Archive Newsletter - Winter 2007

Hello everyone and welcome to the Christmas edition of the newsletter. A special welcome to any new readers, I hope you will enjoy the content and find something of interest to you. Are you all ready for Christmas? As I write this I have a team of lovely volunteers downstairs all busily stuffing envelopes with Christmas cards and Chairman’s letters, many thanks to all of them for their hard work. You may well receive a Christmas card before you receive this! It has occurred to me that some of our new readers may not know much about us as an Association so I think it is worth spending a few lines just to explain. Sorry to those of you who know all about us already but please remember that there are lots of people who don’t! The Devon Association for the Blind is a registered charity in its own right and is THE local charity for visually impaired people in Devon. We are NOT the RNIB, Social Services or the County Council and we receive no statutory funding from anyone. We rely solely on donations, legacies and investment income and are very grateful to those of you who continue to support us with our standing order scheme. It is very helpful for us to know how much income we are having in each month and if you would like to join this scheme, please just give us a ring in the office on 01392 876666. We have a shop here at Station House where we have a wide range of aids and equipment on display and which you can come in and try before you purchase. We also have our resource room which has all the high tech equipment in as well as the low vision aids. We run a low vision clinic and it is necessary to make an appointment to come to that. We can send equipment out by mail order and we give advice on all sorts of things by telephone and to personal callers. We also have our member of staff, Carole, on duty at the low vision clinics at Optima in Totnes. Carole has a display of equipment and can give help and advice and take orders which will be despatched, usually, the next day. This is just a very brief out line of some of the things we do but I thought it might be useful information for you. Please tell all your family and friends about us as we need to get ourselves known throughout the county. It was nice to see some of you at our AGM back in September but attendance was disappointing. We hope to encourage more of you to come next year so please put this date in your diary, Monday, 27th October 2008. We are trying to encourage club leaders to arrange transport (which we will pay for) so please keep the date free and come along. If you don’t attend a club but feel you would like to organise transport then please let me know and I will pass details on to other people in your area. We will be having the usual stalls and home made refreshments plus a speaker to talk to us all about the digital changeover and how it will affect us. There is more work to do on the organisation but it is quite likely that there may be some form of entertainment too so please look out for more information nearer the time.

Over the summer, members and helpers of the CULLOMPTON and TIVERTON CLUBS put their heads together and decided to hold a literary competition. Entrants were to write a poem or a limerick on the subject of “holidays” or “a day out”. The competition closed at the end of September and an independent judge, Margaret Warbis, read and commented on all of the entries. On November 21st the results were announced at a special joint meeting of both Clubs, at which everyone also enjoyed a wonderful tea put on for us by the ladies of the Inner Wheel. The winning entries were read out and the two poets congratulated on their success. The winning entries are as follows:-
The winning poem by Jo Shute
Oh to be in England! Now that summer’s here,
For now we have the holiday, we’ve waited for all year.
With much ado, we pack and off we go, down byways, lanes and motorways so slow
To find the place we’ve chosen to have fun in rain or sun!
So for us it’s Padstow, that’s the place we stay
We take the dog and park the ‘van high on the cliffs above the bay.
While far below are rocks and beaches wide, Small boats tossing in waves where surfers ride
And happy children, swimming, laugh with glee in cold grey sea!
All too soon it’s over, and we have to go
Back to our homes, our busy lives, long dark nights and winter snow.
But we can sit beside the fire and dream, of pasties, barbecues, fresh scones with cream
Or tasty fish and chips washed down with beer
Until next year!

The limerick was won by Graham Winterbourne
We took off from Exeter Hill,
The pilot used all of his skill
As a wind of gale force
Blew us rather off-course
And we landed at Coldharbour Mill!

Well done to both Jo and Graham and also to the club leaders for organising this competition. Is it something you could think about doing next year?

It is with regret that I have to report on the closure of the EXMOUTH CLUB, they had got down to just 4 members and it was not practical to carry on. They had a lovely meal out in November and will be having a final "wind up" meeting in the Spring with a meal and a thank you to all the helpers and drivers. Many thanks to Kay and her team of helpers for all the time and energy they have put in over the years.

Good news now though! There is a new Macular Disease Society Group started in Exeter, I had the pleasure of going along and meeting members recently. They have a full programme of events planned and their next meeting will be on Tuesday, 29th January at 10.30am at the Exeter Central Library. Meetings will continue throughout the year on the last Tuesday of each month. If you have MD and would like more details, please ring 01395 265092.

