During the summer, NSBP offers a few outings with door-to-door transport to pick you up at your home.

This year each outing will be covering specific areas of the City. The reason for this, is to avoid time being taken up in driving across the city to pick up participants at either end. This is very time consuming and tiring for all involved. However, you will see that system of concentrating on areas of the City ensures that every part of Newcastle is covered. We can take people who are wheelchair users, but we have a shortage of volunteers to push these, or to act as sighted guides. Therefore, if you have your own sighted guide, partner or spouse who you can bring to provide some assistance, then please include them. We need to have at least seven or eight participants for each outing to be viable. So don’t by shy. Telephone NSBP, book your places, and get out and about on these outings.

24^th August - Picking up in the East and North end of Newcastle. The destination will be Cullercoats if the weather is dry, or the Catherine Cookson Museum, South Shields, if wet and will be led by Bryan Williams. Cost – a contribution towards the travel costs £5 per person per day door-to-door. Bring a packed lunch or money to buy a snack lunch.

31^st August – The West End and North West Side of Newcastle. The destination is the Herb Garden and Nursery at the Chesters, Chollerford. Entrance costs about £1.50. We ask for a contribution towards the travel costs - £7 - door-to door. Bring a packed lunch or money for a snack lunch. Leader Bryan Williams.

7^th September – North and East of Newcastle – The destination is Morpeth. Visit the refurbished park and riverside walk or shop. Friday is market day at Morpeth. Contribution towards the transport costs £5 per person door-to door. Bring a packed lunch to eat in the Park, or money to buy a snack lunch.

14^th September – North and West – To Cullercoats if the weather is dry. If wet then an alternative destination will be chosen. Bring a packed lunch or money to buy a snack lunch.

NSBP’s Annual Outing – Plans are currently being finalised for this outing. Information will be sent out separately shortly.

Planning NSBP’s Activities for the autumn - With the coming of September this is a good time to take part in one of NSBP groups or activities. We are currently finalising the arrangements for the forthcoming session of I.T. training, as well as the programme for the Macular Disease Group’s monthly meetings held at the Brunswick Church. The Creative Writing course will also be continuing. If you would like some weekly social contact we have three groups that meet in the localities of Walker, Benwell and Gosforth and we may be able to help with transport. The Keep Fit and Relaxation Class held on Wednesdays at 12 noon is back on course now. The current five enthusiastic members and the tutor Sheila, would welcome some new comers into their midst to swell their throng. Current members can be heard after the session, quite bemused, because this class includes a relaxing set of exercises ‘for the eyes and eye brows’! (Of course other parts of the body are exercised as well!) If you would like to know more about any of the Society’s activities - then please ring 2327292 to make enquiries.

Comings and goings

Thanks to Guide Dogs for the Blind, with whom NSBP works in Partnership, we have recently welcomed a new full-time and experienced receptionist to our premises. Now when you telephone NSBP it is most likely that the cheery, efficient voice at the end of the ‘phone will be that of - Ruth Errington. You can imagine that Ruth has been a very welcome addition within NSBP - with many a sigh of relief to be heard from the staff members, now that we have a dedicated telephone service helping to bring higher standards of response.

During May we said ‘Goodbye’ to Bob Elliot. Bob had stepped in to fill the gap for one year when NSBP had no I.T. tutor last autumn. We are grateful to Bob for his hard work in keeping the Communications Workshop

Going whilst further work was done to provide a tutor.

Another ‘Goodbye’ was to Susan Coulson who many will have met through her work as the part-time Welfare Benefits Officer or through her other part-time role as Co ordinator of the Befriending service. The Welfare Rights service has been so important for visually impaired people of Newcastle that for some of the time Susan has run this as a separate project – The V.I.P. Benefits project. We congratulate Susan in obtaining the post of R.N.I.B. Link Officer, North East.

Susan had been assisted by administrative assistant, Andrea Taylor and it is quite probable that you will have spoken to Andrea on the telephone. Currently Andrea is on maternity leave and now has a lovely new baby daughter called – Laurie. Both mother and daughter are looking very well.

Martin Scanlan has been employed as a temporary, part-time admin assistant/ outreach worker. Martin has been on work placement at the Society since January using his expertise in I.T. to support the students in the I.T. workshop. Martin has been particularly interested in working with visually impaired people as he has experience of this himself. His employment at this time will enable NSBP to review and adjust its workload and staffing arrangements.

