Upcoming events in conjunction with Guide Dogs and Berkshire Vision 

Save the dates

Did you know Goalball is a sport especially designed for the visually-impaired? Would you like to have a go to see what it is like?

Winchester Goalball Club is a fun and friendly club open to players of all abilities from age 8 upwards. Our members come from across Hampshire and the adjoining counties.

Based at Bisham Abbey, just outside Marlow, Accessible Boating Thames is a charity dedicated to opening up the river to those that might, for whatever reason, find it difficult to gain access to it. For more information click here

Berkshire Deaf Children's Society often have lots of events coming up for all ages- 

to find out more about all their events click here

Thomas Pocklington Trust’s vision is a society where blind and partially sighted people can participate fully. Our mission is to support blind and partially sighted people of all ages to live the life they want to lead and we do this with the help and support of blind and partially sighted volunteers. 

Young Voices will make a difference by working to improve experiences within education, employment and engagement whilst focusing in on health and wellbeing in the VI community, making sure communities are inclusive and helping VI young people to develop life and employment skills. 

 Please see the attached leaflets for more information about Young Voices.

Supporting visually impaired young people to thrive.  Look provide online Parent Support Groups to expert-led webinars, Youth Forums and Music Groups - ,  get your diaries out and make a note of these fab events from LOOK!

Look What's on page

Watermill Theatre in Newbury have some  opportunities for watching and making theatre that you  might enjoy and have provided this information:

Deaf/hearing loss

Duologue is our weekly youth theatre group for young people aged 11-16, held at Arlington Arts in Newbury. Deaf, hard of hearing, hearing, CODA, all are welcome. We always have an interpreter at the sessions. We’d love to welcome some of your young people!  www.watermill.org.uk/duologue 

Vision impairment

All of our youth theatre activities can be made accessible to support needs. Visit our webpages for more information about what’s on offer.

Blind in Business have some fantastic opportunities coming up this term with employers. Alongside this, they still provide the following:

• 1:1 mentoring
• School and county in person and virtual careers workshops
• Technology advice

To sign up for any of the below events or for more details, email. info@blindinbusiness.org.uk

Wokingham Children with Additional needs (CAN) Network is an information and support service for children and young people with additional needs and their families. Their March Newsletter has lots of information and things to do during the Easter holidays.

Our house is a unique accessible play centre where families can meet and all children are celebrated. It is a safe haven where disabled children can relax, have fun and be truly valued and accepted for who they are.

Soundabout have unveiled a brand new timetable for their online music provision. We have a variety of fun, interactive and educational sessions on Facebook, YouTube and Zoom.Sessions are free to access except for those held on Zoom. Please view their website for more details.

Please visit the RNIB website for more details.

Activities aimed at  children and young people can be found by clicking here 

They are running some pre-school groups 

To book, please email: children@berkshirevision.org.uk or telephone the office 0118 9872803. 

Some events have a limited number of spaces and some are age specific.  Please also remember, we now have over 100 members who are children and young people.  Do book as soon as you can!

TRANSPORT
Please remember to book transport as early as possible and at least 5 working days before the event as we cannot guarantee this for any late bookings and some events do not have transport available. For some events where possible, transport from the nearest train station to the event can be arranged with a £2 contribution. Please note that the charge for the minibus is £7.50 per family.  If this cost would stop your family from being able to attend, please come back to me. We don’t want anyone to miss out!

To book on any of the Berkshire Vision events, please email: children@berkshirevision.org.uk or phone the office.  

Carol
Carol Barnfather
 Children, Young People and Families Officer
carol.barnfather@berkshirevision.org.uk  or children@berkshirevision.org.uk
Telephone:  0118 987 2803   Mobile: 0778 8256760

British Blind Sport have designed an innovative pack to provide children with all the tools they need to take their first steps to leading a more active life. In addition to receiving the First Steps Pack, our First Steps families will receive ongoing support and will be invited to Family Days organised by BBS which not only bring young people together but also introduce them to new activities and inclusive clubs in their local community. For more information, please visit our website.

New College Worcester have lots of great events happening throughout the year.  See their event directory for more details. 
 

Learn how young people can manage low mood and depression during COVID-19. On this course, young people, parents, carers, teachers, and other professionals can learn helpful, practical techniques to cope with low mood and depression during the lockdown period and beyond. You’ll examine how to help young people structure their day and improve sleep and diet. For more information please click here.

We are a national charity getting more children with disabilities learning how to swim. We have recently launched a new programme in Slough in partnership with Everyone Active at The Centre and are offering lessons immediately. 

We fund lessons for children: aged 4-11, who cannot currently swim 10 metres, with a physical disability or sensory impairment.  For more information, please email contact@levelwater.org or visit our website.

We want to introduce to you a research project called the READY study (Recording Emerging Adulthood in Deaf Youth) and offer your child the opportunity to take part if they wish.  The READY study is a 6 year research project about deaf young people between the ages of 16 and 23 years old. It is interested in the changes in deaf young people’s lives from their point of view as they move between childhood and adulthood. The project is being conducted by the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh. For further information, please see the following documents: 

The University of Birmingham is undertaking a research project regarding the experiences of students with VI applying for Higher Education. In particular they are interested in how useful, or not, parents, students and teachers have found the information available on the RNIB’s website regarding applying for university and life at university, and the 'Supporting the achievement of learners with vision impairment in Higher Education' available on the NatSIP website.  These documents can be accessed here:RNIB and Supporting the achievements of learners

If you would like further information about the project or would like to complete an online questionnaire based on your experiences of using them, then please contact Rachel Hewett, Birmingham University at R.G.Hewett@bham.ac.uk

Speech and Language Therapy details of how to make contact with the team can be found here.

The Ear Foundation have a team of clinical and educational practitioner who run a variety of interesting and relevant programmes. Please see their website for more details. 

The NDCS hold many events and these can be found here: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/our-services/our-events

Wokingham Parents - There is a new local offer link for  parents looking for what’s on which should make it easier to find activities:

https://directory.wokingham.gov.uk/kb5/wokingham/directory/lo_whats_on.page

Subtitled/Captioned Accessible Cinema! 1,500+ shows nationwide! Clifford the Big red dog,  Spiderman West Side Story, Captain Underpants, Despicable Me 3, The Beguiled, Baby Driver, Transformers, Wonder Woman & more! All cinemas can show all the films listed above with English-language subtitles. Click the link for more details: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/films.html