Carrying on with the good news now, a steering committee has been formed to discuss the possibility of forming a new Torch Fellowship group to serve the Wellington and Blackdown Hills area. The committee has met twice and are currently looking for a suitable venue and recruiting a team of volunteers to help to set up the group. Torch fellowship groups normally meet monthly and provide an opportunity for visually impaired Christians to meet socially. Any members or volunteers from the Devon Association who would like to join the steering committee would be particularly welcome. The next meeting is at 7.30pm on Monday, 28th January at Rosemary Lane Chapel, Clayhidon. The Somerset Association for the Blind are involved in setting this up and can arrange transport for anyone who would like to attend. If you would like to join or receive more information, please contact Mrs. Paddy Howe on 01823 680614.

Jo Shute has sent in the following from TIVERTON CLUB – "We still meet on the third Wednesday afternoon of each month and have enjoyed a varied programme since our last report in the Spring. We always have a cream tea at the Canal Tea Rooms in May and although the weather let us down we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as usual. It was probably just as well that next month a local organisation gave us some useful ideas about exercises to do at home to keep fit! But guess what we did in July? Had tea again! This was a bit special because we were saying a big thank you to Gerry Anderson for over 20 years of driving for the club and also celebrating the clubs 25th birthday. Brenda Barnes, who started the club, joined us at the Hartnoll Hotel and this time the weather was perfect. We gave ourselves a rest in August and a small group of us then attended the AGM and met up again with other clubs and DCAB staff who are so helpful to us all. And then it was back to the subject of "tea" again in September with a most entertaining talk by Peggy Cooke who used to run a tea shop in East Budleigh. Then it was the turn of one of our members, Cyril Gliddon, to entertain us. Now in his eighties, he has lived in the same house in Tiverton since he was a year old, and he gave us a brilliant account of how the centre of Tiverton used to look, remembering all the shops and characters who used to run them. Then, of course, in November we had to return to our favourite subject with a beautiful tea and amusing poems provided by the Inner Wheel. This was special, too, because the Cullompton Club joined us and we listened to the winning entries of the poetry competition organised by Rosemary and Louise. We have been saddened by the loss of Doris Sexton who did so much for us and the recent death of Rocky Stone who had been a most faithful member for many years. On a happier note, we have welcomed some new members to the Club recently. We are well supported by very kind helpers to whom we are most grateful, and look forward to another successful year together." Thanks to Jo for this.
Anne Decent has sent in the following from VISION OM and she says, “At the end of May, it really did seem as though VISION OM would not be able to continue, for our Co-ordinator/Driver for the past year was forced to resign due to family circumstances. However, as a result of members’ concern and appreciation of what the Group’s activities had achieved since 1999, a new team of sighted guides and supporters came to the rescue. After a meeting of all members, called by Sue Auton, Director of DCAB, we put together a programme for the coming months, welcomed a volunteer to act as Treasurer and agreed to share the responsibility of organising meetings and outings between members of this co-ordinating team. This has proved to be a very satisfactory arrangement over the past months, when we have enjoyed going out again in the Friends' Ambulance and can boast that we now have a "Lion" as our driver! Our first visit was to Topsham where we were able to see the latest aids at Station House thanks to Sue, Pat, Shirley and Val, who welcomed us with coffee and helpful advice, we now have two new members so had to stagger our visit and took the opportunity of visiting the Quay and shops, while the other half of the group was at Station House, mementos were purchased at the Antiques Centre, but not until the asking price had been reduced, thanks to Eddie’s skilful haggling! We continued to Dart’s Farm for an excellent lunch and drove home via the "scenic route", thanks to Bill's expertise. We now have our 2008 diaries and calendars which has avoided a lot of last minute ordering for us all. Making the most of the remaining summer, we enjoyed trips to our East Devon seaside towns, on a lovely sunny afternoon we sat outside at The Beach Cafe in Budleigh Salterton, this was the first opportunity for our new Treasurer to collect money, a test of her skill in balancing the books! In October we made a return visit to The Cliffden Hotel in Teignmouth for an excellent lunch. Our “out and about” trips are on hold now until 2008, but we shall meet regularly at The Institute in the coming months. We have celebrated an 80th birthday recently and extended our congratulations to Pat Hawkins. We are looking forward to a return visit of "Just Friends", the Hospice Music Group in December and also our New Year lunch at Dart's Farm. VISION OM is in full swing again now, thanks to the support of all our helpers and guides. Thanks to Anne for this and it was lovely to see everyone from VISION OM here at Station House. It was also nice to see members of the Torbay MD Group recently, they came to see us and then went for a (I am told) delicious tea down at the Georgian Tea Rooms.

