KAB Eye Opener
Issue 45 / 6th September 2023
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KAB Activities
6th - 19th September 2023
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Our Bowls Club is back, the first session is on Thursday 7th September, we hope to see you there! Image: Flickr/Ian Halsey
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Thursday September 7th
Bowls 10:00am – 12:00pm. We are pleased to announce that indoor bowls will be returning at King George Field Indoor Bowls Club, Jubilee Way, Chessington, KT9 1TR. Food and Drink will be available there to purchase.
Swimming Session for Accomplished Swimmers 7:00pm — 8:00pm. Sessions are in association with Spartans Swimming Club and need to be prebooked. All members new to the session need to fill out a form signed by their GP, please phone or email for further details. Sessions are £2. At New Malden Leisure Centre, Main Pool, New Malden, KT3 4TA.
Monday September 11th
Ten-pin Bowling, 11:00am - 1:00pm. The Club meets on Monday’s twice a month in the Hollywood Bowl, Charrington Bowl, Kingston Road, Tolworth, London, KT5 9PB. 2 games are played. Please wear flat, closed toe, non-marking soled shoes.
Tandem and Adapted Cycling 2:00pm — 2:45pm. At Weir Archer Athletics Centre, Jack Goodchild Way, 422a Kingston Road, KT1 3PB.
Thursday September 14th
Bowls 10:00am – 12:00pm. The Bowls Club meets weekly at the King George Field Indoor Bowls Club, Jubilee Way, Chessington, KT9 1TR. Food and Drink will be available there to purchase.
Swimming Session for Accomplished Swimmers 7:00pm — 8:00pm. Sessions are in association with Spartans Swimming Club and need to be prebooked. All members new to the session need to fill out a form signed by their GP, please phone or email for further details. Sessions are £2. At New Malden Leisure Centre, Main Pool, New Malden, KT3 4TA.
Saturday September 16th
Football Club 10:45am – 11:45am, Autumn Term. Two football sessions run at the same time for Blind and Visually Impaired Juniors (5-16 years old), and Adults (16+). Both sessions are open to all levels, male and female. Sessions take place in a huge indoor bubble using audio balls and are supported by a team of coaches and volunteers. To book visit: tinyurl.com/Football-VI. If the website is inaccessible, please call or email our office. Fulham FC Training Ground, Motspur Park, KT3 6PT.
Monday September 18th
KAB Tech Session, 10:00am - 3:00pm. Time slots will be available, more information is available in the news section below. The session will be at the Kingston Quaker Centre. For more information or to book, please phone or email our office.
Monday September 18th
Tandem and Adapted Cycling 2:00pm — 2:45pm at Weir Archer Athletics Centre, Jack Goodchild Way, 422a Kingston Road, KT1 3PB.
Tuesday September 19th
Social Eyes 1:00pm — 3:00pm at the Kingston Quaker Centre, Fairfield East, Kingston, KT1 2PT.
Date and time by arrangement
Absolute Beginners swimming lessons
Date and time by arrangement at New Malden Leisure Centre, Training Pool, New Malden, KT3 4TA. For beginners, or swimmers who have lost their confidence. The swimming sessions are on a one-to-one basis and dates and times can vary, if you are interested, please contact the office to arrange a session and discuss any needs you may have on 07442 394 472.
KAB Concession Policy
In recognition of the high cost-of-living currently experienced by many members of the Kingston Association for the Blind, the Board of Trustees of KAB has instituted a concessions policy. Members of KAB who are in financial distress can apply for a concession which will exempt them from paying the £5 fee normally paid at all KAB activities.
For more details phone 07442 394 472. Or email kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org
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Important Notice
Our landlines are still not working. If you would like to contact us, please do so via email kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org or call our mobile phone 07442 394 472. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.
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KAB, Charity of The Month
We were delighted to be presented with a cheque for £500 by Councillor Yvonne Tracey yesterday at our Social Eyes lunch session. “I'm really pleased to be in a position to start distributing my Councillor allowance to good causes across the Borough, as per my election pledge I made last November. Having experienced how the blind live by walking with glasses that simulate different eye conditions, I feel that life as a blind person is very difficult. there are so many barriers that need to be broken and therefore KAB is a wonderful Charity to donate to”, says Yvonne.
Yvonne is distributing donations through a Charity of the Month initiative, which will involve her giving £500 (plus Gift Aid) to a Charity each month, and encouraging others who are able to donate to her chosen cause too.
