Feature in the Henshaws Vision Newsletter

The new issue of the Henshaws Vision newsletter was released this week! I have a double-page feature detailing my sight loss and a typical day in my life as a visually impaired young person.

There is also useful information regarding cataracts, their symptoms and available treatment. You can view the newsletter scan and articles below!

Kimberley was born as a premature baby, suffering from cataracts that were overlooked until she was 4 years old. After it was discovered by a Specialist that she had cataracts in both of her eyes, she was forwarded to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for operations to remove her natural eye lenses and replace them with plastic ones to eliminate the cataracts.

Unfortunately, the cataracts kept growing back behind her implants so the operations had to constantly be repeated. She had an Iridectomy to remove part of her iris to further help with the removal of the cataracts. Kimberley now has only a small amount of useful vision in one eye.

A Day in the Life of Kimberley Burrows

"When I wake up, I like to check my e-mails and read the news using my iPad with its various accessibility features. I have zoom, large bold text, high contrast and voiceover functions enabled to enhance my experience as much as possible. My iPad is an incredibly valuable tool to me, giving me the freedom to communicate via my blog and social networking sites independently.

As the RNIB Young Illustrator for 2014, I'm e-mailed a different theme on which to base my illustration each month. I like to prepare by sketching some ideas and choosing colour palettes, and will then draw a draft version to properly translate my final thoughts onto paper. I will spend the majority of the month working on my illustration, doing a little bit each day, with help from my Daylight lamp and folding bed table. I try not to exceed about an hour a day, as my small amount of useful vision will get too strained!

I have also been asked by Henshaws to produce a composition which will be displayed on the John Lewis community art wall at the Trafford Centre, which I'm currently working on.

On Fridays I visit Henshaws in Manchester for the Braille Group and Arts and Crafts Group. Before I came to Henshaws, my visual impairment had affected my confidence and I was very shy and reserved around others. Since coming to these groups my confidence has grown and I really enjoy the social aspect of being with other visually impaired people and bonding over new skills.

Braille has become one of my hobbies after studying it at Henshaws, so in the evening I like to do some Braille revision, practicing dot combinations and reading through the Fingerprint course books."

Kimberley is a keen blogger and she has just started blogging for Henshaws, sharing her stories. To read them go to henshaws.org.uk/blog. Also to read her own personal blog visit gleamed.blogspot.co.uk

My mum also spied one of my tweets and a photo from the Pride of Henshaws Ball included in the newsletter too!

A big thank you to the Henshaws team, especially Helen, for the wonderful feature piece and other little cameos in the newsletter! This is my first time being involved with Vision and I enjoyed writing for it very much!

The new issue of the Vision newsletter by Henshaws is available now in PDF and large print formats. Previous issues can be viewed here.

Article in The Core Magazine

I'm featured in the new issue of The Core Magazine (issue 19), regarding my illustrations and determination to overcome barriers as a severely visually impaired young person.

My father is a support worker for the Foster Care Association / Core Assets and was approached, after the team had seen my interviews on Granada Reports and in the local newspapers, to help with a feature piece about me for the upcoming issue of their very own magazine.

My Amazing Daughter

At Core Assets we celebrate the achievements of young people. So when Carl Burrows, team support worker in Ashton Under Lyne, told us a story about what his daughter Kimberley has achieved, we knew we had to share it. Over to Carl:

My daughter Kimberley was born two months premature, resulting in her having congenital cataracts and severe sight loss. At 18, she was diagnosed with a type of brain tumour which required surgery. She is now blind in one eye and has around 10% vision in the other.

She loves art and wasn't going to let anything stop her fulfilling her dream of becoming an artist! At school she achieved an A* in GCSE Art and has carried on doing illustrations, particularly of Roald Dahl and Paddington Bear characters. Paddington Bear creator, Michael Bond, saw one of her drawings and invited Kimberley and her mum to his house in London for tea. Kimberley gave him a Paddington Bear drawing and received a special anniversary bear!

Despite only being able to work 10-20 minutes at a time due to the eye strain it causes, Kimberley was recently named the RNIB Young Illustrator of the Year 2014 and has been chosen as an advocate for young blind and partially sighted people. She went to the Houses of Parliament in October 2013.

The story of her award and how she overcame her disabilities featured in local newspapers, on ITV News and in the Daily Mail.

Kimberley hopes to gain a place at the Royal National College for the Blind and is currently in the process of getting a Guide Dog, so she'll be even more independent!

I am very proud of Kimberley. She is so positive and is a great example to everyone she meets. But above all, she is a lovely, happy person.


