THE MAGPIE NEWS. Contact Details: Post: NNAB Magpie Road Norwich NR3 1JH Telephone: (01603) Website:

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1 THE MAGPIE NEWS The Quarterly Newsletter from The Norfolk & Norwich Association for the Blind Contact Details: Post: NNAB Magpie Road Norwich NR3 1JH Telephone: (01603) Website: Issue 68 August 2011 Summer is here But it s falling into Autumn If you would prefer to receive your Magpie News in a different format please let us know. We can supply it in the following: Large Print, CD, , Braille or memory stick 1

2 Contents 1 Annual General Meeting 21 Great Yarmouth News 2 Staff News 22 New Community Workers 3 NNAB Holidays 23 Sports Activities 4 IT Classes 24 Fencing 5 Equipment Centre News 25 Ski Sessions 6 New Equipment in Display 26 Enjoy Walking? 7 The Trekker Breeze 27 Sports Programme 8 Closure Dates 28 Fundraising News 9 Exhibition Dates 29 Unwanted Jewellery 10 Trekker Breeze goes county 30 Collection Dates wide 11 A monster Equipment and Low 31 Items for sale Vision Exhibition 12 Youngeyes 32 Digital Switchover 13 Your comments are welcome 33 Norwich Macular Group 14 Cheques 15 NNAB Leisure Activities 16 NNAB Theatre Group 17 Future Theatre Trips 18 Arts@Bradbury 19 The NNAB writing Circle 20 The NNAB Heritage Group Every effort is made to ensure that the content of this newsletter is correct however we cannot be held responsible for errors and omissions. Goods and services featured do not carry any recommendation from The Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind. If you should inadvertently receive more than one copy of this newsletter please pass it on to friends, doctors surgeries etc. The Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind, Magpie Road, Norwich NR3 1JH Tel: Fax: office@nnab.org.uk Website: Also at: King s Lynn Tel: and Great Yarmouth Tel: Charity Number

3 1.Annual General Meeting This year s Annual General Meeting takes place on Tuesday 11 th October 2011 in The Bradbury Activity Centre in Beckham Place starting at a.m. with coffee available from 9.45 a.m. Our Guest Speaker is Mr Hugh Tusting who will be talking about the Norfolk Broads and their history. Everyone is welcome to attend. 2.Staff News In the past few months we have said a fond farewell to two of our wonderful Community Workers; after many years of service both Thelma Lowe and Dianne Sculfer did their last home visits. They will both be greatly missed by all their clients and all the staff at NNAB. We wish them both well for the future. Their replacements will be introducing themselves later in this issue. 3.NNAB Holidays There are still places available on the Turkey & Tinsel holiday in Great Yarmouth on 7th - 11th November 2011 if anyone is interested. Please contact Donna Hewitt on for more details 4. IT Classes The IT Classes are offering new beginner courses in September The courses will include an introduction to using your computer and creating documents, s and the internet. Each class lasts for one and a half hours and as we only have three students in each class; we can give you lots of attention. Classes are free of charge and are offered by Norfolk Adult Education, a 2 charge is made for tea/coffee and the running costs of the Activity Centre. If you would like to join a beginner s course please contact Chris Maule- Oatway at the Equipment Centre in the Bradbury Activity Centre on

4 5.News from the Equipment and Information Centres For information about equipment, events and general enquiries please contact Dorothy or Chris on New equipment on display We have added two more hand held portable video magnifiers to our display in the Norwich Centre: The minimax from Optima weighing only 5oz, it has just three easily accessible buttons, magnifies up to x7 with a high contrast display. Price: 295 The FarView from Optelec offers close-up and distance viewing capabilities, in a stylish and ultra-compact design. It can also be connected to a VGA monitor to access a larger screen. Price: 1195 From Optelec we also have the ClearReader + Talking Scanner. This is compact and portable. An integrated rechargeable battery gives 5 hours continuous use. It is easy to use and with high quality stereo sound. On display at Norwich and King s Lynn Centres. Price: 1995 In the daily living display areas at Norwich and Great Yarmouth we have the Dual Voice Single Button Clock from Cobolt. This can be carried in your pocket or in a carry pouch. You can select a male or female voice to speak the time in either 12 hour or 24 hour format and also to announce the time of day, i.e. in the morning. We are now showing a new Easy to See Cordless Phone Price: at Kings Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth Centres. Come and try a new magnifier ideal for crossword fans The Scribolux magnifiers 2.8x and has an integral light. Price: The Trekker Breeze This very exciting Talking Sat Nav for vision-impaired people can be experienced at the Norwich Centre. Chris will be pleased to demonstrate it to you, best to let him know when you are coming. There will also be one on the Mobile Centre with Richard during August at Dereham, Litcham, North Elmham and Thetford. If you have any queries about equipment please contact the Norwich Equipment Centre. 4