NSBP is very much member led - Most of the activities NSBP has introduced over the years have come directly from requests or interests put forward by its members. It is on this basis that a new group has been proposed offering younger visually impaired adults the opportunity to meet in the evenings. We are working towards setting this up this autumn. Three or four people have mentioned to me that they would like to meet up with other members - about one evening a month - with a view to organising their own social group. (This is continuing the idea launched in the Summer newsletter.) One person who is keen to see this group formed is NSBP member - Peter Bennetts. The date set for this group to start is Thursday, 20^th September 2001 at 7pm, meeting on this first occasion at NSBP premises on the third floor of Mea house. Why not come along to meet other members and to discuss ideas on how the group can be developed.

A new CCTV is in place at the Central Library - Peter Bennetts has been working hard for the benefit of visually impaired people in Newcastle in another direction. We have Peter to thank for a new CCTV now in place in at the Central Library. Peter has been campaigning for a year to get the old CCTV reading machine at the Central Library replaced. This had been neglected over the years, played with by children so that the settings were no longer effective, and as a result, hardly used by visually impaired people. Peter’s campaign had to overcome the comment that the old machine was never used so why should money be spent on replacing it. He pointed out that as the machine was not efficient at meeting needs then this was why it is not used. The new CCTV is on the first floor of the Central Library, with staff nearby who are trained and knowledgeable in its use. So now visually impaired people, who have some useful vision, can go to the Central Library and make use of printed literature by means of the new CCTV. Peter has asked me to publicise this and to encourage people to go and use it.

Continuing on the subject of CCTVs – a forthcoming event to remember is that the firm Telesensory has arranged to put on a display of CCTV equipment at NSBP in NSBP’s training room on Friday 21^st between 10am until 4pm. Here is an opportunity to try out the new developments within this area of enabling technology. If you have some residual vision why not drop into NSBP’s premises on the third floor of Mea House on the 21^st September to find out if CCTVs could assist you with your usual reading tasks. To test this out,

bring with you a sample of the type of reading matter you would normally want to access.

Fund raising to support NSBP’s work

Each year NSBP has to raise funds to support its work. Funds come from various sources. The following are examples of sources of income to NSBP:

Grants - We make application to charitable trusts and for grants from the local authority

Donations - We very much appreciate the donations made by members and by others - either when the annual membership of £1 is paid, or at other times. Recent donations have come through some interesting activities such as:

• Member, Mrs Maisie Ewles, having reached her ninetieth birthday in June this year, celebrated by holding an ‘At Home’ at the sheltered housing complex where she lives, asking all her visitors on the day, to make a donation to NSBP. Over the day Mrs Ewles raised £250 for NSBP.
• Member, Philip Wisbach is both physically and visually disabled. Philip, Linda, his wife, and their son, Stewart’s main relaxation is their garden. NSBP has put them in touch with a free gardening service for people with a disability. This has resulted in a ‘garden make over’. Their garden now is much more suited to their needs, their gardening skills, and a lovely relaxing garden has been created for the family to enjoy. The Wisbach family are delighted with the finished result and in appreciation have made a donation to NSBP.
• Another very brave member - Malcolm Postigo took part in an abseil off the Tyne Bridge.

Here are some other ways you could help NSBP raise funds:

On September, Thurs. 27^th, Fri. 28^th and Sat. 29^th we are holding a Street Collection in Newcastle City Centre. We will need people to take out collecting tins on these days from approximately 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. If you could spare even an hour of your time, this would be much appreciated. Our base for the collection is the Brunswick Church. We would be grateful if you would ask family, friends and neighbours to ‘man a can’ on any of these days.

We are also completing forms for Gift Aid which, if used at the time a donation is made, can increase the value of your donation as NSBP receives a Tax refund of about 17%. These are available from NSBP’s office and from time to time as we promote NSBP fundraising we will send these out in general mailings.

Another way to raise funds for the Society is through your Will. Last year NSBP was greatly helped through an unexpected legacy. We can provide information your solicitor needs to use in the wording of your Will to ensure that your wish to support NSBP are met. Alternatively, Newcastle solicitors, Davies Bell and Reed of 21 Ridley Place, Newcastle. Tel: 2328058 offer a Will Service at a concessional rate for NSBP members.