Thank you very much to Core Assets and the The Core Magazine team for such a lovely article and for featuring me in the new issue! Also a big thank you to my dad for helping to write the piece and for sharing my story with his work colleagues and friends!

Blog Contributor for Henshaws

Henshaws have recently launched an online blog, sharing the stories of those who are visually impaired, blind and / or disabled and providing helpful tips and information from staff members. It will give an insight into how Henshaws has helped the various service users' quality of life, and is directed at supporters, fellow service users and other visually impaired or disabled people who may not yet realise how Henshaws can benefit them too.

I was kindly asked to be a contributor to the blog, submitting regular posts covering a whole range of different topics - from my story of sight loss, to how the service has benefitted me and dramatically changed my life, to my hobbies including my interest in illustrating, crafting and brailling.

My first blog entry was posted yesterday and details my story of sight loss during childhood, how I found out about the Henshaws charity last year, and the service they provide for me. I have written a few more over the past month and look forward to sharing them with everyone through the Henshaws blog, and here, in the near future!

Interview with ITV Granada Reports

I was recently contacted by ITV to do an interview for their website and appear on Granada Reports. I did the filming yesterday morning with journalist Tim Scott and it aired in the evening on ITV at 6pm.

I've never been on television before, so I was extremely nervous to start with! Tim was really friendly though and quickly put my mind at ease. We discussed my eye condition, how I got into drawing, my illustrations for RNIB's Insight Magazine and my future plans for training for a guide dog and eventually wanting to do an art course at the Royal National College for the Blind.

You can view the video by clicking here or on the image below.

Transcript

Born virtually blind, much of Kimberley Burrows' childhood was spent on the operating table at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. Now, age 25, she can only see out of 10% of one eye but that hasn't stopped her from doing what she loves.

Kimberley: When I was little I just always loved drawing. When I was in the waiting rooms at Great Ormond Street they had pencils and paper, so I always did some doodling. At school, art was my favourite subject - I took it for my GCSE's and I got an A*. So it's just always something that I've loved.

Tim Scott: How much harder is it for you being partially sighted and doing these lovely illustrations? Is it really difficult? How does it work?

Kimberley: I can spend about 20 minutes at a time and I probably do about an hour every day. Each piece will take about a month to complete.

And now Kimberley's hard work is being repaid. She's been named as the Royal Institute for the Blind's Young Illustrator of the Year for their Insight Magazine.

Kimberley: I spent a month doing this piece (pictured) which was based on my next steps. I sent it by e-mail and it didn't take too long to get a response back and they said that I'd won.

Tim Scott: How did you feel when you won the competition?

Kimberley: I was just so happy I could have run around the house! I just couldn't believe that after spending a month on it, it paid off.

Tim Scott: What would your advice be to somebody who's blind or partially sighted who thinks "I can't possibly do this or that"?

Kimberley: You can do anything that you put your mind to. Just because you've got a disability doesn't mean you don't have the ability to do something. Any barrier can be overcome and your dreams definitely can come true!

Kimberley's dream is to study art at college and become a professional illustrator. With talent like hers, she'll probably succeed. Tim Scott, ITV News, Irlam.

Blind Woman from Irlam Wins Prestigious Art Award

Kimberley Burrows has not let her disability get in the way of her dreams - by Tim Scott, ITV Granada

Kimberley Burrows was born partially blind and she can only see a little out of one eye, but this has not stopped her pursuing her dream of being a full-time artist. She has now come one step further to her dream after being awarded the prestigious title of 'Young Illustrator of the Year' by RNIB's insight Magazine.

As a result, she will be producing artwork for the magazine throughout the year. Her winning illustration represented the next steps she intends to take in her life. This included training to have a guide dog, completing a braille course and a mobility course with a cane.

She took a month to complete this work as her condition means she can only draw for very short periods of time. She draws using pencil crayons and fine liners, and uses a Daylight lamp to help her with her sight.

"You can do anything you put your mind to. Just because you have a disability doesn't mean you don't have the ability to do something" - Kimberley Burrows, Artist

You can view my interview by clicking on the thumbnail above
or on the ITV News website here.

Magazine Scan: Illustration For Insight Magazine

I received my issue of RNIB's Insight Magazine in the post recently, and have scanned my illustration and small article to share with my readers. The article says:

Kimberley Burrows from Manchester is Insight's new Young Illustrator. Above is her winning take on the theme "Next Steps".

