Work placement with RNIB

Part of my university degree is to complete a six-week placement at the end of your second year. With my degree being in psychology and child development, it will come as no surprise that most of the cohort end up in schools or nurseries. However, after thinki§ng about the career I would like after university, and looking at the experience I already had, I felt something a little different would be more appropriate.

This is where RNIB came in. The charity support blind and partially sighted people in many ways and I had worked on campaigns with them in the past. I felt doing a placement with RNIB would allow me to be on the other side of the charity, as well as support others in a more journalism kind of way. By doing so it would mean I would be moving slightly away from psychology, moving away from children and just get more experience in that field in general. After being in touch it was decided I would work two weeks in each role: connect, fundraising and campaigns.

For the most part, these roles did stay in their two-week blocks, but certain things came up which meant I switched around, just so I could experience more of the exciting parts! The team were all so lovely and they taught me more then they probably realise. Aside from learning to appreciate penguin biscuits, where the best lunch places are and that some office chairs are just better than others, I learnt a lot. This placement has confirmed that this is more like the future career I would like, and I was given the chance to have such a varied workload.

Working with other people who were blind and partially sighted reminded me that things will be okay. It doesn’t matter what happens visually, I can still have a job that I love and can make things work. It can also be so nice to just discuss things through with someone who is in the same boat. This could be public attitudes, using a cane or the technology we use on a computer. Even a Braille test thrown in there for good measure.

Throughout my six weeks I learnt a lot about the spectrum which is sight loss. Like any other disability you can never know enough, even if you have that condition. I personally love having a greater understanding and this also came from listening to the experience of others and the things they have faced and overcome. On the other hand, there was a moment during placement that I got a bit upset. In training we were discussing the impact of having a visual impairment and a few things hit home. It isn’t every day that the impacts are literally listed right before your eyes, but yet again this is why it was the right placement for myself. They understand that people are at different stages of their sight loss journey and it affects everyone differently.

So, what did I do for the connect part of my placement?

I thoroughly enjoyed getting involved with the community, writing blog posts and getting people to attend an employment event in Leeds. Yet my standout moment has to be a 20-minute conversation I had with an old lady about her Daisy Player. The aim of the conversation was to hear about her experiences and write it up as a short post which would be used as part of RNIB turning 150 years old. A Daisy Player is an accessible CD player which can be used by people who are blind or have a visual impairment, most people use these when accessing talking books which is a service run by RNIB that send out audio books free. This woman spoke about how a Daisy Player had changed her life, allowing her to continue her love of reading despite her sight loss. It became evident that she didn’t leave the house anymore and a delivery of a book was a major highlight. She praised RNIB for their service and commented on how easy the system was to use. She often read Braille books during the day, but this could become tiring and takes a lot longer than listening to an audio book. Therefore, having an audio book could mean she could listen to it while doing jobs around the house or while in bed. Having that seemingly short chat was extremely rewarding and hearing personal experiences just highlights how vital these services are.

A fundamental part of a charity being successful and being able to provide services is fundraising. I loved the chance to be part of a bucket collection and raise money to support the people I had previously worked with. It was lovely to see so many generous people who gave money to RNIB and being able to talk to them about something I am so passionate about. During my time stood there with a bucket we were able to categorise people into different kinds of fundraisers:

• Avoider: These kind of people will do absolutely everything in their power not to look at you. They will look everywhere but will not make eye contact with yourself. It is like looking at me will mean they have to give money, which obviously is not the case!
• Smiler: These people are very sweet and silently thank you for what you are doing, often with a nod of appreciation. I like these people.
• Apologetic: This category of people will apologise for not having any change or will apologise for not giving you enough. In the spirit of Tesco, every little helps! Any donation is greatly appreciated by the RNIB and there is no need to apologise.
• Chain reaction: They stop right in front of you, get their purse out and kindly donate money. Others see they have stopped (and block the way out) so they do the same, which can set off a pretty good chain reaction!
• Teaser: You saw me, unfortunately you probably wanted to be an avoider but wasn’t quick enough. In turn you fiddle with your pockets all the way up to us, sometimes stopping in front of us, but then pull out your car keys at the last second.
• Surprise: These people want to give money but don’t want to have credit for it. They will walk past you then come back and put money in the bucket while you aren’t looking! By the time you turn around to thank them, they’ve gone!

I am not saying everyone should give money, these are merely observations. It was interesting to be on the other side of this process and be able to raise some money myself while I was there. Another part of fundraising can be giving talks. I got the chance to help deliver one of these talks to a business who were wanting to fundraise for RNIB in the future. As you can imagine, I loved the chance to raise a bit more awareness and answer general questions about sight loss and the work that RNIB do.

Now for all things campaign wise! Instantly I loved the concept of seeing a problem and being able to campaign for change. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much interaction this meant with the general public. As a result, it was humbling to be able to support many people bring about the change they wanted to see, knowing the positive impact it would have for those who are blind or partially sighted. One project was an older couple who wanted an accessible crossing, so they could continue to be independent and safe in their local area. It was things like this that made me realise how much work there is still to do, but also how you go about getting things changed. A big focus at the time was the street charter and how we wanted different cities to adopt this charter. By doing so it would mean the council would work on making things more accessible for disabled people, despite that sounding logical and fairly simple to get, it is harder than it sounds!

Campaigning can also mean attending meetings and focus groups. One council were completely redoing their town centre which mean a lot of things were changing. To my pleasant surprise the council and construction workers had teamed up with a group of blind and partially sighted people who regularly used the town centre. They met regularly and were told about the upcoming changes, including where the new routes would be. It may sound like common sense to update individuals with a visual impairment about major changes, even if they are temporary, but this normally is not the case. Their independence was never affected, and construction workers were made aware on how to support these people if it was needed- an excellent example of how the council and people with a visual impairment can work together.

During my last week of placement, I got the chance to go down to London to conduct some interviews. This was all focused round an employment event in Leeds, with the aim to seek out blind and partially sighted individuals who had careers they wanted to talk about. In preparation it was my job to research these people and come up with questions to ask them, talk about journalism experience!

When down in London I got the chance to interview Lord Chris Holmes, Ellie Southwood and David Blunkett. Talk about a day to remember. The interviews took place at the House of Lords or at RNIB’s head office, which in itself was so exciting. I knew it was going to be a great day but was blown away by the responses of these individual’s when disclosing their experiences in employment and their advice to other blind and partially sighted people. The fascinating thing about being the interviewer is that you have no idea what will happen. You have prepared questions, but it is the answers that are the real gold, it is the answers that leave you touched and engrossed in that moment. The whole experience was so uplifting, and I hope the listeners of RNIB Radio will enjoy the podcast series as much as I did. However, the standout moment has to be sat in the House of Lords and asking David Blunkett what his house at Hogwarts would be. For those who are interested, he said Gryffindor or Slytherin.

I know for a fact this has only scraped the surface about what I did on placement. It is amazing how much can be done in six weeks, and even documenting it as I went along didn’t really condense it! Thank you to the Yorkshire and Humber RNIB team who took me on and showed me all there is to know. I hope to continue supporting the work they do and just writing this post has made me realise how much I miss it!

~ Chloe x