Deafblind Scotland
Are you interested in learning a new skill? Deafblind Scotland have new BSL Level 1 and BSL Level 2 classes starting from the following dates:-
Level 1 – Monday 2 September. This is a 20 week course at a cost of £350.00
Level 2 – Wednesday 9 October. This is a 30 week course at a cost of £500.00
Why not come and join us , please give us a call on 0141 777 6111 and we would be happy to discuss what is involved in learning BSL.
A big thank you to everyone who supported Deafblind Awareness week 2019, particularly the Old Gatehouse, Mortons Rolls, McGhee’s Donuts and McClure’s Solicitors! We had an amazing week and the weather was fabulous. The quiz night at the Old Gatehouse was great fun. Our first tea party at our charity shop was very tasty and many of our regular customers met our new Chief Executive Isabella. Deafblind members enjoyed a walk to the local waterfalls and celebrated with sweet treats. Over 40 children had a great time playing our new vintage games made by the Kirkintilloch Mens Shed and decorated by Dawn. Watch this space for next year’s celebrations!
We are extremely grateful for the support of the People’s Postcode Lottery through the Postcode Trust for awarding Deafblind Scotland £20,000 to continue supporting our Connect 2 Support welfare rights home visiting programme.
Deafblind Scotland’s Connect 2 Support home visiting programme aims to make social welfare and welfare rights more accessible for deafblind adults and has helped more than 500 people since the programme began.
Often, severely sensory impaired individuals rely totally on welfare benefits and incur additional expenditure due to the nature of their disability e.g. the cost of Guide/communicators etc. Welfare reform seems relentless and often difficult to negotiate. Welfare benefits are complex and the processes remain time-consuming, particularly for deafblind people. CABx are overwhelmed, their open-door policy in many cases no longer exists and initial contact is via a call centre. Their engagement process relies heavily on the completion of forms. For many deafblind people, this operating model is too difficult or even impossible to engage with. When deafblind people are unable to access information, this exacerbates their feelings of social isolation and loss of independence.
Deafblind Scotland (DbS) Connect 2 Support (C2S) home visiting programme aims to make social welfare and welfare rights more accessible for deafblind adults. The programme maximises the economic environment and rights of individuals so they can have a better quality of life and alleviates poverty and distress. Since 2015, the highly successful C2S programme:-
If you would like to know more about the Welfare rights programme then you can call Helen or Riley on 0141 777 6111.
We are launching a monthly Drop-in clinic for hearing-aid maintenance at DBS. The sessions will offer advise on how to look after hearing aids, change batteries and tubing (these should be changed every 5-6 months). They can also offer support on how to insert ear moulds correctly and signposting to other useful organisations.
Upcoming dates:
Monday 10th December from 11.30am – 2pm Deafblind Scotland, Board Room
Monday 14th January from 11.30am – 2pm Deafblind Scotland, Board Room
Monday 11th February from 11.30am – 2pm Deafblind Scotland, Board Room
Monday 11th March from 11.30am – 2pm Deafblind Scotland, Board Room
Huge congratulations to Bob Nolan, Chairman of Deafblind Scotland, for winning the Unsung Hero 2018 award at the Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2018. His award was sponsored by InterpreterNow.
Here is the text of his speech from the night…
Hi Everyone,
Just want to thank you for all your kind messages and support for last night’s Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero award. Whilst it was focused on this year’s Three Peaks Tandem Challenge I know it had a lot to do with all four challenges over the years and my time with Deafblind Scotland and DBUK. It was wonderful to be back at the home of Lancashire Cricket Club where I spent many happy days watching cricket with a packed lunch from my mum. It was also great for Louise and I to share the evening with some dear friends who have supported us so often. I want to thank Jackie and Richard at DSPY for organising last night’s event and Andy and the InterpreterNow team for sponsoring my award.
People ask why I do these things and the glib answer is I enjoy them! I like setting targets and stretching myself to beat them. I also do them to raise awareness of Deafblindness and money for our Field of Dreams project at DbS. I was so proud when HRH Princess Anne opened the building in October last year. However, I also do these challenges because they inspire me to do more and I hope, inspire others Deafblind or not, to do challenges of their own. What you get out of life is largely down to what you put in and I’ve been so fortunate over the years with my family and friends and some amazing adventures.