As winner of our competition for young illustrators, Kimberley will be producing artwork for Insight throughout 2014. Kimberley was born with sight problems due to being born prematurely. "I mainly suffered from cataracts that weren't noticed until I was 4 years old. Now I have plastic lenses and only a bit of sight in one eye," she says.

"My illustration was created using pencil crayons and fine liner, and represents me and my next steps. That includes training for a guide dog, completing my braille course and mobility training with a long cane," Kimberley explains.

As a member of the new young people's campaign group ENVISION Kimberley has also added "a picture of the Houses of Parliament to signify more campaigning in the future."


I was also approached to help with a short article introducing and explaining the campaigning network of Envision. Some of my quotes were included in the article and can be seen below.

Article reads: A campaign group for blind and partially sighted 18-30 years olds was launched by RNIB in November. The development is being led by the young campaigners themselves to ensure it focuses on their issues. ENVISION, which stands for English Network of Visually Impaired Spokespeople for the Improvement of Obstacles Nationwide, first met in June to discuss the aims of the group.

The goal is Envision is "to make a difference across England for other young sight impaired people, tackling a whole range of difficulties that are encountered on a daily basis," said 25-year-old Envision member Kimberley Burrows.

"We launched our English network along with the first campaign that we will be focusing on - the difficulties surrounding leisure and retail. There are a wide variety of issues to address in our campaign, and me and the rest of Envision are excited and enthusiastic to get started. Envision have a series of teleconferences lined up in the near future, to begin discussions detailing the next steps that we want to take with our campaign," she added.

A lottery funding application has been made to gain support to set up and develop this network before it is rightly taken over and directed by its members.

You can hear the views of the young campaigners in a YouTube video produced by RNIB at http://bit.ly/1bJPeWK

For more information about the network please e-mail campaigns@rnib.org.uk or call 020 7391 2123

I had lots of fun designing my illustration and writing my short article for Insight magazine, and I am extremely thrilled with the final results! You can learn more about RNIB's Insight magazine by clicking here, view exclusive online content here and can subscribe here (braille, audio e-mail and print formats are all available).

Insight's new issue is out now!

Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a compiled list of my most frequently asked questions, as a useful resource for those of you who would like to learn more about the girl behind the blog!

If the question / answer you are looking for isn't listed here, you are more than welcome to post to my ask.fm profile or tweet to my Twitter account. I will try to answer you as soon as possible!

• Have you always been visually impaired?

Yes. I was born as a premature baby, 2 months too early, and contracted my condition in the womb. I have been severely sight-impaired all of my life; though my sight condition was overlooked until I was 4 years old. I spent the majority of my childhood at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, in London, having various procedures and operations.

• What is your sight condition?

I was born with underdeveloped optic nerves, due to being premature, and suffered from Congenital Cataracts that affect only 3 or 4 in every 10,000 babies and can cause blindness if left untreated - as was my case. I have amblyopia where one eye is much stronger than the other as well as Nystagmus where my eyes are constantly moving to seek out the light.

• How much vision do you have?

I have 10% central vision in my left eye and only light perception in the other. It has deteriorated over the past 5 years or so but appears to be stable for the time being.

• What can / can't you see?

Having only 10% central vision in my left eye I have no peripheral vision, so have a very limited scope to see with. Generally everything is very dark to me and I struggle to make sense of what's directly in front of me. I cannot determine depth or distance of objects as they appear two-dimensional and blurry, and colours are faded and washed out. Imagine looking through a very dark veil placed over your left eye and that is what my vision is like.

• Why do you wear UV glasses?
I wear the darkest UV lenses possible, in a dark green shade, blocking out roughly 80% of the light because I struggle with it so much in various situations; whether that be on a sunny day, a cloudy day where the sky is completely white, and in artificial lighted situations such as in supermarkets or hospitals. I struggle with the light constantly as I suffer from glare and receive frequent migraines from it. My glasses also hide my Nystagmus in both eyes and squint in my blind eye, and are also a great protection from low-hanging branches - which I seem to have a constant battle with! You can read more about my UV glasses here.

• Do you have any siblings? Do they have a visual impairment?
I have a younger brother, who is 1 year, 1 month and 1 day younger than me, called Daryl. He isn't visually impaired and has fully-fuctioning 20/20 vision. My mum, however, has recently started to develop her own sight problems, where she is now partially sighted, suffering from Cataracts, Posterior Vitreous detachment, and scar tissue at the back of the eye.

