Welcome to Eye Matter Matters issue 26. This is a fortnightly publication where Eye Matter shares news and information about events and activities, members’ experiences and other items of interest. Unless otherwise indicated, all articles have been contributed by Fiona Musgrove. If you would like to contribute an article to a future edition, please contact Fiona at: fiona.musgrove@yahoo.co.uk
This edition includes:
Eye Matter Zoom events
- Bounce notes-From Wednesday 23rd April 2025
- Bookworms – June
Eye Matter Outings
- Eye Matter Spring Concert with the Eye Matter Singers
- Henry Moore Studios and Gardens- A private audio described tour
- An audio described tour to Frameless
- Eye Matter’s Third Annual Sports Taster Day and Social
Eye Matter’s volunteering opportunities
- Voiceover training
- Members Outreach Programme
Special Features
- Nominate Eye Matter.
- Dressed to impress at ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
- Blind Eastender
Eye Matter Zoom events
Keep up to date with our activities here.
Highlights include:
Bounce notes-From Wednesday 23rd April 2025
Ahead of this month’s Bounce, catch up with our recommendations for these and more questions relating to sight loss:
Question 1. What is the latest news regarding the Meta Rayban glasses?
Question 2. If members are still having problems with RNIB EasyReader, what should they do?
Question 3. What cane do people use?
Click here to read more:
Bookworms – June
Thank you for everybody who came to the last session where we discussed ‘A murder is announced by Agatha Christie’. Please can I remind you that all of our books must be available on the RNIB library:
https://readingservices.rnib.org.uk
June’s book is called Railway to the grave by Edward Marston. The next bookworms is on Wednesday 4th June at 11am, hosted by the wonderful Sarah.
If you would like to read our previous choices, please click here:
For more details or to join please email: suzie@eyematter.org.uk
Eye Matter Outings
Find all our events here
Highlights include:
Here are the outings and events available for Eye Matter members:
Eye Matter Spring Concert with the Eye Matter Singers
On Saturday 31st May, 4pm to 6pm
Meet and Greet at St Pancras International Station Midland Road Exit by the Thameslink barrier at 3:30pm.
St Pancras & Somers Town Living Centre,150 Ossulston Street, London NW1 1DF
For twelve weeks our magnificent members have been learning
A variety of upbeat songs including: “Walking On Sunshine”, “Dancing In the Street”, “Oh What A Night” and many more. Spend your afternoon toe tapping along with Eye Matter.
Henry Moore Studios and Gardens- A private audio described tour.
On Thursday 5th June
Meet and greet at Liverpool Street Station at 12:50pm
Tickets cost £30 – this covers the train from Liverpool Street to Ware, only paying from zone 6, the minibus from Ware to the Gardens, entrance to the gardens and the return travel to Liverpool Street. Sighted guides will need to have a ticket to cover them from Liverpool Street to Enfield Lock (zone 6)
Dane Tree House, Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, SG10 6EE
The tour will include some context about the site, house, visit a couple of studios & of course interact with the outdoor sculptures! Experience Henry Moore’s iconic work in the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside with a visit to the artist’s former home, studios and sculpture gardens.
An audio described tour to Frameless
On Thursday 26th June, 2pm
Meet and Greet at Marble Arch Station Oxford Street exit at 1:30pm
Tickets £9
Frameless is redefining the experiential immersive art world. Situated in Marble Arch, they are the largest permanent multi-sensory experience in the UK. Frameless features four galleries and showcases some of the world’s greatest works of art presented in ways never seen before. Where art breaks free.
Eye Matter’s Third Annual Sports Taster Day and Social
In collaboration with Metro Blind Sport and Illuminate Freedom Health and Well-Being
Islington Tennis Centre and Gym, Market Rd, London N7 9PL
Over 18s only.
Saturday 19th July 2025 – 10am to 4pm
Meet and greet at 9:30am at Caledonian Road Underground Station
Tickets £10 – including a halal lunch from Tripoli Express.
All abilities welcome. Volunteers will be on hand along with different coaches to provide instruction in each sport. For a taster of VI tennis and VI football, with an audio described warm-up and cool-down with Illuminate Freedom Health and Well-Being. We have some more sports in the pipeline but cannot release information about these yet.
