3 Robin Hood Lane
Sutton
Surrey SM1 2SW
Autumn 2015 Issue 52
CONTACT
Editorial
Welcome to Amanda and Beth
Eye Services at St Helier Hospital – the new clinic
This Month’s Poem from Frank Smith
V.I. Stories from Erica Grimsey
Calibre Audio Library Update
Recreation and Leisure News
Goalball!
RLSB article on the importance of early diagnosis
More Events from 1965
RNIB Box at the Royal Albert Hall
Regular Events
Useful Numbers
Community Low Vision Service
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EDITORIAL
Welcome to the autumn edition of CONTACT magazine. This
edition features some information about two new members of
the staff team, Amanda and Beth, as well as a further selection
of events from 1965, the inaugural year of Sutton Vision.
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Sadly, we need to record the death of Jean Leahy, a stalwart
volunteer and one of the stars of our film ‘Other Ways of
Seeing’. Jean will be greatly missed by her family, friends and
colleagues at Sutton Vision and Age UK.
A reminder to all that the clocks go back on 1 hour at 2 am on
the last Sunday in October – that is Sunday 25th October 2015.
If you need any help with re-setting clocks, do let us know.
Not every member of the staff team welcomes the advent of
Christmas festivities, but Rebekah Kelly insists that we need to
include a reminder in this edition that help is available if you
need assistance with Christmas card writing or Christmas
shopping. Let us know well in advance if you need assistance
and we’ll see what we can do. Please note that the deadline
for the Christmas/Winter edition is Thursday 26th November
2015.
This edition has been edited by Stephen and the staff team.
Comments and contributions from Sutton Vision members and
local partners are always welcome and may be sent to
Stephen at stephenhawkins@suttonvision.org.uk
We are always interested to hear what you think of the
newsletter and to receive ideas about articles for inclusion.
We hope you find the articles and information of interest, but
there is also a good deal of information on our website
www.suttonvision.org.uk.
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WELCOME AMANDA AND BETH!
During the summer, Sutton Vision was fortunate to recruit two
new members of the staff team, Amanda Larter (Volunteer
Coordinator) and Beth Pryor (Sight Loss Adviser at Sutton Eye
Clinic). Amanda came to us with lots of experience of training
volunteers to work in challenging work at St Raphael’s Hospice.
Beth previously worked with older people as a supported
housing manager.
I started with Sutton Vision on 20th July as Volunteer
Coordinator following the retirement of Lorraine Lowther in
April. My office background
is in administration and
secretarial,
but
following
being made redundant from
a long term employer and
registering with sight loss
within a month of each other,
I was left wondering what I
would do for the next 20
years of my working life. Upon
receiving some very good
advice, I enrolled on a residential course for Complimentary
Therapy at The Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford.
Once qualified, I then worked at St Raphael's Hospice and also
volunteered at Sutton Mental Health Foundation.
I have experience being a volunteer and training volunteers
and look forward to my new challenge at Sutton Vision. My
reason for applying for this role was that I felt I could be a
good ambassador for people with sight loss and also
understanding how valued volunteers are to an organisation
like Sutton Vision. Sutton has many great services available for
disabled people and in comparison with most other
communities within Surrey we have help on our door step.
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I look forward to meeting you all and hearing your ideas on
any new groups that you would like to set up or volunteer for. It
has been suggested that we set up a men's group and I
already have some interest, please let me know your views
and ideas.
020 8409 7166 amandalarter@suttonvision.org.uk
Amanda
Beth
What is your role at Sutton Vision?
I am the new Hospital Inreach/Community Outreach Worker
and work full time. I will be based at the eye unit in its new
home at St Helier Hospital for 4 days and will be let loose in the
community on the other.
What was it that interested you in applying for the post?
I love people! The role appealed to me as it combines my
experience
of
supporting
individuals to lead a fulfilling
independent life of their
choosing, with learning more
about visual impairment.
What do you like most about
living in Sutton?
The excellent transport links to
London and the south east
coast.
What are your interests and hobbies outside work?
I enjoy reading, cross stitch, travel and spending time with
family and friends.
Where do you most like to go on holiday and why?
Anywhere warm and sunny as I am not a fan of the cold.
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EYE SERVICES AT ST. HELIER HOSPITAL
Over the summer, staff at Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust have
been hard at work arranging the transfer of Sutton Eye Clinic to
the St Helier site. Sutton Vision staff, volunteers and members,
accompanied by our
colleagues from the
Local
Authority’s
Sensory
Impairment
Team, have had an
opportunity
to
visit
during the early stages
of the move, thanks to
a kind invitation from
Gabby Walters, the project manager responsible for the
relocation. The smiling faces in the photograph taken during
one of the tours evidence the visitors’ level of satisfaction with
the standard of accommodation! Congratulations to all
involved!