• Why did you decide to make a blog?
I wanted to create my own little corner of the internet, in late 2013, where I posted about my life as someone who is nearly blind; from my illustrations as a severely visually impaired artist, as well as my Guide Dog training and qualification process, campaigning work with Envision, volunteering and fundraising work with Henshaws and Guide Dogs, Braille progress, mobility sessions with a long cane, weekly trips to Henshaws in their various groups and courses, and accessible visits to museums and art galleries. I felt like I had interesting stories to tell that hopefully would provide a unique and personal insight to my readers.

• How did you create your blog?
My blog is hosted on Blogger, partnered with Google+, using the Awesome Inc. template. Header image and all graphics were created by me using Adobe Photoshop CS5. The majority of sidebar components are of my own HTML creation and not available on Blogger. Photos are owned by me unless otherwise stated.

• Do you blog for anyone else?

As well as maintaining my own blog, I'm a frequent blogger for Henshaws Society for Blind People, Manchester's oldest charity and an organisation I am a service user of and volunteer for, as well as Living Paintings who help to create touch-to-see books for blind and partially sighted people.

• What are your hobbies and interests?

Art and illustration, first and foremost! I also enjoy various crafts such as knitting, crocheting and looming as well as volunteering, listening to audiobooks, walking, baking, writing and travelling.

• How long have you been drawing?
For as long as I can remember, drawing has been my main passion in life. The very first thing I did when I entered Reception class, on the initial day of Primary School, was head straight for the easel to draw with the multicoloured chalks! As a child struggling with very little vision, I enjoyed giant print children's books and pouring over their beautiful illustrations. Having spent the majority of my childhood in hospital attempting to stabilise the little vision I had left, in another city a long way away from home, my only constant was drawing and colouring with the paper and crayons they had in the waiting rooms. My interest developed from there and I built up my portfolio and materials ever since. Art remained my favourite subject throughout school life, receiving an A* in my GCSE's, and well into adulthood as a now-commissioned illustrator.

• What mediums do you like to use?
I love all materials and mediums but mainly favour coloured pencils, as I feel I have more control over the distribution of their colour. I also like using fineliners to outline my work and help me to determine where the shapes are on the paper. I previously used Crayola pencils and Berol fineliners, but have now invested in Prismacolor Premium coloured pencils and their anime-style fineliners.

• How do you draw with such little vision?
As with everything, I have learned to accept what little vision I have left and adapt with it to each individual task; whether that be cooking, travelling independently or drawing. I draw and colour in by using my hands as a 'barrier' to prevent the unwanted overflow of colour outside the lines, and use black fineliner to outline my work to help define it better. I have labelled all of my tools, from pencils to paints and brushes, using a Dymo Braille labeller to identify the ones I want to use. I swatch each colour on a scrap piece of paper before working to ensure I'm using the desired shade in my piece. I use additional aids such as bright lighting provided by a Daylight lamp and a foldaway table to help elevate my work, much like an easel, to bring it as close to me as possible. The rest is down to practice!

• How do you use a computer or mobile phone?
I use an accessibility function on my MacBook Air, found in the 'Universal Access' area of the main settings, called VoiceOver. The same is standard across all Apple products, including the iPad, iPhone, iMac computers and Apple Watch. I have been using Apple products for 14 years now, receiving my first flower power iMac G3 in 2001 when I was 11 years old. I have witnessed first-hand the accessibility features on their devices going from strength-to-strength. On the iPhone I use something called the Rotor, when using the VoiceOver functionality, to switch between handy features such as handwriting on the screen, rather than struggling with the keyboard, and the Braille Screen Input. 

• Do you have a Guide Dog?
I do! Her name is Tami and she is my first Guide Dog. I trained and qualified with her in December 2014 and I've had her for 5 months now. She's a 2 year old Labrador Retriever Cross with a delicate nature and lovely temperament. She has made a massive difference to my life in the short time I have had her and feel so much more confident and independent when out and about.

• How does your Guide Dog help to support you?
Contrary to popular belief, my Guide Dog doesn't look at the lights and know when to cross and she certainly cannot read the bus numbers! Guide Dogs are trained to walk in a straight-line principle, stopping at each down-kerb positively allowing you to determine when it's safe to cross each one, judging by the sound of the traffic. The dog will cross when there is no sign of near traffic but will not cross if a car is passing by. They are trained to avoid obstacles, like A-boards, bins, cones, safety barricades and so on, and to find items of interest such as a postbox, stairs or the lights to cross. Over time they will remember your regular routes and you won't need to command them as often. My dog helps me to find an empty seat on the bus, tram and train but she cannot determine where they are going! I have to ask, or use a timetable app on my phone, to ensure I'm on the correct route. It's a combination of this training, along with having a mobility aid and a companion, that helps to instil confidence and independence in someone who is blind or partially sighted.