This month KAB has been blessed to be the Charity of the Month. We are truly thankful for this wonderful donation. We also encourage any members of the public to help us raise more funds, so that we can keep this lovely Charity running. We appreciate any donation, no matter how big or small, every penny counts.
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Bowls Re-opening
The moment that we have been waiting for has arrived! KAB is re-launching its Bowls sessions indoors at the King George Field Indoor Bowls Club, Jubilee Way, Chessington, KT9 1TR.
The official opening date is on Thursday the 7th September at 10:00am – 12:00pm. The match will be followed by a session in the House Club, where lunch will be available to purchase. It will be a wonderful opportunity for bowlers to meet and build a team together once again.
How to play Bowls:
- The game of Bowls is the same for blind bowlers as it is for sighted bowlers. The aim is to get your bowls nearer to the Jack than any bowl of your opponents. Bowls are delivered from a mat at one end of the green while the target “Jack” is at the other end.
- A sighted marker helps the blind bowler by describing where the bowls come to rest. He does this using the ‘clock method’ to describe the angle (i.e. time) and distance from the ‘Jack’ the bowl has come to rest. The ‘Jack’ is the centre of the clock; therefore, six o’clock would be in front and twelve o’clock behind, with all other positions being relative to the clock.
- From the information fed back from the ‘Marker’ the player can build up a mental picture of the ‘Head’, knowing exactly the position of each bowl in the ‘Head’, thus allowing the player who cannot see, to be involved and familiar with the finer points of the game. The only minor concession made to the blind is that a fine white centre string runs under the mat and is fixed at both ends. The main object of this centre string is to help the bowler to judge the angle for the amount of green required.
If you feel this sport is for you, don’t hesitate to contact us via email kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org or phone our office mobile 07442 394 472, and we will be happy to help you with the next steps for you to become a bowler.
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KAB Tech Session
We are pleased to announce that, alongside the RNIB, on Monday 18 September, 10:00am – 3:00pm, we are running a session for all who wish to learn how to use any form of accessible technology, ranging from how to use a Screenreader on the computer/phone, to sending emails confidently or even use a new device or app. Whatever you’d like to learn, we are here for you.
Note that this is not a drop/in session, slots have to be booked in advance. Members are invited to book a 1 hour slot, please specify what equipment/device you will bring and what support you would like us to provide.
Slots are as follows:
- 10:00am and 11:00am - Voiceover training.
- 12:00pm - Session teaching useful apps on your smartphone. These apps are: Facetime, Whatsapp, Voice Memos, Reminders, Bus Times and Traineline.
- 13:00pm and 14:00pm - Zoom and Magnification.
For those members who would like to take part in both a training session and the useful apps session, we would encourage them to book their slot for either 11:00am or 13:00pm and let us know which app you’re most interested in learning.
Sessions will be at the Kingston Quaker Centre. For more information or to book, please phone our office mobile on 07442 394472 or email kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org and one of our staff members will be happy to help you.
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Blind Benefits and Concessions:
Blind TV Licence
If you are registered blind (severely sight impaired) then you are entitled to a “Blind Concession TV Licence” which gives you 50 per cent off of the cost of a licence. For more information, do call us on 07442 394472 and we’ll be happy to explain to you how to apply. Or visit the TV licensing website: tinyurl.com/Blind-TV-Licence.
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Creative Cooking: Easy-to-see Measuring Jug
This week we’d like to tell you about the easy-to-see measuring jug, available in the RNIB shop. With a tactile, braille measuring gauge which fits over the rim of the jug, it allows you to measure liquids by touch. The jug is designed to be used with a talking kitchen scale, but can now be useful to anyone who just wants an easy-to-see jug with a tactile measuring feature.
In addition to the bold markings which show millilitres, pints and UK fluid ounces, the measuring gauge has tactile and braille markings for millilitres on one side and fluid ounces on the other. (To change which measure is used, remove the gauge from the clip, rotate it and reattach.)
The tactile measuring gauge is made of high temperature-resistant, food grade polypropylene and is designed to be fitted over the rim of the jug with the gauge on the inside.
To use the gauge, simply place your finger on the mark that represents the measuring capacity you wish to add to the jug and pour the ingredients into the jug until you feel the ingredient touch your finger. Please do not use this method when adding very hot liquids or ingredients.
Both the jug and tactile measuring gauge are microwave- and dishwasher-safe. Available on the RNIB website: tinyurl.com/braille-jug.
