In Touch Folgen

Media commentator Kevin Mulhern gives his view on the leadership situation at RNIB and GDBA, the leading UK charities for blind and partially-sighted people. Both organisations currently have temporary Chief Executive Officers in place and Kevin speculates on the impact this could have on the confidence of blind people in the charities' ability to lead and lobby for them in the future Tom Walker meet Les Lightfoot, who was the victim of a serious assault last year. Les talks about how he rebuilt his confidence with the help of Henshaws Society for Blind People and has written his own set of tips for other blind and visually-impaired people on how they can stay safe and protect themselves. These are available on the Henshaw's website.

NHS England's Head of Public Policy Olivia Butterworth asks for listeners' experiences of obtaining information in an accessible format, following the recent introduction of the Accessible Information Standard. We hear from Mel Griffiths who was refused information in a format she could read, when her physiotherapist said they didn't have time to email it to her. Student Charles Bloch was refused a taxi journey with his guide dog and the taxi driver was taken to court and fined for the offence. Charles said that he was disappointed that the situation arose for the driver to be sued, but that he felt he had to stand up for his rights as someone with a disability. Tom Walker reported about an initiative in Liverpool aimed specifically at training taxi drivers about how best to help blind and disabled passengers.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White is joined by RNIB's Geoff Fimister, disability employment advisor Caroline Stansfield and Professor Roy Sainsbury, to discuss the implications of the Government's green paper on Work, Health and Disability. Peter asks Geoff and Roy about the RNIB's statistic claiming that 1 in 4 blind people of working age are in employment.Mike Lambert's latest column outlines his experience of the changing work place, where he feels there is now an emphasis on quantity rather than quality, which puts blind people at a disadvantage. For more information contact the RNIB Campaign Hotline on 020 7391 2123.