• What is Braille and do you read it?

Braille is a tactile form of communication, or code, made up of 'cells' that contain 6 dots. Each arrangement and combination of the dots help to create letters of the alphabet, numbers, punctuation, short-forms and contracted words. I've been reading Braille for over 2 years after completing a course, in just under 5 months, at the Henshaws Resource Centre in Manchester. This has been a vital skill for me as I am now able to read my own letters and menus in restaurants, for example.

My Sight Loss Story

I was born on November 8th, 1988 at Hope Hospital in Greater Manchester. I was a premature baby of two months, weighing no more than a small bag of sugar. Quite surprisingly no tests were done to see if my sight and hearing were in perfect order - something that is compulsory nowadays for newborn babies, especially premature ones - despite being in an incubator for quite some time and being monitored constantly.

When I was a toddler, my mum knew that something was wrong. I was always walking into doors and walls, falling down the stairs and barely responding to her when she would talk to me or say my name. She would persistently contact our local doctor, who would tell her that everything was fine and that she was worrying too much as a young mother. 

When I turned 4 years old, my mum went back to my local hospital and it was discovered that I had both sight and hearing loss, suffering with cataracts in both of my eyes and perforations in both of my ear drums, that were overlooked when I was born. After some discussion between doctors, it was decided that they did not want to operate on my cataracts and wanted to wait until I was an adult in my early twenties.

Unhappy with this, my mum paid privately to see a Specialist for a second opinion who identified that I had congenital cataracts in both of my eyes, that were formed in the womb and present at birth, and needed to be operated on as soon as possible to improve my quality of life. The Specialist referred me to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London, where I would stay for weeks at a time having operations to remove my natural eye lenses and attaching interocular implants, or plastic lenses, instead. Operations had to constantly be repeated, as clusters of Elschnig's Pearls would continuously grow behind my implants, causing a further decrease in my vision. I also had an Iridectomy, removing part of my iris, to further help with the removal of the pearls and to allow light into my weaker eye for the first time.

I also had additional appointments at Great Ormond Street Hospital for my ears. I had regular hearing tests to measure my hearing loss and numerous operations to improve my hearing as much as possible. I had grommets inserted into both of my ear drums on two separate occasions to relieve the build-up of pressure and fluids, and a myringoplasty performed on both ears to close the perforations in my ear drums. Unfortunately, the perforations formed again until they started to heal naturally when I was a teenager.

My mum and I continued to travel down to London to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and later Moorfield's Eye Hospital, for my appointments until I was almost 17 years old. In late 2006 I was then discharged back to Manchester as I no longer fit into the age bracket to keep visiting Great Ormond Street. I will never forget the hard work and dedication of the doctors and nurses there, where I spent a huge portion of my childhood, and my mum and I donate to them whenever we can. They did everything they possibly could to help improve my vision, my hearing, and my quality of life.

After being discharged back to Manchester, my ears were left unseen to for a year and, in early 2007, I noticed that I was suffering from a terrible pain in my left ear. After visiting my GP I was forwarded to Trafford General Hospital - where they discovered that I had Mastoiditis - an inflamed and infected inner ear. It needed to be operated on as soon as possible, as I would have suffered paralysis and other life-threatening complications, including; blood clots, meningitis, and brain abscesses if left untreated. I had a cortical mastoidectomy operation to remove the infected mastoid bone, ear drum and the majority of my middle ear structures. A new ear drum was created using skin from behind my left ear.

In early 2008 I had an operation to correct the squint in my left eye, a squint caused by the almost total blindness in that eye, making it hard for my brain to control where it moves. I had to be awake while the sutures were tweaked and pulled around and, unfortunately, the operation was not a success and my squint started to emerge again after only a month.

I received my first hearing aid for my right ear in July 2011, and I will never forget the first time I placed it into my ear and switched it on. I could hear so many new sounds that I could never hear before. It was a long time coming for my first hearing aid, as I was 22 years old at the time and Great Ormond Street Hospital could not permit hearing aids to me, as I did not live in their local area - having always travelled to London from Manchester.

A mould was taken of my left ear in early November and I received my second hearing aid, for my left ear, on the 18th of that month. Having both the left and right hearing aids working together, and having my hearing amplified for the first time in my life, was the most amazing experience and something that I will never forget. I felt like I was living in a brand new world full of exciting and colourful sounds!