In August, following discussions with Craig Davies, Manager of
the Service, a Service Level Agreement was signed and with
the appointment of Beth Pryor as our new Sight Loss Adviser,
Sutton Vision is pleased to be able to work collaboratively with
NHS staff to provide emotional and practical support for
patients attending the clinic.
A recent report (May 2015) from the Royal National Institute for
Blind People highlights the importance of eye clinic support
services and supports the RNIB’s campaign to see a sight loss
support worker in every eye clinic in the UK. In the foreword to
the report, the President of the Royal College of
Ophthalmologists endorses the role of Sight Loss Adviser:
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“Ophthalmologists across the UK strive to provide high quality
services for patients. Fortunately, with improvements in
treatments they are able to successfully preserve or restore
vision in the majority of patients they treat. Occasionally,
patients suffer from conditions that mean medical intervention
may be unable to prevent sight loss.
“Telling patients that they are losing their sight is very
challenging and at this difficult time they need considerable
support and practical information. This specific expertise is
where a sight loss adviser can play a vital role. Whilst there is no
substitute for a properly informed discussion between the
patient and his or her clinician, a sight loss adviser enhances
the service by having the time to offer practical information
and emotional support.
“From my own experience, I have recently worked with a 29
year old patient who developed rapid loss of vision in his left
eye, followed a few weeks later by the same thing happening
to his right eye. It took time to make a firm diagnosis and this
was an extremely difficult time for the patient. He was anxious
and uncertain about the future for his vision, his job, his family
finances and his life in general.
“The support he received through the sight loss adviser service
was immeasurable. Several meetings were required in order to
identify his particular needs and to ensure he was receiving
tailored emotional, financial and practical support.
“Sight loss advisers provide a valuable service in the running of
any busy eye department and RNIB’s ambition for every eye
department in the UK to have access to a sight loss adviser will
benefit patients at a time when they are most vulnerable.
Professor Carrie MacEwen, MB ChB, MD, FRCS, FRCOphth,
FFSEM.
All of us at Sutton Vision look forward to working with the team
at the eye clinic in their new setting at the St Helier site!
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THIS MONTH’S POEM FROM FRANK SMITH!
Staying Put!
The latest lyrical offering from Frank Smith is inspired by his
recollections on his good fortune in
maintaining his network of friends in
Sutton.
LUCKY ME!
I am very pleased I am staying Sutton
This old lamb that has turned into mutton
Once again I have landed on my feet
And more and more nice people to meet.
I really have had great good fortune
I wish I could give everyone a sizeable portion
My good fortune is rather funny
It has nothing to do with bees and honey.
SV’s staff and their volunteers
For me they really have no peers
To me they are very good friends
My warmth for them just never ends.
Their good wishes and support
Far greater than I could have thought
A humble “Thank you” does not seem to suffice
Especially when so many people have been so nice.
My spirits are as high as the proverbial steeple
Due entirely to some wonderful people!
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ERICA’S VI STORIES
Hello all! I really can’t be the only one with amusing stories or
anecdotes to tell, though happily I have no Erica-Makes-aFool-of-Herself ditties to tell this month – or do I? But we are
looking for more member contributions, and the more lighthearted and amusing, the better.
What about those situations when being V.I. has led to
interesting happenings? How many of you have opened a tin
with confidence and thrown it into the pot of cooking
ingredients, only to discover it wasn’t quite what you were
expecting it to be? Orange jelly, laced with tinned tomatoes
instead of mandarin oranges? I don’t recommend as a new
delicacy – wide-ranging though the British taste-buds have
become these days! ... I luckily discovered that one way
before I dished it out to my unsuspecting family! I could go on
in the same vein, though am far more careful how I organise
my tinned products these days.
Then of course there are the “speaking to oneself” situations!
You know how it goes: you’re chatting away to a close family
member or friend, and after a while, you perhaps seek an
answer to a question, only to discover that you’ve been
chattering away to yourself for goodness knows how long.
Said friend has either got bored or expects you to mind-read
that they have in fact walked away from you!
