Michael Fabricant helped celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of the Burntwood In-Sight Group – a self-help group for the visually impaired, their friends and family – on Saturday 4^th March.

Michael says:  “This wonderful group was formed 10 years ago when Carol Trigg suddenly lost a significant proportion of her vision.  She organised a coffee morning and awareness raising day aimed at showing local visually impaired people what resources there were locally and nationally, having invited a number of organisations to have stalls to advertise what they could offer including assistive technology to talking newspapers.

“This was successful in putting her in touch with others with visual impairment and the first tangible outcome of this meeting was the formation of Burntwood In-Sight Group, now celebrating its 10th anniversary. It’s a self-help group for the visually impaired, their friends and family. I was delighted to be asked by Carol to open their celebrations and help her cut the 10^th Anniversary birthday cake with a hungry looking guide dog, Laura, looking on.”

Carol Trigg says:  “Over the past ten years, the group has met monthly , save from the period April 2020 to September 2021, when COVID lockdown causing a suspension of face to face meetings. Group members however kept in touch during this time via weekly telephone calls and a monthly Zoom meeting.

“Over the years, the monthly meetings have included a variety of talks, some directly related to issues which face those with visual impairment and some of more general interest.; craft activities; film afternoons; and entertainment. The group has also made a number of additional visits, including Cannock Chase Museum, an Open Garden, and The Beacon Centre for the Blind in Wolverhampton as well as the annual Sight Village event in  Birmingham. Theatre trips have become a regular part of the programme, members attending performances which offer audio description and  a touch tour of the stage before the performance. To date these have been only at Birmingham Hippodrome but we are hoping to extend these visits to Lichfield and Wolverhampton theatres.

“New members have continued to join the group over its ten years some being referred by nurse practitioners and social services rehabilitation officers others have learned of the group by word of mouth.  We were really pleased Michael could come and help us celebrate our anniversary.”

Michael adds:  “The group meets on the first Saturday of each month 2.30 – 4.30 p.m. at Chasetown Methodist Church WS7 4QL. Anyone interested in joining the Burntwood In-Sight Group should contact Carol Trigg on 01543 670822 or email her at  carol.trigg@icloud.com.”