Tiverton Club have donated an audio book to us which we would be happy to pass on to a good home, it is Deceit by Clare Francis and read by Frances Tomelty, it is 12 cassettes, complete and unabridged. Just give us a ring if you would like it, it is free to a good home!

Whilst on the subject of talking books, Phil Jenkins has a complete, unabridged, audio book library for sale. All on tape in library presentation boxes, most of the books have only been read once. The collection represents £1,500 worth of books. It includes 2 by Martina Cole, 2 by Ben Elton, 7 by John Grisham, 3 by Patricia Cornwell, 4 by Bernard Cornwell, 3 by Ian Rankin, Sue Townsend, John Connolly and Jonathan Kellerman and many more! Get a huge audio book library in one fare swoop! £400 cash, buyer must collect, will not separate. Phil lives in Teignmouth so if you are interested please give him a call direct on 01626 779877. Phil also has a Nokia 5500 Sports smart phone with ‘talks’ on it for sale. It is only about 6 months old and cost £150. It is water, dust and drop resistant, it has all kinds of sports functions on it, plus all the normal MP3 player, camera, internet etc., all of which are accessible with 'talks'. Please contact Phil for more information and a price, 01626 779877.

Mr. Physick has a floor standing magnifier and light for sale. It is ultra slim with 2 magnifying lenses, it cost £114.17 and has never been used but just taken out of the box and set up. He will accept any reasonable offer so please ring him direct on 01395 515455.

May Balkwill has a Tieman Concept 2000 CCTV which she would like to give to a good home. She lives in Exeter and her phone number is 01392 668898. Please ring her direct if you are interested.

Continuing on the "for sale" theme, we have the pocket diaries here for sale for £4, desk diaries for £6.50, Christmas puddings for £5, smiley face mugs for £3 and Christmas cards £1.20 for 12. Just give us a ring if you would like any or pop in to our shop on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday between 10am and 1pm. On the new products front we have a new can opener which is excellent, it is one touch, automatic, opens most round cans and is operated by 2 x AA batteries. It is £19.95, an ideal Christmas present for someone, or why not treat yourself! Valerie has one and says it really does work so it comes recommended. We also have a new talking watch now, which is very clear speaking and comes in a ladies or gents size (although to be honest there isn’t much difference in the size at all!) For those of you who always like your watch to be dead right, we now have a radio controlled talking watch which is £34.95 and also has a good speaking voice. Another new product is the easy to see remote control for TV, video, DVD player, it is simple to operate and has very good contrast with easy to operate buttons, it is £19.99. For those of you who like to cook (as opposed to those of us who like to eat!) there is now a new set of kitchen scales which are easy to see, they have a very good digital display and are just £20. We continue to stock daylight lamps which are excellent for good lighting and the most popular one is £29, available in black or white. Please give us a ring or call in to our shop if you are interested in any of these new products.

There are a couple of nasty scams being operated in the area at the moment which you should be aware of. The first is to do with the digital switch over which is scheduled to happen in 2009 -10 in Devon. There are companies going around telling people that they need new aeriels ready for the switch over when in actual fact this is not usually the case. Please don’t be taken in by any of these con men, come along to our AGM in October next year before you do anything and you will learn all about what you need. The second scam is likely to be targeting clubs and offering a way of fund raising. They are asking leaders to put posters up which are suggesting that people lump all their community bills together to pay them and the club would get a percentage. This is a total scam so please do not ever do anything like this. Pauline from Ilfracombe was approached and took it to the Police who informed her that if she had even put the posters up she would have been liable so don’t have anything to do with this. Thanks to Pauline for alerting me to this.

Linda, who works in our shop here, also runs a Lifestyles business, she sells all kinds of natural supplements and potions and can supply a brochure if you are interested. She has said that she will give the Association 10% on any orders she takes through us. If you are interested in having a brochure or more details then please contact Linda at her home telephone number which is 01626 775288.

Cancerbackup and Cancer Research UK are working in partnership to provide cancer information audiotapes for anyone affected by cancer. They currently have 50 titles covering a variety of cancer types, treatments and living with cancer, please check it out on their website http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/.

Thank you to all of you who have made enquiries about my back, I am pleased to say that I am much better now, although it is not totally gone. I am currently waiting for an MRI scan but I am looking forward to a much better New Year!

Please note that we will be closing here on Friday, 21st December at 1pm and will re-open at 10am on Wednesday, 2nd January. Have a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year with best wishes from Sue, Pat, Valerie & Linda in Station House and Carole in Totnes.

Archived Newsletters

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Autumn 2007

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Summer 2007

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Spring 2007

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Autumn 2006

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Summer 2006

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Spring 2006

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Winter 2005

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