There will be food from a Lebanese food truck available for lunch with wraps of chicken, halloumi or falafel options and sides of fries and a soft drink. When booking your place, please let us know your preference.
To book any Eye Matter outings please email suzie@eyematter.org.uk stating clearly which event and how many tickets you require.
Eye Matter’s volunteering opportunities
Voiceover training
Eye Matter is delighted to offer iPhone voice over training to its members. We will provide six sessions over a period of six weeks and each session would be for an hour. You would need an alternate number, preferably a landline number in order to carry out the sessions. If you are struggling while using your iPhone, then this training is for you. To join iPhone VoiceOver training please email suzie@eyematter.org.uk with the subject iPhone VoiceOver.
Click here to read the testimonials of our past participants:
Members Outreach Programme
We are continuing our member outreach programme, which is being coordinated by our wonderful volunteer Irena Valchera, our member liaison officer. We are seeking more volunteers to assist Irena in reaching out to our members to ensure they are doing well, confirm their continued interest in membership, and ensure that they are able to join our Zoom sessions.
If you would like to support Irena, even committing to make one call per week would be beneficial. If you are able to contribute more time, that would be greatly appreciated. Volunteers will receive basic training for this role.
To join our member outreach team, please email suzie@eyematter.org.uk with the subject line “Outreach Volunteer.”
Special features
Nominate Eye Matter.
Please support our fantastic work by nominating Eye Matter for this award:
Every year the Benefact Trust (part of the Benefact Groups supports hundreds of projects, please ensure Eye Matter is part of this award.
Dressed to impress at ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
Thirty Eye Matter members enjoyed an amazing touch tour and audio described performance of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ at the Dominion Theatre on Thursday 15th May 2025. Suzie Simons (Eye Matters Founder and co-ordinator) explained, “From the moment we arrived, we were bowled over by the warmth, professionalism, and care shown by the entire team at the Dominion Theatre.”
The traditional storylines of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘Pygmalion’, where a downtrodden girl is transformed into a superstar has an added twist at the end. Based in 2005, at the height of a competitive fashion arena in New York, its star Vanessa Williams (from the American hit show ‘Ugly Betty’) leads its 24 cast members (including 6 principle actors) with an original music score provided by Sir Elton John.
This performance was brought to life for its blind and partially sighted audience, in a most magical way, by the phenomenal Lonnie and Kate from the ever-impressive VocalEyes team. Their audio description was rich with nuance, humour, and vivid detail – turning what could have been missed moments into unforgettable highlights. The touch tour beforehand was the cherry on top – incredibly inclusive and thoughtfully delivered. Costumes, wigs, props, staging – you name it, they brought it to life! The added bonus of two cast members sparing their time to talk to the group was gratefully received.
A huge thanks to our Jo for these amazing photos.
Blind Eastender
Taking careful advice from the RNIB BBC’s Eastenders is currently running a storyline around a young couple coming to terms with their baby being diagnosed as ‘Severely Sight Impaired’ or ‘blind’, as the traumatised mum refers to her newborn baby. Peer support is a key element of Eye Matter and this fictional story we hope will raise awareness of the impact sight loss has not just on the person but for those around them. It will hopefully shine light on areas where improvements are needed or services that are providing current support. Although Eye Matters remit is for adults over 18 years old, what advice would you give the parents to support their child?
Suzie Simons (Eye Matter’s founder) recommends, “I would direct them to Victa (a children’s charity) who will provide the whole family with support. I would encourage the child to learn Braille at an early age.”
Fiona (Eye Matter’s Social media manager) said, “those with visual impairment are amongst the least likely to engage in physical activities peer supported groups like Metro Blind Sport provide regular accessible sport and social activities. In addition, I would encourage the child to learn technologies, such as the iPhone at an early age which will provide entertainment, access to events, navigation and so much more.”
Please send us your ideas and encouragement which we will publish as a supportive letter to the parents in a future issue: fiona.musgrove@yahoo.co.uk
Please click here for more information on the storyline and for further advice:
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2025/eastenders-set-to-air-visual-impairment-storyline