As for Guide Dog Owner stories – goodness, I could write a
book! There are so many, but how about this to whet your
appetite? Way back in my youth, I was working my first guide
dog – I got her in fact during the year I was 21 – and visiting a
friend in her new home for the first time. I knew of the road,
but had not been there before. I knew that she lived at no. 83
(relevant so stay with me). After wandering along for some
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while, I chanced to hear a lady close-by so stopped to ask her,
“Excuse me, I’m looking for no. 83”, said I. The lady paused for
a while then said thoughtfully and in all sincerity, and I’ve
never forgotten it to this day, “Oh well, Dear, your dog nearly
has it right. This is number 38. E’s reversed the numbers”. She
was a sweetheart, and very much wanted to help me but I
had to work very, very hard not to burst out laughing!
And finally ... no telling of anecdotes could be complete
without “the loo” story could it? Finding one in the first place
can be interesting of course. Many of my V.I. friends and I can
tell all sorts of stories of ending up in the wrong one or locking
oneself in train toilets and thinking “Now if I’m lucky, this top
button will get me out of here; on the other hand, if I’m not, it
may well bring the train to an unwelcome emergency stop”!
Ok, that’s more than enough from me, but you get the picture:
fun and amusing stories is what we are after and very much
look forward to receiving any you may have.
Erica Grimsey
CALIBRE AUDIO LIBRARY
Do you find that as the nights draw in you prefer to stay indoors
and listen to a good book? If you have exhausted your library’s
large print and audio book range, then Calibre Audio Library is
here to help. Our charity provides audio books for anyone
unable to read print because of sight loss, disability or dyslexia.
We have 8,000 fiction and non-fiction titles (with more being
added every month) in 60 different categories available on
MP3CD, USB memory stick and via streaming. We have the
latest best sellers such as Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman, a
wide range of biographies including Mary Berry’s Recipe for
Life, neurosurgeon Henry Marsh’s Do No Harm and George
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‘Johnny’ Johnson’s The Last British Dambuster, as well as a
wealth of crime writers ranging from Margery Allingham and
Val McDermid to Ian Rankin, Lee Child and Kathy Reichs.
You can search for your favourite authors and books via our
free online catalogue at www.calibre.org.uk. You can join
Calibre Audio Library for a one-off membership fee of £35 or
take advantage of the player package for under £70 which
includes a choice of either the Boombox or Sovereign USB
players. Calibre also offers a free 12 week period for people
who want to find out if audio books are right for them. For
more information please call the friendly Membership Team on
01296 432 339, e-mailmembershipservices@calibre.org.uk
SPRING BACKGROUND
Have you ever heard about a great book on the radio or on
the telly but find it isn’t available in large print or audio form? If
you have read all your life but because of a deteriorating eye
condition this is no longer possible, it can be very frustrating.
Calibre Audio Library is passionate about making as many
books as possible available for blind and partially sighted
readers. Although half of Calibre titles are bought
commercially, its team of professional actors and broadcasters
record hundreds of books each year, enabling its members
access to a wonderful array of books that many sighted
readers take for granted.
Calibre has 8,000 digital books available on MP3CDs, USB
memory sticks and via streaming. There’s a huge range
including the latest best sellers such as the Costa Book of the
Year: Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk; books from television
and films: The Casual Vacancy; Wolf Hall; Poldark; The Hunger
Games, and the very popular Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
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Many members who have a specialist interest, for instance, the
history of transport, are often surprised at finding titles in the
library that they have had a real difficulty locating. However,
by far the most popular categories are detective and mystery
fiction and biographies, which range from entertainment and
political figures, to war heroes and diaries and letters of authors
such as the Brontes.
You can join Calibre Audio Library for a one-off membership
fee of £35 or take advantage of the player package for under
£70 which includes a choice of either the Boombox or
Sovereign USB players. Calibre also offers a free 12 week
period for people who want to find out if audio books are right
for them.
For more information please call the friendly Membership Team
on 01296 432 339.
E-mail: membershipservices@calibre.org.uk
The website is www.calibre.org.uk
RECREATION AND LEISURE
The Recreation and Leisure Committee is an independent and
informal group which promotes sporting and leisure activities in
the London Borough of Sutton.
The RLC organises the
programme and acts as the point of contact for participants.
Although Sutton Vision supports and encourages RLC and their
activities, members should be aware that any events
organised directly by the RLC are independent of Sutton Vision
and are the responsibility of RLC only. Please contact RLC
Committee members direct if you wish to learn more about the
programme or to book a specific event.
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Coffee mornings
Our regular coffee morning at Waterstones cafe, 1st floor, in
Sutton High Street, continues to be well attended with around
a dozen folk popping in for a chat and a coffee. The staff at
Waterstones continue to give us a warm welcome and friendly
service. This group meets on the first Friday of each month at
10.30. Why not come along, we'd love to see you.
If you live in the east of the borough, or even if you don't, you
might like to support our new Wallington library coffee
morning, held on the second Wednesday of the month in the
library cafe from 10.30. June's meeting saw 8 of us sitting in the
sunshine by the fish pond putting the world to rights. If you
haven't been yet, we look forward to seeing you.