Now if I may, I’d like to add a bit more to what I said last night when I received my award and thank a lot of people. Firstly Abbie and Martin for accompanying us on our first ‘LEJOG’ tandem challenge in 2008 and for nominating me for the DSPY award. I’d like to think it was because they thought I deserved it but I wonder if it was also a thank you for not bullying them into doing any more challenges! Drena and Hammy for their support, encouragement and great company on all our challenges. Between us, we also saw some amazing scenery. Our son Josh for giving up his leaving school parties to cycle the Scottish Islands in 2011 and my godson Michael for accompanying us on our 2013 Scottish Cities ride. For the Three Peaks a massive thanks to Jerry and Fred who did all the cycling and who also completed their own 3 Peaks between them. As for the Three Peaks themselves, Judith, David, Gillian, Iain and Alison all helped Louise Jerry and Fred get me up and down safely. As well as the 3 Peaks Jerry and Judith also accompanied us on parts of our previous challenges on their yellow peril tandem. I’d also like to thank all my friends at Deafblind Scotland, DBUK, Shell and elsewhere for your generous support and sponsorship over the years.
The real unsung hero of course is Louise. She has done all the Challenges with me on the tandem including 1000’s of miles of training and she climbed all 3 Peaks this year, mostly following my tortuous progress from behind to ensure I didn’t stray from the path. She supports me in everything I do and her cooking is not bad either!
Lastly I want to remember Richard and Jane who supported our challenges so enthusiastically and Jane in particular for her brilliant blogs. Sadly, Richard succumbed to MND shortly after we completed LEJOG in 2008 and it’s hard to believe we lost our dear friend ten years ago now. I really miss him and as yesterday was also his birthday, I thought it was fitting to dedicate my award to his memory. Anyone who can come up with the immortal lyric “the prat on the tandem left his phone behind” surely deserves it.
Thanks again everyone, you’ve been great … Kilimanjaro here we come!
Robert
Taking place on Sunday 2nd December in Victoria Park, Glasgow!
2017 saw over 250 Santa’s and Reindeer take on the Santa Dash!
This year join us in Glasgow for more Christmas fun taking part in our family fun run.
You can choose between the 1k or 5k route with runs starting at 12.30pm.
You can sign up here!
You can access the Word .doc version here.
CONSULTATION East Dunbartonshire Council Draft BSL Local Plan
If that version does not work on your computer you can try the .docx version here.
CONSULTATION East Dunbartonshire Council Draft BSL Local Plan
Please email completed forms to edc.bsl@dbscotland.org.uk
Could you climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales and cycle the 483 mile route in-between?
Could you do this if you were also Deafblind?
Bob Nolan, current Chair of Deafblind Scotland (DbS), has decided that his first project as Deafblind UK’s (DbUK) new Chair, is to take on a challenge that we believe has never been done before by a deafblind person. A challenge which supports raising awareness of these sister charities and spans 3 countries.
Guided by his wife Louise, who is also Deaf, Bob will climb Ben Nevis on 18th June, Scafell Pike on the 22nd and finish his challenge climbing Snowdon on the 25th whilst good friends Jerry and Fred will guide Bob as front riders on his tandem on the two cycling legs to complete his epic journey.
So why is Bob taking on such a daunting challenge?
“Sadly the incidence of deafblindness is growing in the UK with over 400,000 people now struggling with the everyday challenges of normal life. I want to raise awareness and let people understand that whilst dual sensory loss is so isolating for so many, it doesn’t have to be. With the right support deafblind people can lead full and active lives and still fulfil their dreams. I hope that by completing this challenge, I can inspire others to come forward and with the help and support of DBUK and DbS achieve their own ambitions whatever they may be.”
Bob was born deaf with a progressive sight loss which started to impact on his life in his childhood years and now has less than 3% left. This has never held Bob back and as well as recently retiring from a successful and fulfilling career with Shell, he has chaired Deafblind Scotland for over 17 years, backpacked solo around the world, crossed England on foot, run numerous marathons, cycled 1000’s of miles for charity, loves open water sea swimming and even started his first deaf pop band at the age of 16. Bob’s cup half full approach to life and extra-ordinary belief in making the most of what he has, inspires us all and like Helen Keller once said, he believes “Life is either a great adventure, or nothing.”
We asked Bob what he was looking forward to most about the challenge and what he was dreading.
“I am looking forward to climbing Ben Nevis as that will mean the training is over. The thing I am least looking forward to, is cycling the hills, not the uphill climbs as you might expect, but the fast descents. I struggle to anticipate corners and changes in light anyway, but at speeds in excess of 40mph, I have to put all my trust in my guides and as the world rushes by, it’s terrifying!”
Bob is taking part in the challenge as a lead up to Deafblind Awareness Week which starts on Monday 25th June 2018. There are a number of activities planned as Deafblind UK celebrates 90 years of helping the deafblind community.
If you would like to wish Bob well, please do feel free to place a message on our facebook or twitter pages, or maybe you would like to join Bob on part of this adventure? He would welcome anyone to join him on the 3 climbs or cycling en-route, or even just to wave him on his way as he cycles the 100 miles each day. You can also make a donation to further support deafblind people by visiting Bob’s fundraising page on:
Of all the things we know about Bob, he will make this fun from beginning to end.
If you would like to donate to Bob’s JustGiving page, please click here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bobs3pc1
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