In early 2013 I returned to Manchester Eye Hospital, to discuss having further treatment for the squint in my blind eye, and my mum pointed out a Henshaws side-room near to the main waiting area. I'd never heard of Henshaws before, so thought it would be interesting to talk to someone inside the room and see what support would be available. I met a patient support worker, called Maggie Harrison, who upon ringing Social Services found that they had no record of me. This, unfortunately, was the truth. Since being registered blind at only 4 years old, I had received little to no help or support. I had, pardon the pun, stumbled blindly through my life up until that point for 24 years. I only ever had my mum to support me.

Thanks to Maggie, Social Services were finally aware of me having slipped through the cracks for so long,and in need of as much support as possible, as soon as possible. I received a home visit not long afterwards and had a hearing loop fitted into my living room - allowing background noise to be eliminated when listening to the television with my hearing aids - as well as a new smoke alarm fitted that connects to a device under my pillow that will let me know when it sounds off,  as I wont be able to hear the alarm without my hearing aids at night, along with some other useful aids around the house. I was very pleased with their visit and couldn't thank them enough for their help!

In the summer of 2013 I attended a Living With Sight Loss enablement course at my local community centre, forwarded to me by Maggie. This was the first time I was able to properly meet and talk with other people visually impaired people. I was extremely shy and very nervous to start with, having a few minor panic attacks beforehand, as previous to the course I rarely went out of the house - especially to new places. I was so isolated and felt very much alone with my visual impairment as I got older and left high school, so it was a huge shock to be in a room full of new people I had never met before, without my mum by my side! She wanted me to do the course independently to help build up my confidence and make new friends. After high school had finished, I didn't have any friends at all as I mostly stayed in the house apart from when I had to attend hospital appointments.

Over the course of the 6 sessions we found out about all sorts of new things such as; LED magnifiers that are available to aid with reading, equipment for in the kitchen and around the house, useful computer aids and magnification programs, information regarding public transportation, a session with local police officers, a visit from a Guide Dog owner describing her experiences and how her life has changed dramatically from her working partnership with her Guide Dog, and so on. I enjoyed myself immensely, much more than I thought I would, and it was something I began to look forward to every Thursday morning. I managed to find a little bit of confidence along the way, and was able to speak more freely to people towards the end of the course.

I also met quite a few important people at the enablement course who are now integral to my life. Lisa Young, who ran the course, is now my Daily Living Skills enablement officer. She supports me and helps me to learn kitchen skills safely and independently on a regular basis. These skills include; pouring liquids safely using the liquid level indicator, using the kettle, microwave and other appliances independently with the help of bump-ons, and then progressing towards peeling, chopping and spreading to prepare meals for myself for the first time. Lisa introduced me to the Henshaws charity and forwarded me onto some of the courses that I now attend every Friday, including Braille and arts & crafts sessions.

Lisa was helped on the enablement course by a volunteer called Sarah Strutt, who is also visually impaired and volunteers with Henshaws. She is my closest friend and helps me with my Braille progress. I also met Debbie Carmichael on the course too, who brought in a range of different canes and mobility aids, to show us what can be used to help identify obstacles when out and about. I now have my mobility training with her using a long cane.

In September 2013, I visited the Guide Dogs' Open Day at the Atherton Centre in Manchester. I was so inspired by the story of the volunteer at the enablement course, that I wanted to visit the centre and the kennels to witness the work that they do first-hand. I met a patron of the charity along with the boss of the Atherton centre, Richard, who filled in my application form for me, as well as a puppy walker and boarder who helped me to locate the centre - as it was very busy and I couldn't get my bearings! I met with another Guide Dog user inside the centre, whose experience echoed that of the previous lady who had visited the enablement course in the summer. She explained how she was now brimming with confidence and could go anywhere she wanted in the knowledge that she had a constant companion - things that sound like a dream come true. I applied that day and will receive my first home visit very soon!

My life has dramatically changed over the course of this year thanks to Henshaws, my daily living skills sessions with Lisa and my mobility sessions with Debbie. I am slowly becoming more confident in everything I do, and am learning so many new and exciting skills. I have friends for the first time, since leaving high school 7 years ago, who all understand perfectly my situation and who are understanding and supportive. I am so thankful for the support I am finally receiving and I hope to one day much more confident and return my gratitude through fundraising and volunteering for sight loss charities, especially Henshaws Society for Blind People.

I am a completely different person to who I was at the beginning of the year, and I feel like I'm finally starting to live my life with my visual impairment.