An ‘elder’ is someone aged over 50, retired and resident or active in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The purpose of the Elders Council of Newcastle is to "promote the benefit and social inclusion of elders by providing a voice for elders organisations and individual elders resident or active in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne on issues concerning their quality of life, health and well being, and to realise the potential of elders as a creative and active resource for the community".

Cllr Nick Forbes, recently nominated lead for older people, commented "This is an exciting and innovative way of more closely involving older people in improving services. I look forward to working closely with the Elders Council to bring about positive change for older people in Newcastle upon Tyne."

At the moment the Elders Council is working on issues including health and social care, transport, housing and lifelong learning.

Would you like to take a more active part in the Elders Council but are not sure where to begin? Voice and Choice is a training course developed by Age Concern (England), which aims to enable older people to develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to play a greater part in the decisions that affect their lives. Age Concern Newcastle in collaboration with ‘a better life in later life’ is planning to offer this course to older people in the very near future. Places will be at a premium - For details contact Barbara Douglas on 233 0200.

The Newcastle ‘Breath Easy’ group is part of the support network of the British Lung Foundation. The group gives you and your family the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation to share information and support and make new friends. They meet on the 1st Friday of every month at 2.00pm in the Chest Clinic, Outpatients Department, R.V.I. For more information Telephone:

If you are over 60, a company called ‘StayWarm’ will

apparently provide you with all the gas and electricity you need for one low fixed regular payment, regardless of how much energy you use.

Charges vary according to how many bedrooms your house has, and how many occupants, for example:

A single person living in a one bedroom house would pay £6.50 per week, (£7.90 for a couple) whilst two people residing in a two bedroom house would pay £9.90.

You can choose to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly by direct debit or by cash at a post office.

For more information contact StayWarm on:

Quote reference E1.

Here's a guide to help you find the reading you want - books, papers or magazines. This guide covers large print and reading without print at all!

Reading material is available in a variety of alternatives to standard print. They include: large print, ordinary cassette tapes and special long playing tapes (with the capacity to hold a whole novel). You may also be interested in reading by touch, using Braille or moon. If you have a computer, it's possible to get reading material to use with it.

Listed below, you will find the names and phone numbers of the main organisations that can provide reading material in different formats. The services they provide are either moderately priced or completely free. Please feel free to phone any of them; they will be happy to give you advice and information not only about their own services, but how others can help you...

If you want to carry on reading using larger print, contact:

• Your local library which will have a range of large print books.
• Big Print (a large print weekly newspaper).

Tel: 0800 12 40 07

If you want to carry on reading using ordinary cassette tapes contact:

• Your local library which will have a range of spoken word tapes.

Calibre Cassette Library

Tel: 01296 43 23 39

Listening Books

Tel: 020 7407 9417

• TyneSound News for a weekly round-up of local news on tape, a monthly 'magazine' and, of course, our own monthly newsletter.

Also, NSBP now have over 100 titles in our talking book library, details of which are available on request. You can also buy spoken word tapes from local book and record shops.

If you want to carry on reading using special long playing tapes (with the capacity to hold a whole novel), contact:

RNIB Talking Book Service Telephone: 020 8903 6666 (full length books)

If you are interested in learning Braille, or Moon ( another tactile language) please contact our own Jill Prudhoe, here at the Society on 232 7292.

lnternet shopping with Tesco's has been made easier for blind and partially sighted people with the assistance of the RNIB.

After receiving complaints that the design of Tesco.com was inaccessible to people with sight problems, RNIB worked with the company to make

the service more accessible.

June Howell, RNIB Campaigns Officer (Access to the internet) said, "RNIB

encouraged Tesco to meet the needs of their blind and partially sighted

customers by making some simple changes to the Tesco.com web site that would make it easier to use with specially adapted computers.

The site has been designed following guidelines which ensure that everyone will be able to use it, including blind people who use computers adapted to speak web pages aloud.

To make things even easier for blind and partially sighted lnternet shoppers, Tesco's van drivers will not only deliver goods to their house,

but will bring it in to their kitchen, and help unpack it.

Tesco's accessible on-line shopping service is also the first recipient of

the RNIB See it Right Accessible Website Badge, in recognition of its ease of use for people with sight problems.

This is a new slot in the newsletter which will feature items of specific interest to visually impaired women of all ages.

We begin by highlighting a publication by

Action for Blind People in association with Jenny Jordan*

which contains many useful tips on make-up and hair care for visually impaired women.

Included is advice on skincare, lips, eyes and hair.