5 8. Equipment Centre closures during 2011 On the day of our AGM this year October 11 th, the Cromer Equipment Centre will be closed and the Norwich Centre will be closed between 10.30am and 12.30pm. 9. Equipment and Information Exhibitions August 16 th 10am -3pm At the Norwich Equipment Centre, Associated Optical will be showing a range of magnifiers and Low Vision Aids. Week commencing August 22 nd Enhanced Vision Services and Forcetenco will be at the following equipment centres; Monday August 22 nd Norwich 10am 3pm Tuesday August 23 rd Cromer 10am 2pm Wednesday August 24 th Kings Lynn 10am 3pm Thursday August 25 th Great Yarmouth 10am 2pm Tuesday September 6 th Optelec, Dolphin and Calibre Audio Library will be at: Breckland Equipment and Information Centre 10am - 3pm The Wayland Business Centre Wayland House, High Street Watton Norfolk, IP25 6AR 10. The Trekker Breeze goes county wide Following the recent very successful demonstration by Humanware of the Trekker Breeze at The Bradbury Activity Centre, the company will be visiting the Great Yarmouth Centre on September 29 th and the Kings Lynn Centre on September 30 th. They will also display other low vision products, including the myreader2 and the VictorReader Stream. 5

6 11. A Monster Equipment and Low Vision Exhibition At the Bradbury Activity Centre, Magpie Road Norwich Monday September 5 th am 6pm Joining us will be 13 major UK and international suppliers who will be demonstrating equipment and technology to support learning, daily living and independence skills. Please join us, it will be well worth a visit and you will most welcome. The Coffee Shop will be open all day, so you can have a coffee and cake and browse to your hearts content. For more information about any of these exhibitions please contact Dorothy or Chris in the Norwich Equipment Centre YoungEyes Our YoungEyes Summer Fun Day this year will be held on Saturday September 3 rd in The Bradbury Centre when Pirates will be on board. We are looking forward to welcoming the children and their families to play games, explore music in workshops with Community Music East, enjoy craft, sing songs, write stories and decorate biscuits all with a pirate theme. It should be an exciting day, dressing up is a must but no parrots allowed unless securely attached to a shoulder! For further details please contact Dorothy. 13. Your comments are always welcome If you have any comments about our service or would like to suggest a special interest day that you would like us to arrange, please do contact me and let me know. dorothybowen@nnab.co.uk Cheques We are pleased to announce that plans to scrap the use of cheques from 2018 have been dropped after the Uk Payments Council admitted there was no better paper alternative. 6

7 15. NNAB Leisure Activities For further details on Leisure Activates or to buy Theatre tickets please contact Mark or Simon on or We also run a mailing list in either large print or for the various leisure groups and would be pleased to add anyone s name to the lists. 16. NNAB Theatre Group In conjunction with the Theatre Royal Norwich the NNAB is pleased to announce we have tickets for the following shows, which will contain full audio description throughout the show and behind the scenes touch tours prior to curtain up. David Hayes stars in The Madness of George III By Alan Bennett.an epic production which combines drama, politics and humour into a vivid theatrical portrait of English history. Saturday 24 th September, 2011 at 2:30, with a touch tour scheduled for 1:30 Tickets are including transport from the NNAB Top Hat Fred and Gingers greatest Hollywood dance music alive on the stage for the very first time! Saturday 5 th November, 2011 at 2:30 With a touch tour scheduled for 1:30. Tickets are 25 including transport from the NNAB 7