Book Club
Our book club continues to meet at Waterstones on the 4th
Monday of the month at 10.30. We have listened to an
eclectic range of books in the past and look forward to more.
We have been using the one click download service to source
our books for a few months now and it is working well, with
members enjoying the convenience of having books in such a
portable form on a memory stick. We love sharing and making
book choices and are extremely pleased that the books are
unabridged and professionally read.
Pub Social Evenings – enjoy beer and badinage
These are held on the first Monday evening of the month at
The Hope, West Street, Carshalton. From 7.00pm. Carshalton
Station, and bus stops 407, 127 and 157 are nearby. Not sure?
We can meet you and go to the pub together!
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Pub Lunch
This is held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 12 noon
onwards at the Prince of Wales, Malden Road, Cheam. If you
are interested in any of our socials please contact Sue Christie
on 07891 783291 or email: susanchristie48@btinternet.com.
If you are interested in local sports activities, why not sign up for
Metro Sport by taking a look at their website:
www.metroblindsport.org
Audio described films
Did you know you can enjoy a film, plus tea or coffee and a
biscuit for just £3.00 every Wednesday at the Empire Cinema in
Sutton? Audio description is available. Details from the
cinema of online at
www.empirecinemas.co.uk/nowshowing/sutton_surrey/2D/t36
Finally, if you have an idea for a group, one-off event, activity
or interest you would like to explore, please get in touch and
share it with us. We are delighted to receive any new ideas!
Erica Grimsey and Sue Christie
GOALBALL!
Becky Ashworth at Goalball UK would like to encourage Sutton
Vision members to participate in local Goalball events. Our
own Tracy Compton tells me that she regularly attends sessions
which are currently running in Croydon. Other sessions locally
are planned at Dorking Leisure Centre. If you are interested,
contact Becky or follow the video links below to find out more:
Becky Ashworth
Goalball UK
National Development Manager
Phone: 0114 223 5670
Mobile: 07975893924
Web: www.goalballuk.com E-mail: becky@goalballuk.com
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ROYAL LONDON SOCIETY FOR BLIND PEOPLE
Mary Phillips brought my attention to this article from RLSB
website which emphasises the importance of early diagnosis
and support for children and young people.
“Before Isaac was born, his mother, Selam, remembers her
mother telling her ‘just you wait until he looks in your eyes for
the first time’. After a few weeks of nursing Isaac, Selam
noticed he never looked at her, but she didn’t know that
anything was wrong. His eyes looked perfectly healthy, and he
was a really happy baby.
When Isaac was 11 months old Selam was uploading
photographs she’d taken of her son onto her computer. A
gorgeous and smiling child, there was only one thing wrong
with the photographs; in each image, Isaac’s eyes glowed
bright white. Unsure if it was a trick of the light or a sign that
something was wrong, Selam swiftly sought the advice of a
specialist.
In a test which took only seconds, it was confirmed that Isaac
had retinoblastoma – a rare form of cancer that mostly affects
children under five. Behind his eyes were large tumours, and it
was these tumours that glowed white in the photographs.
It came as a huge shock to learn that Isaac’s tumours had
been there since birth, and they had been growing ever since.
By the time that Isaac’s eyes were tested the tumours had
grown so large and were so advanced that he was only one
stage away from having to have his eyes removed.
The chemotherapy that followed diagnosis was incredibly
tough. Selam told us “he wasn’t eating, and there were points
where he couldn’t stand or even hold up his head. Isaac
couldn’t fight infections for a long time, which meant that we
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were living like hermits. We were practically housebound – and
I felt so lonely and so afraid for his future. At that point I wasn’t
even sure if he had one.”
Although the tumours had responded well to treatment,
Isaac’s sight couldn’t be saved. He is now four years old and
has
lost
central
vision
in
both
eyes.
Selam said, “After Isaac’s diagnosis I felt incredibly lonely. I
don’t think any parent should ever have to feel that way – like
they don’t understand what their child is going through and
what they still have to face.” This is where the RLSB ‘Early
Years’ programme helps by supporting families through the
experience of sight loss.
Stephen Hawkins
MORE EVENTS FROM 1965
THE INAUGURAL YEAR
January 4, T.S. Eliot, English poet, died in London at age 76.
February 24, Beatles began filming "Help" in Bahamas.
