[access-uk] Re: Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council (From News Shopper)
- From: "Damon Rose" <damon.rose@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:54:50 -0000
Those friends of yours who pay nothing, do they have savings? Prospects? An
education? Ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Ability to start
on the lowest rung with unskilled manual jobs like bar work or stacking
shelves? It's a very different environment out there for blind people who
perhaps should have provision more than just a roof over the head but also
ability to grow and self develop in the broadest way possible.
Much as I'd like to debate this though, it's rather going off topic. It's an
allied discussion to provision of talking books but am sure Barry doesn't want
long rambling monologues from me about socialisation and 80% unemployment of
blind people, low and tough prospects for many of us, etc.
And we should remember that this is against the backdrop of benefits being
potentially taken away. So taking away the ability to self develop and educate
yourself is not helpful right now. Access to Work is also to be cut, this could
make it harder for those of us who work to either shift jobs or continue with
the present job depending on your circumstances.
Hark me coming over as a hard bitten socialist But indeed I do wish things were
as simple as you are suggesting.
...Damon
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Ibrahim Gucukoglu
Sent: 12 January 2011 11:06
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council (From
News Shopper)
Hi Damon.
OK, I'm going to take your points one by one here, so scroll down to see my
replies.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Damon Rose" <damon.rose@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 9:14 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council (From
News Shopper)
> Joe public does get free books, Ibrahim. That's the root of the anger and
> disappointment mentioned here. There is an amazing library system out
> there which most visually impaired people can't access or take anything
> like full advantage of.
In Peterborough where I live, there is a significant section of our library
devoted to audio books on all formats, cd, cassette and playaway. I might
not have as significant a selection to choose from as say the RNIB offers,
but the collection is fairly substantial as they have affiliations with some
of the biggest and most well known of the audio publishers, in fact a
certain publisher doesn't supply its titles to RNIB but they are available
through our library service. Membership is free and disabled people dont
pay to loan titles.
> Do you pay council tax? If so, you're paying for lots of people to be able
> to access libraries except yourself. Many feel that there is an important
> education, cultural knowledge and leisure time issue at stake here. Why
> should blind people have to pay twice for library services? They're
> amongst the poorest people in Britain.
The poorest people in Britain? Why do you think the government spends
billions of pounds of its budget every year on benefits? These benifits are
precisely what support the vast majority of blind and parcially sighted
people, in fact there are many people I know who pay virtually nothing
towards their living costs as its all paid for by the state. These people
can afford the latest technology, so your suggestion that we are the poorest
in Britain is laughable, in fact I'm laughing right now.
> And you should note that not everyone can afford 70 pounds or at least it
> would easily slip down the priority list of a lot of people because it's a
> not inconsiderable sum.
>
> Do councils understand the impact that this will bring?
>
> My grandma, who died a year ago, had gone blind in the last ten years of
> her life. She spent most of her last ten years plugged into a talking
> book. Her life revolved around them. I have since learnt that this is very
> much the case for a lot of elderly blind people.
>
> So, education, tax, cultural learning, leisure, self development all
> aside, talking books are a lifeline to many, quite literally. I'd argue it
> was a big part of what kept my grandma alive and happy.
>
> It's inevitable that talking book itself will lose money as a result of
> this. Lots of blind people won't be prepared to pay. This means that those
> who do pay will find themselves with a lesser service in the long run as
> less books will be recorded. If indeed the service is sustainable. Seems a
> shame this is happening after RNIB's big talking book fundraising and
> adverrtising push at the end of last year.
>
> ...Damon
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Ibrahim Gucukoglu
> Sent: 12 January 2011 07:56
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council
> (From News Shopper)
>
> Hi.