8 17. Future Theatre Trips Future performances include Grease Saturday 3 rd December 2011 Sleeping Beauty Pantomime Saturday 14 th January 2012 Legally Blonde Saturday 3 rd March 2012 Tickets and timings will be available closer to the date. 18. Arts@Bradbury The Friday morning arts sessions will be starting back after the summer break on Friday 2 nd September, from every Friday until 9 th December. The sessions take place in the Arts Studio at the Bradbury Activity Centre, Norwich and only cost 2 (coffee included in the price). Why not come along and meet volunteers Julie, Sylvie and Alice to discover the wide variety of Arts activities undertaken in our Arts Studio. Discover your creative talents and find out how arts activities can be accessible for those with sight difficulties. 19. The NNAB Creative Writing Circle We are really delighted to welcome two new volunteers, Jonathan Garrard and Maggie Wilkinson, to facilitate this group; they would be pleased to see new members each month. The Writing Circle meets on the third Tuesday in the month from pm in The Bradbury Activity Centre, Norwich. Each session costs 2. Why not come along and discover a world of poetry and writing. Future meeting dates are Tuesday 16 th August, 20 th September and 18 th October. 20. The NNAB Heritage Group Recently the NNAB Heritage Group has undertaken a number of very interesting specially arranged visits to Carrow House in Norwich and Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. Our ongoing visits to the Costumes and Textiles Museum at Carrow House in Norwich have given groups an opportunity to discover through handling sessions the kinds of clothing and textiles worn by people in Edwardian times. Items included classic country clothing, shoes and underwear to feathered fans. 8

9 Further visits are planned to the Costumes and Textiles collection on 13th September, 13th October, 3rd November and 1st December. All sessions are on a Thursday morning and will be held at the Shirehall Study Centre. 21. Great Yarmouth Are you feeling lonely or bored at home? If so, there are many NNAB activities going on in the Great Yarmouth area. These include walks, bowling, bowls, sailing, audio book club, craft club and computer classes. If you would like to try out something new and meet new people, do contact Liz or Wendy at the Great Yarmouth Equipment Centre on There is often help with transport for these activities and no previous experience is needed. You can call in to the Centre, at 12 Hall Quay, any morning, between 10am and 1pm, except Tuesdays, or drop in to the coffee mornings on the 2nd Friday of every month. 22. New Community Workers Hello my name is Sarah Pawsey and I am the new Community Worker for the South Breckland area. I have already met some of you on home visits, or at the various equipment centres, social groups, activities and audio book clubs that I have so far had the pleasure to attend. I come from a nursing background, and am thoroughly enjoying my new role with the NNAB. I hope to meet many more of you in the near future so, if you would benefit either from a home visit, or you would like details of any of the social groups and activities, please give me a call on or I am available at the Breckland Equipment Centre which is held at Wayland House, High Street, Watton from 10 till on the on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month. Linda Homer has taken over from Thelma Lowe in the North Norfolk area of the county. Linda has been working for the Association for some time now in the equipment centres, but has decided to spread her wings further into the community. Linda can be found at the Equipment and Information Centre in Cromer at Merchant s Place on Tuesday mornings between pm. 9

10 23. Sports Activities Don t forget that you can find out all the latest information on NNAB activities at our Website: Our sports activities continue to be very popular; however we would love to see more people joining us. So, if there is anything listed in this supplement that you think you might like to try, or an activity that you would be interested in that we do not currently offer, please do not hesitate to contact Rebecca on rebeccashubrook@nnab.org.uk 24. Fencing FREE taster session There will be the opportunity to come and give the sport of fencing a try at the Bradbury Activity Centre on Tuesday 30 th August. The session will be run by John Croxon of the Norfolk Fencing Club and will take place from 2pm 4pm. All equipment will be provided and absolutely no experience is required. To book your place at the session, please contact Rebecca at the NNAB. If the session proves to be a success then a course of six lessons will be arranged starting in October. 25. Ski Sessions at the Norfolk Snowsports Club, Trowse Have you ever fancied having a go at skiing? We have the opportunity to offer a series of group lessons at the artificial ski slope in Trowse. All sessions will be conducted under the supervision of experienced instructors and helpers, and all equipment will be provided. The first session will be free of charge. If you then want to continue, there will be a further six sessions at a cost of 5.50 for each session. Dates are yet to be finalized, but it is hoped that the sessions will get under way in October. To register your interest, or for further details, please contact Rebecca at the NNAB. 26. Active and enjoy walking? The Norwich Group Long Walks (for those living in and around Norwich or people who can get into Norwich) usually take place on the third Wednesday of the month. The walks visit destinations all over the county. They are usually 6 6½ miles long and take up to two and a half hours walking time to complete. In the summer months the group takes a packed lunch, in the winter months the walk is followed by a pub lunch. New faces are always welcome and if you require a guide for the walk this can be arranged. Please contact Rebecca if you would like to be added to the mailing list or for further information 10