March 2, The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
musical “The Sound of Music,” starring Julie Andrews and
Christopher Plummer, had its world premiere at New York’s
Rivoli Theatre.
March 4, David Attenborough became the new controller of
BBC2.
March 15, Gamal Abdel Nasser was re-elected Egyptian
President.
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March 23, America's first two-person space flight began as
Gemini 3 blasted off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Virgil
I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard for a nearly five-hour
flight. Young sneaked a corned beef sandwich on board, for
which he was later reprimanded.
March 25, Martin Luther King Jr. led a group of 25,000 to the
state capital in Montgomery Alabama to protest the denial of
voting rights to blacks. Civil Rights pressures increased in the US
and blacks and whites marched in Selma and Montgomery.
July 3, Trigger (25), the golden palomino horse of Roy Rogers,
died.
July 31, J. K. Rowling, British writer, was born in Yate,
Gloucestershire.
August 15, Beatles played to 55,000 at Shea Stadium.
September 4, Philosopher, musician, doctor, theologian and
humanitarian Albert Schweitzer died.
September 26, Queen Elizabeth decorated the Beatles with
the Order of the British Empire.
RNIB – ROYAL ALBERT HALL BOX
Did you know RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) has
a box at the world renowned Royal Albert Hall?
The box was left to RNIB in 1929 for the use of blind or partially
sighted people and their guests (friends, family or supporters).
Tickets cost just £15.00 each, which represents a substantial
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reduction on the face value for many events.
Our box is on the second tier and seats up to five people with
easy access via lift or stairs.
We provide listings of all events for which we have tickets in
accessible formats and you can request tickets at any time.
We give preference to new users and those who have used
the box least in preceding months.
We have tickets for many but not all of the events staged at
the hall each year. To request our information pack, to find
out more and to request tickets, please contact Ali Safder by
email to royalalberthall@rnib.org.uk or telephone 020 7391
2063.
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REGULAR DATES
For information on any of these activities please call
020 8409 7166:
Event
Hello! Club
Date
Every Monday
10.00 am – 12.00
noon
Hello! Club
Every Thursday
Christchurch with
10:00 am -12.00 noon St Philip, Ruskin
Drive/Cheam
Common Road,
Worcester Park
Social Eyes
Alternate Thursdays
2:00pm - 4:00pm
SCILL Centre, Robin
Hood Lane, Sutton
Pub Social
1st Monday evening
of the month
The Hope, West St,
Carshalton
Music Group
2nd Monday of the
month
12.15 – 2.30 p.m.
3rd Monday of the
month
12.15 – 2.30 p.m.
SCILL Centre, Robin
Hood Lane, Sutton
Reminiscence
& Poetry
Group
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Venue
Community Hall
Church Road,
Cheam (On left of
Cheam Library by St
Dunstan’s Church)
SCILL Centre, Robin
Hood Lane, Sutton
USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS
GPO telephone circa 1965
The following list of useful numbers
includes an emergency number for
the London Borough of Sutton and
Sutton Eye Unit.
RNIB/Action for Blind People Helpline
0303 123 9999
London Borough of Sutton
020 8770 5000
First Contact
020 8770 4337
Pension & Benefits
020 8687 3621
Sutton Eye Unit
020 8296 4364
Macular Society (National)
01264 350 551
Sutton Group
020 8661 1886
Age UK (Sutton)
020 8770 4090
Sutton Carers Centre
020 8296 5611
Citizens Advice Bureau (Sutton)
020 8405 3552
Sutton Talking Newspaper
020 3759 6679
Sutton Vision
020 8409 7166
The Friendly Club
020 8669 4106
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COMMUNITY LOW VISION SERVICE
Sutton Vision, with funding from Sutton Clinical Commissioning
Group, runs a fortnightly Community Low Vision Clinic at our
premises in Sutton.
You will have an assessment with our Optometrist to find the
solutions and establish which magnifying devices (if any) and
other equipment will be of most help. Any
equipment prescribed by our optometrist
will be on a long term loan basis. A
specialist rehabilitation officer from the
Sensory Impairment Team will be available
to give advice on
your
everyday
needs,
difficulties
and discuss your goals. This service is
available to people who have been
diagnosed with low vision (a sight
problem which is not correctable by
spectacles), who live in the London
Borough of Sutton and who are not
already using the low vision clinic at Sutton Hospital (Collisons).
Our Low Vision Clinics are by appointment only. To book an
appointment or ask any questions about the low vision clinics
or the resource centre, please contact Vanessa Valentine on
020 8409 7166.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Charity No. 1092429
Company No. 4388249
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