1. While schools are closed Audible are offering books for free. Yes, a lot are aimed at children, but there are still books available for adults too. Or if you’re just a big kid, go crazy. To have a look at what is available simply visit stories.audible.com from any web browser to get started. No log-ins, credit cards or passwords needed. Always meant to pick up a book and start reading again? Well, here’s your opportunity.
2. The BBC has a short 2 minute clip regarding HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). This is the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programs/p05w69pz?xtor=ES-211-%5B30768_PANUK_NLT_12_YTH_BBCweekend_2020_25to30%5D-20200324-%5Bbbcone_howtodohiitathome_factualhealthwellbeing%5D. Could be good if you’ve wanted to get exercising with all your newly found spare time or just need something to do. If you’re interested this came from the BBC series THE TRUTH ABOUT Fitness. Which may still be on BBC iPlayer.
3. Enjoy Yoga? Or fancy giving it a go? Try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=DUUiTEsex48&app=desktop – it is specifically designed for those with Visual Impairments.
4. Learn a new skill or do an online course. If you love learning this could be a great opportunity to have that time to finally sit down and learn something new and/or interesting. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn Welsh? Maybe you want to do that online safeguarding qualification you’ve been meaning to get around to? Well, there are loads of online platforms and smartphone apps to do these things. Get going y’all.
5. Meditate. Some people love to just have a bit of quiet. This could be good for those who find meditation relaxing, or if you just need a bit of ‘you time’ without kids screaming or dogs barking around you. Again, there are loads of apps and websites to help with this. Or even Alexa if you have one. If you have a dot, plus, etc. try asking – “Alexa open guided meditation”. See if you find this one simple and soothing enough.
6. Learn how to play an instrument. Bought that drum set months ago and still not bothered or had time to learn what to do with it? Then look up tutorials on YouTube. YouTube is a great resource for learning skills, listening to podcasts or just listening to what others think about different topics. Check it out.
7. Do you play a sport or partake in a martial art? Why not take the opportunity to either inside (only if it is appropriate people!), or outside in the nice weather practice some skills? Throw a ball around, practice your technique, hone your skills, find a different tactic, etc. Then when the lockdown is over, impress your club-mates.
8. If you love to exercise point-blank. This could be for you: https://britishblindsport.org.uk/stay-in-work-out/. It’s created by British Blind Sport with their hashtag #StayInWorkOut. They will be uploading exercise videos on this site in the hope to keep us all moving and active.
9. Take a breath. Had a stressful few months? Do you go out and when you get home you can’t relax as there’s too much to do? Had some family issues recently? Are you having to constantly be doing things for other people? Then stop! This is YOUR time. Every now and then humans need to just put a pin in it all. We all need to just sit down, put our feet up, and breathe. Don’t take it as being lazy or unproductive. Put the kettle on, put something on the TV, and relax. A time to get away from the hectic ways of life is great to help you destress. Or if you’re more an outdoor person, take a chair out into the garden and bask in the glorious sunshine.
10. Spend time with others. If you live with family or friends. Take the time to get to know them better, or to just spend some general time together. Get a board game out, get a video game out, play rock paper scissors – whatever it is. Use this time to bond and potentially, get competitive! Have a week-long monopoly marathon – if you can handle it!
11. Keeping creative. Here’s a link to a website which encourages people to keep the creativity flowing: https://www.marchnetwork.org/creative-isolation (there are lots of things from stories to origami)
12. If you live alone, have no pets and aren’t really an exercise person. How about catching up with shows you’ve been watching or have been meaning to watch? Why not research something online? Catch up with a friend you’ve not spoken with for years via Skype or Facebook. Or just plain, take the time to clean and tidy. Go through your house, have a proper spring clean. Do all the things you don’t normally have time for or that you purposely procrastinate. It might actually help your mental health by doing some of these things.
13. Get arty with it. Either using things you already have or buy something online that takes your fancy and get creative and crafty. Sketch, build, doodle, colour in, stitch, or sculpt. Either just for fun, or maybe it’s a family or friends special occasion soon – birthdays, anniversaries, Easter or maybe you make your nan a card that says “Happy Just Cos Day”. It may end up brightening yours and someone else’s day.
14. Alexa. Yes, hail be to Alexa. Alexa is full of so many things to do. If you have one, have a look at what skills she can offer you. Most are free but not all so do be careful. From music to quizzes, from games to interesting facts, from the news to jokes. Have a browse through and see what takes your fancy.
15. Check online. Since this is worldwide, there are dozens of organizations and charities taking the time to help keep us all sane. Take a look at some websites. There are many that give you handy hints, interesting things to try, and info on how to survive just generally during this time. Plus, some even are holding telephone social calls, online workshops, and general help and support if you just need someone at the end of the phone to talk to. There are lots out there from RNIB, Sightlife, and LOOK UK. And many many more.

