This is a very special blog post; today marks the 177th birthday of Henshaws Society for Blind People! As most of you know, I have been a service user for a year now - starting with the Living with Sight Loss enablement course last summer and visiting the Manchester Resource Centre not long afterwards, to become a permanent member of some of the Friendship Matters groups - including Braille, Arts & Crafts and Mindful Relaxation.
I am currently undertaking the 12-week Skillstep course, am a resident blogger for the Henshaws blog and have had the wonderful opportunity of speaking at events to represent the charity. I have kindly been offered a work placement with the Marketing team, which I will be starting in September, and I am extremely excited about!
Henshaws have made an astounding contribution to who I am today - improving my confidence beyond any expectation I would ever have had, equipping me with independence skills such as Braille, kitchen skills and touch typing skills, and providing me with an active social life for the first time since leaving high school.
I have met some absolutely wonderful people over the past year because of Henshaws - staff, volunteers and service users alike - and I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you and a very Happy Birthday to Henshaws Society for Blind People!