11 27. Sports Programme for the Coming Quarter August Mon 1 st Swimming - North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. Tue 2 nd North Norfolk Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Wed 3 rd Tandems Back to Bayern Thu 4 th Golf at Bawburgh Mon 8 th West Norfolk Walk. Venue and time TBC Wed 10 th Breckland Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Thu 11 th Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm Mon 15 th Swimming - North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. Tue 16 th Gt Yarmouth Sailing Group at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust Thu 18 th Tandems Tue 23 rd Great Yarmouth Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Wed 24 th Norwich Group Short Walk. Venue and time TBC Thu 25 th Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm Fri 26 th Golf at Bawburgh Tue 30 th Fencing Taster Session. At the Bradbury Activity Centre 2pm 4pm Wed 31 st Norwich Group Long Walk. Venue and time TBC Thu 1 st Fri 2 nd Mon 5 th Tue 6 th Wed 7 th Thu 8 th Mon 12 th Tue 13 th Wed 14 th Thu 15 th Mon 19 th September Tandems South Norfolk Walk. Venue and time TBC Swimming-North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. Gt. Yarmouth Tenpin Bowling 1.45pm. Regent Bowl Norwich Tenpin Bowling 1.30pm. Number Ten, Bowthorpe Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm West Norfolk Walk. Venue and time TBC North Norfolk Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Breckland Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Tandems Swimming-North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. 11

12 Tue 20 th Wed 21 st Thu 22 nd Tue 27 th Wed 28 th Thu 29 th Fri 30 th Mon 3 rd Tue 4 th Wed 5 th Thu 6 th Mon 10 th Wed 12 th Thu 13 th Fri 14 th Mon 17 th Tue 18 th Wed 19 th Thu 20 th Tue 25 th Wed 26 th Thu 27 th Gt Yarmouth Sailing Group at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust Norwich Group Long Walk. Venue and time TBC Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm Gt. Yarmouth Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Norwich Group Short Walk. Venue and time TBC Tandems Golf at Bawburgh October Swimming-North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. Gt. Yarmouth Tenpin Bowling 1.45pm. Regent Bowl Norwich Tenpin Bowling 1.30pm. Number Ten, Bowthorpe Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm West Norfolk Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Breckland Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Tandems North Norfolk Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Swimming-North Walsham 11am-12pm. Leave NNAB at 10.10am. Tuition available. Gt Yarmouth Sailing Group at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust Norwich Group Long Walk. Venue and time TBC Sailing at Barton Broad with the Nancy Oldfield Trust - Leave NNAB at 12.30pm Gt. Yarmouth Group Walk. Venue and time TBC Norwich Group Short Walk. Venue and time TBC Tandems November Tues 1 st Gt. Yarmouth Tenpin Bowling 1.45pm. Regent Bowl Wed 2 nd Norwich Tenpin Bowling 1.30pm. Number Ten, Bowthorpe Fri 4 th South Norfolk Walk. Venue and time TBC Please be aware that for certain activities, numbers are limited. Due to weather conditions, some events may have to be cancelled or rearranged. 12

13 28. Fundraising News form Donna Minto Well, it s been a very busy couple of months since the last Magpie News was published in April. I am now completely settled in my new role as a fundraiser for the NNAB and very fortunate to have some fantastic Volunteers on board helping me. Shirley Hunt and Diana Bates continue to support me in the office with administration and I have two new helpers Sylvia Ayres and Susan Marshall, who are counting all the pennies that come through our doors. We do miss having Alison Womack in the office but she does continue to support us in other areas. As you can probably appreciate, we get numerous boxes and tins in the office every week, which can be very time consuming for a part-time fundraiser. So having volunteers helping has been a blessing for me. Dedicated volunteers such as; Reg Cotton, Stephen Turner, Norah Gannon, Barbara Lockwood, Dick Tayler, Eric Saunders, plus numerous others, repeatedly offer help with collecting in the shops and on the streets. It is apparent to me that the NNAB volunteers are the back bone of the NNAB. Without them, we would struggle to provide our registered blind and partially sighted members with the care, support and activities that we do. So I would personally like to say a big thank you to you all. Fundraising over the past months has been a very rewarding job for me; in the last 3 months we have counted over 7,000. This money has come from collecting tins. We then have our smaller events; such as fetes, shows and mini concerts, which can bring in anything from 50 to over 1,000. Such as the 9th and 10 th July, where we had a choir of 45 people who came to Norfolk to sing for the Charity. The New Egham Singers sang outside Bure Valley railway station, they gave a mini concert at Aylsham Parish Church, and the next day sang outside the Odeon Cinema at Riverside in Norwich. In just 4 hours of singing, they managed to raise 1,000. Amazing! 29. Unwanted or broken jewellery? NNAB will always gratefully receive such items, for resale or for their scrap value (gold and silver prices are particularly high at the moment). Meanwhile we warmly thank our supporters who continue to donate their foreign and obsolete currency, from which we have raised over 100 already this year 13