So don’t look at this as OMG I’m so bored. Change your perspective. It really will help

How to create an online free account on Zoom
1. Once ‘Zoom’ is downloaded on your iPhone, you need to sign up for a free account. Once you have located the ‘Zoom’ app on your iPhone, swipe to the right 5 times till you hear sign up. Double tap on this. Alternatively, if you swipe to the right again, you will hear ‘sign in’. You can then sign in using your Facebook account, google account or SSO.
2. Once you double tapped on ‘sign up’, you will then need to type in your email address, first name and last name. Then keep on swiping to the right till you hear sign up. You then may be sent a confirmation email which you will need to click on the link to verify your email.

Or

Once you double tapped on ‘sign in’. Swipe to the right to the account you would like to sign in with and then double tap on this. Depending on which account you use to sign in, there may be additional steps you will need to complete to complete the setup of your account.

Host Group Meetings on Zoom
1. Once you are in the ‘Zoom’ app, and have signed up/signed in you will be taken to a page called ‘Meet and Chat’.
2. Keep on swiping to the right till you hear ’Schedule’. Double tap on this to select the option.
3. You will be taken to a page called ‘Schedule Meeting’ keep on swiping to the right till you hear the details of your Zoom Meeting. If you need to edit the meeting details then double tap on it to change it.
4. Once you are happy with all the meeting details. Place your finger at the top right corner of the screen and you will hear ‘Done’ double tap.
5. You will then be taken to ‘New Event’ which is on the ‘Calendar’ app of your iPhone. Keep swiping to the right to check through all the event details. If you need to edit the meeting details then double tap on it to change it. If happy, place your finger on the right corner of the screen and you will hear ‘Add’. Double tap on this.
6. Once you have scheduled in the meeting, place your finger to the bottom left corner of the screen and then keep on swiping to the right till you hear ‘Meetings’. Double tap on this to select the option.
7. This will then take you to the ‘Meetings’ page. Keep on swiping to the left till you hear ‘send invitation button’. Double tap on this to select this option. It will then make a sound which is a notification. On the notification the options to send out the meeting invitation is ‘Send Message’, ‘Send email’ and ‘Copy to clipboard’. Swipe right and double tap on the method in which you would like to send the invitation.

PLEASE NOTE: There are other ways to host a Zoom Meeting but I feel this is the easiest way of hosting a Zoom Meeting with Voice Over. For more information on the different ways of hosting a Zoom Meeting, please visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362993-Getting-Started-with-iOS

Join Group Meetings on Zoom
1. Once ‘Zoom’ is downloaded on your iPhone, you need to wait for the person running the Zoom meeting to send you a link to the meeting.
2. Next, make sure you are on the home screen on your iPhone by pressing the home button on your iPhone. If you have an iPhone XS or higher, slide your finger away from you to get to the home screen. You should feel a beat and hear a sound when this happens. PLEASE NOTE: If you have set up Face ID or a passcode then you will need to go through this to get you onto the home screen.
3. Once you are on the home screen, keep on swiping your finger to the right till you hear ‘Mail’. Double tap on this to select and open the app.
4. Keep on swiping to the right till you hear the name of the person that will be setting up the Zoom Meeting (known as host). You will know when you are on this email if you keep listening. You will hear the subject of the email, followed by a small content of the email. Double tap on this to access the full email.
5. If the link has come via email locate and select this email. Keep on swiping to the right till you hear ‘Join Zoom Meeting’. Swipe to the right again and you will hear the link starting with http:zoom.us/ followed by a unique set of numbers. This just means that the meeting is its own and no one can access it unless they are sent that specific link.
6. Double tap on the link. This will then direct you straight to the meeting.
7. If you arrive at the meeting early then, if you keep swiping to the right you will hear the details of that particular meeting. Don’t worry, just wait until the host of the meeting lets you in.
8. Once you are in the meeting, swipe to the right till you hear ‘enable internet audio’. Double tap on this.
9. Now you are able to take part in the meetings and others will be able to hear you.

