaking boundaries in access to opera by working with an artist to produce artwork live on stage while the opera is being performed to provide a bridge between sound and vision for deaf audiences and what affect Covid19 has had on rehearsals for The Bridge Between Breaths. 

I also took the opportunity to chat with Joanne about her involvement and working with Daniel Pemberton on the soprano parts for his musical score and soundtrack for Rising Phoenix the Netflix documentary about the rise and impact of the Paralympic Games. 

I first began by asking Joanne about how life in lockdown has been for her and her company FormidAbility since we last chatted back in May.