>
> I totally agree here. I cant see what all the fuss is about. Never at
> any time in my life as far as I can remember have I ever had talking books
> paid for by my local council or charity, be it public or private. Talking
> books as supplied by the RNIB is only £69 per year, a significant subsidy
> when you consider they loan you a player and potentially dozens of books
> per year. If you want to read, you should be prepared to pay for it as
> reading is not a human right and even if it were, the council in most
> boroughs provide their own library services with books on cd, cassette and
> even playaway as is the case in Peterborough where I live. The fact that
> some blind people are either too lazy or just plane ignorant of these
> services is no excuse not to ask them, for all they have to do is get off
> their asses or pick up the phone and ask. In an age where most young
> blind people and even a large majority of the middle aged and elderly have
> access to technology of some sort or othe
> r or know people who have access to said technology, the information about
> service provision in your local borough is readily available online and
> details of how to access these services is often posted in libraries and
> town halls. For heaven sake, wake up everyone, smell the roses and start
> putting your hand in your pocket and paying for things you want or that
> you feel you need. Joe public doesn't get free books, so why the heck
> should we.
>
> All the best, Ibrahim.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David <mailto:n.weston42@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 7:36 AM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council
> (From News Shopper)
>
> Hi,
>
> I would like to say that for that the last forty years or more I have had
> to pay for my equipment and also for my talking books. So far as I can see
> their is no change for me, or is Hertfordshire unique?
>
> David Weston.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Gordon Keen
> Sent: 11 January 2011 09:38
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council (From
> News Shopper)
>
>
>
>
> Here we go then, the big society - my arse!
>
>
> Site Logo<http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/resources/images/1000734/>
>
>
> Charity for blind hits out at Bromley council
>
>
> 1:18pm Monday 10th January 2011
>
> By David Mills
>
> A CHARITY which represents the blind and visually impaired has hit out at
> Bromley Council <http://www.bromley.gov.uk/Default.bromley> for
> temporarily suspending equipment provision.
>
> Services which include the talking books, as well as equipment such as
> walking canes and liquid level indicators, are all under review by the
> council.
>
> Kent Association for the Blind (KAB), which has a sight centre in Blyth
> Road, Bromley, will be pressuring the council to continue providing
> funding.
>
> Dick Groves, aged 65, of South View, Bromley, said: "Visual impairment is
> the most feared of all sensory impairments. Provision in Bromley is
> extremely patchy."
>
> Mr Groves, who is blind, said: "This is a classic example of the way in
> which action has been taken without consultation and without information
> being given to one of the weakest sections of society and least able to
> respond."
>
> Kent Association for the Blind's Bromley
> branch<http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/resources/images/1536532/>
>
> A KAB spokesman said: "We are currently in contact with our service users
> to explain the service has been temporarily suspended by the London
> borough of Bromley.
>
> "We are sharing other providers of these services such as the Calibre
> audio library, a completely free service, to ensure users are not going to
> go without talking books.
>
> "We at KAB are going to be making representations to the council to press
> the case that it would be more cost effective to continue to fund
> provision because we believe withdrawing that service represents a real
> risk to people's safety and their ability to get out and about.
>
> "The costs that could be generated by injury would far outweigh the cost
> to the council of providing equipment."
>
> A council spokesman said: "We have a strong commitment to providing
> talking books in our libraries with no plans to cut the service and we
> will continue to make special concessions to waive charges to people with
> a registered visual impairment.
>
> "We have however moved from cassettes to CDs and downloadable material
> over the years but we still keep a large collection of older cassettes in
> our Home Library Service, which supports customers who are physically
> unable to get into a branch.
>
> "There are also free national talking book service and as well as our
> library service we will be assisting people to access the talking books
> from the national Calibre service together with the equipment provided by
> the British Wireless for the Blind Fund.
>
> "To make sure we make the best use of our resource we wanted to avoid
> duplication and whilst we no longer fund the KAB talking books service,
> KAB is pointing people to our library and to these free services.
>
> "In terms of equipment supplied by the KAB on our behalf such as portable
> lamps, talking clocks and mobility aids, again we want to make sure we use
> resources as efficiently as possible and have suspended this KAB while we
> carry out a review.
>
> "However we do continue to fund KAB to provide assessment and
> rehabilitation services for people with visual impairments."
>
> Back <javascript:history.go(-1);>
>
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>
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>
>
>
>
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