Written By Kyla Smith

Adam kicked the evening’s discussions off by introduced Pride Cymru and their annual event, focusing on the accessibility features on offer. Throughout the Pride Cymru weekend, there are volunteers on hand specifically for any access requirements. There was a mini-quiz which involved identifying the various flags of the LGBTQ+ community and what they stand for, whilst highlighting the importance of being an ally. By doing this the discussion surrounding identity and intersectionality began. These discussions inevitably led quite nicely into a conversation about internet dating from the perspective of someone living with sight loss. For many, one of the inner turmoil’s of internet dating is whether to disclose their sight loss or not. For some, it was quite imperative to disclose such information before a first date, but for others, this was not the case.

To break up the discussions, we had a hilarious and relatable standup set from Jake Sawyers. His set included the ins and outs of being sight impaired but also identifying as a gay man.

The evening’s discussions educated those in the room who were unaware of the role Pride Cymru has, the events that they run and how diverse the LGBT+ community is. Identifying as someone with sight loss came up within the discussion, which included how this could interconnect with other disabilities. Overall, the evening contained enlightening discussions.

Joining the regulars this month, we had two special guest speakers; Chris George who runs VI tennis and Jane McCann from Sight Life. They led the discussion surrounding the mechanisms, intricacies and also accessibility elements of several sports.

Chris introduced the group to VI tennis, explaining how it works and the categorization of the sport. For example, Chris explained that someone who fitted in to the category of a player with either little to no sight would be categorized as B1. The categories determine the number of bounces the players are allowed to have. For instance, in B1, the ball would be allowed to bounce a maximum of 3 times. Alongside this, Chris described the ball itself. It’s a sponge ball with a rattle in it. As a result, the sport has to be played on an indoor court. For those of us who had never heard of VI tennis, it was incredibly helpful to understand the mechanisms and intricacies of the sport.

The other discussion during the meeting was a more general conversation about VI sport led by Jane McCann. Introducing the other sporting clubs available in and around the Cardiff area we heard about VI Rugby, which was quite a hot topic as a few of the group attended the weekly sessions. These sessions are run by the Cardiff Blues Community Foundation. Based in the Arms Parks, many of those that participated said that the accessible location made it a lot easier to attend training. Jane also spoke about the potential prospect of a Ju-Jitsu taster session in the New Year… what this space.

Transport and getting to venues became quite a substantial topic regarding accessing sport. A discussion around how to ensure coaching staff receives adequate training could be implemented. A possible suggestion was that coaching staff from various sports attended a session of another VI sport, there would be an opportunity to share knowledge and skills. But there would also be greater awareness of other sports that are doing on.

Once all the mince pies and Christmas cupcakes had been demolished, and the teas had been drunk. To conclude the meeting, there is a real appetite from those in the group to participate in sport.

Our next Cardiff STORM event will be held at Bigmoose Coffee Co on the 16th January,

Written by
Amy Gifford

As usual we were asked to create two short sketches, one for the beginning of the day and one for the end.  This year our themes were “There’s nothing more we can do” and “What the Social Model of Disability means to me”.

We used a sketch we’d previously written for another conference for the morning sketch “There’s nothing more we can do”.  This short performance demonstrated the positive effect having access to all the services that are available and the negative effect when you don’t know what support is out there.  This highlighted while for some there isn’t a lot more that can be done for other individuals there is a lot more needed to allow them to be confident and independent people.