14 30. Flag Day and Street Collections If you can help with any of them, please call the Fundraising office on and leave a message. Thank You! AUGUST Thursday 4th Tesco, Caister, Gt Yarmouth Saturday 6th Tesco, Fakenham Thursday 11th Tesco, Blueboar Lane, Norwich Saturday 13th Tesco Extra, Dereham Saturday 13th Sainsbury s, Longwater Saturday 20th Street Collection, Dereham Saturday 20th Tesco, Alysham Sunday 21st Hunstanton Street Collection Saturday 27th Burnham Market Street Collection Saturday 27th Kings Lynn Street Collection SEPTEMBER Friday 2nd Morrisons, Dereham Friday 2nd Tesco, Watton Saturday 3rd Tesco, Watton Saturday 3rd Tesco, Stalham Saturday 3rd Morrisons, Dereham Thursday 8th Tesco, Diss Saturday 10th Tesco, Downham Market Thursday 15th Tesco, Southown, Gt Yarmouth Saturday 17th Tesco, Kilverstone, Thetford Tuesday 20th Tesco, Aylsham Thursday 22nd Morrisons, Gorleston Friday 23rd Morrisons, Gorleston Thursday 29th Tesco, Harford Bridge, Norwich Friday 30th Sainsbury s, Attleborough 31. For Sale Magnilink Zip CCTV foldable and lightweight, 3 years old, hardly used and in excellent condition. A trolley is available if required. 600 ono. Please contact Mrs Housencroft directly on One colour desk top video magnifier with screen and carrying case. Useful for reading, writing, craft work. Approx 5 year s old, good condition. Made by Optron. Price 500 ono. Please contact Mrs Bridget Painter directly on

15 For Sale cont.. Clearview Plus TFT, Flat screen, colour reader. Purchased in The reader is as good as new condition and comes complete with adjustable Trolley. The total cost as new was 2,340, we would accept an offer of 750. Please contact David Selwyn directly on Alladin Rainbow Magnifier, purchased in 2002 for In good working order. Please contact Suzanne Bubbear directly on or via on to a make an offer on this Magnifier. 32. Digital Switchover Digital Switchover takes place in the Anglia Region in November. If you are eligible for help with switching your TV to digital you should have had a letter explaining what to do and the help that is available to you. If you already have a digibox or your TV receives digital TV through your aerial you will probably get a message on your screen asking you to retune your equipment on the following dates 17 th August, 9 th November and 23 rd November. If you already have Sky, Freesat or Virgin Media you do not need to do anything. For more information, call Lines are open 8am 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am 6pm on Saturday and Sunday Norwich Macular Group The group continues to welcome new members to our meetings which are held on the first Friday of the month at the NNAB Bradbury Activity Centre. We often have a guest speaker who gives a talk on a variety of topics including equipment available to aid everyday tasks and advances in treatment for Macular. On 12 th July we went on a trip to the End of the Pier Show at Cromer; this was a very enjoyable day out for everyone. We also have our Christmas lunch booked for 9 th December. If you would like any information about the meetings please contact the secretary Alan Strachan on

16 Thomas Tawell House Residential and Respite Home For The Visually Impaired If you or someone you know is visually impaired and needs Respite or Residential Care Then Thomas Tawell House could be what you are looking for The home is situated in the award winning grounds of the Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind Magpie Road Norwich Facilities include: Single fully furnished rooms with en-suite A safe friendly specifically designed environment for the visually impaired The staff are highly trained in caring for the visually impaired All meals are cooked on site and all dietary needs are catered for If you would like further details or to arrange a visit please contact us on

17 Return Slip August 2011 Please tick the appropriate box/boxes below, fill in your details and send this form back to us at our main office. I would like my Community Worker to visit If there is anything you are especially concerned about please use the space below to inform us of this: Please stop sending me The Magpie News Instead of large print, I would like to receive The Magpie News: On CD In Braille On Memory Stick By Please confirm Address if asking for Magpie News by _ 17

18 Helping us to help you I would like to make a donation I would like to receive details about Sports Activities I would like information about Talking Newspapers in my area I would like to be added to the Leisure Activities mailing list I would like further information about IT classes I would like to attend the AGM in October Please use capital letters Name Address Post Code Telephone Is there anything else you would like to tell us about? 18