*Jenny Jordan is a

freelance make-up artist with nearly 20 years' experience.

A regular on BBC

TV's 'Style Challenge', her

work graces the

pages of magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. She

has worked with photographers such as David Bailey and Lord Snowdon and

made up many famous faces including Marie Helvin and the

Duchess of York.

For a copy of this publication, 'phone Murray on:

232 7292

A leaflet outlining some of the help that is available to older people with contact details for organisations that can help with housework or personal care.

For more information or taped copies of this booklet contact:

CSV(Newcastle) 3rd Floor, MEA House Ellison Place

Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8XS

Tel: 0191 2326616 Fax: 0191 2300180

"The End of Age" by Professor Tom Kirkwood is published by Profile Books at £6.99 and is available from local bookshops.

Professor Kirkwood’s plan for a longer, healthier life is:

• A varied, healthy diet
• Regular, enjoyable exercise
• New skills/ challenges
• Be assertive about your health-care needs - Don’t be fobbed off with, "What can you expect at your age?"
• Challenge ageist attitudes.

A booklet called the Pensioners’ Guide is produced by the Department of Social Security for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Older People.

In the Guide you will find information and general guidance on:

• Money and Tax
• Health and social services
• Home - keeping warm and home improvements
• Learning
• Legal services and crime
• Travel and leisure
• Voluntary and paid work
• Losing a loved one
• Useful contacts

The Guide is free. If you would like a copy phone:

1. In which prison Was Rudolph Hess held?

2. Which local hero was second in command to Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar?

3. What is the name of the regional districts of Switzerland?

5. Name the capital of Bohemia

6. Name Berwick Rangers FC's home ground.

7. Who were the brothers credited the first powered flight?

8. In which country was John McEnroe

born?

9. The 1940 Olympics were postponed, in which city were they to be held?

10. From which Greek island were the Minoans from?

11. Who is Paul McCartney shortly to marry?

12. Name the principal male actor in the film "The Sound of music"

13. Who directed the film "Lawrence of Arabia"?

Technology to enhance TV programmes for blind and visually impaired people has been developed by SCM Microsystems for The Digital Network.

Viewers of TDN, which comprises the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, SCM and Ondigital, will be able to receive narrative descriptions of television scenes.

The service, which SCM says has been mandated by the ITC, is possible because of what SCM claims is the world's first Audio Description Module (ADM). The ADM decodes an audio digital signal sent to digital set-top boxes or integrated digital TV’s. In addition to normal speech, viewers can then pick up a spoken description of a scene to help them picture what is going on. This narrative can be provided via headphones, so that it does not disturb other viewers in the same room. The ADM plugs easily into the standard common interface port on terrestrial set-top boxes and integrated digital televisions.

ADM technology could also enable other audio applications such as dual-language television in the future. Field trials have already begun and The Royal National Institute of the Blind is exploring distribution arrangements for the modules, which should cost less than £100.

Concept Systems

have announced two new additions to their of hi-tech range of products.

They describe the the ‘VideoTelescope’

as ‘the successor

to high powered monocular lenses’.

The product has the advantage of being able to look at objects in full focus and freeze frame them for future reference, for example, reading a bus number will give you additional time to make sure it is the correct bus.

The VideoTelescope offers magnification of up to 20x with full

autofocus, taking the hard work out of viewing correctly. The unit is pocket sized and has an 8 hour battery life (typical intermittent use, or 3 hours constant use) making it very easy to be carried around. It can be used in the supermarket, and like a CCTV it will read instructions and product information on cans and food packets.

The image is full colour with contrast enhancement, it even has back lighting for difficult to see images.

Price - £1495.00

The second new product is ‘The Sentry’ Stand-alone Magnifier Viewer.

Sentry is a versatile desktop colour CCTV that gives a high degree of flexibility to the user.

Generous space between the camera and table makes it ideal for practical

uses where a good working distance and depth of field are important.

Sentry's tilt and swivel camera head provides all-round capability for both

desktop and distance viewing. It is also fitted with true autofocus and touch-

button zoom facility.

Picture options are for a full colour image, black on white or white on black.

For extra illumination, a halogen lamp is located on the camera stem which

can be switched on and off as required.

For more information telephone Concept Systems on:

01493 700 172

1. Spandeau

3. Cantons

5. Prague

6. Shieldfield

8. Germany

9. Tokyo

10. Crete

11. Heather Mills

13. David Lean