Our second sketch at the end of the day looked at “What the Social Model of Disability means to me”. For me this was an interesting topic but a hard one to find a creative way of expressing the opinions needed.  We began the sketch by quoting the definition of Disabled and Disability, while also explaining what the Medical Model and Social Model means. We wanted to demonstrate that despite the Social Model being the preferred stance the Medical Model still has a place. Through a comical scene replicating a boxing match with the medical and social model as the fighters, we were able to see where the strength of the Social Model lies. We ended the sketch by the four actors, in this case myself, Jake, Amy and Tafsila explaining what the social model means to us as individuals.

Both sketches were well received and the feedback we got was very positive all round.

Our most recent Storm event was held the last week of May in cardiff.  Our event was focused around Transport and Transitions. We held the event in the WCB Office Meeting room and had guests from Cardiff Bus, Transport for Wales and Guide Dogs.  They all came to talk about the different accessibility services that are available to their customers. Carys from Cardiff Bus spoke about they’re talking buses, the use of the Cardiff Bus app and Concessionary passes. Geraint from TFW shared the plans for the future development of the trains and stations, the use of the orange wallet and what accessibility options are currently available to passengers at the moment.  This includes, discounted rail fayre, assistance while travelling and information that is available online. Nathan Foy from Guide Dogs Cymru also joined us for the meeting and was able to give information one what work is being done to campaign and raise awareness of issues around accessibility. He also asked for feedback of peoples experiences good or bad whilst using public transport be that buses or trains. This information will then be feed back to the accessibility panel.

Unfortunately because the session ran longer than we’d expected as a lot of discussion arose from the information that was being provided we only had time to have a brief conversations around transition and peoples experiences and stories of this.  We will follow up with people who had stories they wanted share in the future to collect a series of their experiences.

We hope to run similar events in other areas of Wales.  

If you have any experiences or stories around transport or transition you would like to share please get in touch with us at StormWCB.  

Our latest Storm Event was at the end of February with our Cardiff group and was held in the Public Health Wales building.  

The events theme was Sex and Sexual Health and we had a couple of things happening during the event.  To start Mared and I ran a quiz to see how much people really knew and then showed a informative video about consent called the cuppa tea analogy.  This was followed by 3 people from Cardiff YMCA who talked through all the different safe sex and contraceptive options, allowing everyone a chance to see them all close up.  They also gave everyone the challenge of putting a condom on a model properly. We also had two members of staff from the clinic in Cardiff talking through the process when you visit the clinic.  A really valuable discussion started around accessibility in the clinic’s, we spoke about things like making the signage more accessible, how could we tackle the issue if people can’t see the signs and the possibility of making the forms large print or digital.  

Lastly, we were joined by Arielle and her colleague from Promo Cymru who wanted to work with the group to collect feedback on the material that they use ot promote their Meic service.  

Mared and i felt this was a really important theme to cover and inform young people about.  We firstly had Marcia Morgan from Public Health Wales come in a talk and discuss with the group about their Accessible Standards Information Project that they’d been running.  This project was focused on making doctors surgery more accessible to people with sensory loss and improving patient experience. This is something they are continuing to work on and were keen to get people’s opinion on their experiences with surgeries. Following on from Marcia we had Emma Richards from Sight Cymru come in and talk about their Emotional Support Mental Health Project that they ran and the ECLO (Eye Care Liaison Officer) service.

Sharon Beatty an Accredited Low Vision Practitioner came with a suitcase full of Low Vision Aid to explain to the group what the Low Vision Service was, how it could benefit them and what you need to do to get assessed.  All the equipment was laid out so everyone could get up close to have a look and try out the sort of products that are available. Lastly Alastair Sill from Cardiff Institute of the Blind came to talk about his role as a connector and specifically the hard work he’s been doing to make Hub Centres in Cardiff accessible to people with Sight Loss.

This session was really informative and very valuable for learning about the services available and work that’s being done to make healthcare accessible to people who are Vision Impaired.

Keep an eye out on the website or in our next Storm Newsletter about other events we run and what we get up to.

Check out our employment Sketch we made for the 2016 Welsh Eye Care Conference.  It utilises the experiences young visually impaired people have had in their attempts at gaining employment.

Performers

Megan John

Mared Jarman

Jake Sawyers

Benjamin Richards