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Image courtesy of Lego.com
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An unusual way to learn Braille
Lego is now selling bricks coded with braille to help blind and partially-sighted children learn to read the touch-based alphabet. The Danish toymaker has been providing the specialist bricks, which were tested and developed in partnership with blind organisations around the world, free of charge to a selection of schools and services catering for vision-impaired children since 2020.
From next month, shoppers will be able to buy packs of the bricks, which have studs corresponding to the braille version of numbers and letters with a printed version of the symbol or letter below, to use at home. Lego hopes the initiative will help parents and siblings share in learning braille, and the packs will include ideas for a range of educational games that families can play together.
While some view braille as old-fashioned, given modern technology that can turn written text into spoken word, blind adults say they like the freedom to multitask by reading with their fingers while listening to other things. The European Blind Union (EBU) says knowledge of braille leads to improved spelling, reading and writing, contributing to higher levels of education and better employment opportunities for those who are vision impaired.
Dave Williams, an Inclusive Design Ambassador for the RNIB, which acts for blind and partially-sighted people, says knowledge of Braille helps give those who could not read print independence. “Who would want a greetings card read to you? And there are things like board games, labels and being able to read your kids a bedtime story – that’s hard to do with a computer talking in your ear,” he said.
Williams says software could now convert text from laptops and smartphones into the correct braille code via raised pins. He says learning braille via Lego makes the process less slow and dull, while using a toy “that everybody recognises means it doesn’t feel weird. It breaks down barriers.”
Braille Lego is now available on the Lego website: tinyurl.com/Braille-lego.
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Inspirational KAB Member Story:
John McCarthy
John McCarthy, a truly unstoppable man, is one of our lovely KAB members. He is 95 years old and he has lived in Kingston since 1933. He is mostly blind is due to macular degeneration, which luckily allows him to still see shapes of things but not in great detail. For instance, he cannot see individual pieces of food on a plate so he normally eats using a spoon.
With the help of his sister-in-law, he has managed to live as independently as possible. He lives in a flat on his own and does most activities by himself such as; cooking home-made meals by using the rest of his senses, visiting places, and even uses a Screenreader to shop on Amazon and to read the News. John also really enjoys listening to the Kingston Talking Newspaper.
Despite sometimes suffering from anxiety because he periodically loses sight due to the degenerative nature of his condition, his secret to keep going is to always look at the glass being half full instead of half empty, in other words, he focuses on the sight he still has and the instruments he can use for his daily life instead of concentrating on the sight he has lost. “I believe that something which really helps is to keep having interests, like keeping informed on what is going on in the world and keeping in touch with friends and relatives”, he explains.
Mr McCarthy is an unstoppable gentleman. It is amazing how he does everything himself and uses all technological advances despite his age and condition. We can conclude, therefore, that if he can make his wishes come true despite the obstacles, so can we.
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Are you planning to take part in a Challenge?
Do you have a place in a marathon, cycle race, or other similar event this year? Please consider using your entry to help KAB. Challenge Fundraising can be a very rewarding way to generate income for charities. So, if you have a place in such an event, please let us know. Together we can use your place to fundraise for KAB. Please call us on 0208 605 0060 or 07442 394 472. Or email kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org.
Co-Op Charity of the Year
And another reminder: KAB is one of the three Local Charities of the Year of the Co-Op. For us to get the highest benefit from this, all our members with Co-Op cards can select KAB as their favourite charity. You can do so by either calling 0800 0234 708, choosing option one and asking for help in choosing your favourite charity, or doing so through the Co-op App which can be found by following this link: tinyurl.com/download-co-op-app.
Kingston Lottery
The Kingston Community Lottery is an exciting weekly lottery that raises money for 'good causes' in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and you can now support KAB as your 'good cause', by visiting the following link: tinyurl.com/58fp3jvp.
If you find the link inaccessible, or you do not have internet access, and you would like to play, and support KAB, please contact the office for assistance by calling 0208 605 0060. Tickets cost just £1 a week. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize each week, with a top prize of £25,000. That's a much better chance of winning than the National Lottery, or the Health Lottery. Each ticket has six numbers, and each number is between 0 and 9. There will be a draw every Saturday night when a six-digit winning combination will be picked. Prizes will be given to players with tickets that match the first or last 2 to 6 numbers from the winning combination. All 'good causes' supported by the lottery will benefit the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and its residents. We hope you'll support us in making KAB even better and have some fun along the way!
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