Welcome to Eye Matter Matters issue 49, our fortnightly publication sharing news and information about events, activities, members’ experiences and other items of interest. Unless otherwise stated, all articles have been written by Fiona Musgrove.
Edited by George Sarcov and Paul Grierson.
To contribute to a future edition, please email: fiona@eyematter.org.uk
Important Notices
One to one counselling opportunities for members.
In February, Eye Matter launched our first one-to-one counselling programme led by counsellors with lived experience of sight loss, for our members.
Nick French who formerly worked for Action for the Blind, has been engaged as a Volunteer Manager to oversee the project. He said of the opportunity, “I have known and worked with Suzie Simons for about 15 years and was delighted when she asked me if I would like to manage a counselling project that Eye Matter was developing. I have watched Eye Matter grow into the fantastic organisation that it has become and am really looking forward to working with the team and to be managing such an important and much needed service.” We have two counsellors, Paula who is doing her level 5, and Becky who is doing her level 4.
Counselling sessions take place on Zoom at a mutually agreed time. Sessions cost £15, or £10 for anyone on a means-tested benefit.
To register your interest, please email: suzie@eyematter.org.uk with the subject “Counselling”.
Volunteering Opportunities
Sighted Guides
We are seeking to recruit more Sighted Guides to support our fabulous events. No experience is necessary. Read more
All our future outings can be found in this one place, along with information about past activities and Members’ reviews.
Here are a Few Highlights:
In person Neurobics session with Steve Wax (as seen on Zoom)
When: Sunday 4th October, 3.00pm – 5.00pm
Where: The Living Centre, Kings Cross, London
Tickets: £5.00
Meet & greet: 2.45pm at St Pancras Station by the Midland Road Exit, at the Thameslink barriers.
One of our most popular and longest-running activities!
Get ready for an afternoon of mind-bending challenges, movement, laughter and fun designed to wake up your brain and lift your spirits.
Come and give your brain a workout!
Expect challenges. Expect laughter. Expect the unexpected!
Whether you’ve been coming to Neurobics for years or you’ve never tried it before, everyone is welcome.
To discover more about Steve Wax, please click here
Audio Described Tour at The Hunterian Museum
When: Thursday 15th October 2026
Tickets: £5.00
Meet & greet: 10am at Holborn Station
Eye Matter is delighted to be working with
The Hunterian Museum for our second private audio described tour
Thursday 15th October 2026
Meet and Greet at Holborn Station at 10am
The Hunterian Museum, named after the 18th century surgeon and anatomist John Hunter (1728-1793), includes the display of over 2,000 anatomical preparations from Hunter’s original collection, alongside instruments, equipment, models, paintings and archive material, which trace the history of surgery from ancient times to the latest robot-assisted operations. The Museum includes England’s largest public display of human anatomy.
Visit the Hunterian Museum and through an audio-described tour find out about the life and work of the 18th-century surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, who the museum is named after. The tour will focus on objects which show different aspects of Hunter’s quest to understand the life force of all living things, from the smallest plants to the largest creatures on earth.
Timings:
10.30am: Arrive
10:45am – 12pm: Audio described tour of the Hunterian Museum
12pm to 1pm: Lunch in the Temporary Exhibition space. Eye Matter are welcome to bring their own food or buy food from the café.
1pm: Handling session with objects.
1:45pm-2pm: Going back to the station
Please note, The Hunterian Museum contains human remains, including fetuses. Viewing human remains can evoke powerful emotions which some visitors can understandably find difficult.
Tickets are £5, please email suzie@eyematter.org.uk with subject ‘Hunterian’
An Audio Described performance of The Book of Mormon
When: Saturday 13 March 2027 – 2:30pm
Where: Prince of Wales Theatre. Coventry Street, London, W1D 6AS
Meet & Greet: Piccadilly Circus Station, Time TBC
Touch Tour: TBC
Tickets: Access Card with +1 – £12.50 per person
Standard Access Card – £22.50 per person
A hilarious and outrageous musical comedy from the creators of South Park and the co-writer of Avenue Q and Frozen. Winner of nine Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards, The Book of Mormon follows two mismatched missionaries on an unexpected adventure.
Please note: this show contains strong adult language, sexual references, adult themes and crude humour. It is deliberately irreverent and may contain material some people may find offensive or uncomfortable. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted!
We need to know as soon as possible how many people are interested in attending.
You will need an Access Card to book. If you already have one, please let us know the number. If you don’t already have one, you can apply for, or renew your Access Card, here .
For more details check out our events page here
All our Zoom activities, including weekly schedules, BookWorms, Inspiring Speakers, Bounce, cookery, concerts and much more can be accessed in one place, here
Here are Some Highlights
The next BookWorms meeting is on Wednesday 7th October, at 11.00 am. We will be discussing ‘Daisy and the Six’ by Taylor Reid. Even if you haven’t read the whole book, didn’t like it or just enjoy listening to others, come along to this friendly, relaxed session and let us know your choice for next time.
All of our books are available on the RNIB Readings Services as a downloadable audio book. Please contact RNIB directly for more information here
Join us for our remaining books for 2026
November: The best of Marion Zimmer Bradley by Marion Bradley
December: Mercy by Jussi Adler Olsen
Please check out our list of future books and lots of ideas from our past BookWorms here
Six-Week Course is set to return for its 15th series.
Would you be interested in joining our free, informal Living Well with Sight Loss course, delivered by Eye Matter in partnership with the RNIB? The six-week course will run on Zoom every Thursday from 22 October to 26 November at 11.00 am – 1.00 pm.
You’ll have the opportunity to:
- Hear from guest speakers, including Transport for London Accessibility
- Get practical low-vision advice and information about everyday gadgets
- Learn about welfare rights, rehabilitation and ECLOs
- Discover sports and leisure opportunities
- Explore mental health and wellbeing
- Share experiences and practical tips with other people living with sight loss
- Build confidence and learn ways to increase your independence
The course is designed to help you adjust to life with sight loss, discover practical solutions and support, and feel more confident in everyday life.
If you would like to sign up, the course runs from 22nd October. To sign up, email suzie@eyematter.org.uk
Visit this link to read some of our members reviews.
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 Charu@eyematter.org.uk with the subject iPhone VoiceOver.
Eye Matter News
You can stay in touch with all Eye Matter news here
The Strengths Within – Mindfulness and Character Strengths for Living Well with Sight Loss.
Delivered as part of our Marvellous Me Monday series over 12 weeks with Laura Brodie from Adventures in Albinism.
Reflections from Eye Matter members and supplemental information provided by Fiona Musgrove
Rachel left this message on our What’s App group, “Thank you Laura and everyone for a brilliant session this evening; it was my first time sharing and learning mindfulness as part of this very popular series of events and I can understand why it’s so cathartic, helpful and healing. hugely recommend making time for mindfulness on a Monday – I’m so very glad I did”.
Rosie appreciated being sent the accompanying meditation practices and said, “Thank you Laura, once again for a great evening it was very relaxing.”
Session 2: Perspective
“Perspective helps us choose the level of zoom that serves the moment.”
This week Eye Matter explored ‘Perspective’ as part of the virtue of Wisdom and Knowledge in the VIA Framework of character strengths. Perspective helps us step back, take in more of the context and find a wiser way of understanding what is happening.
Laura went on to explain how these sessions have been designed using mindfulness practices to bring together a sense of perspective without automatic associated judgement. This relates to a sense of awareness of what is in the body and its immediate surroundings based through the virtue of curiosity.
She reiterated that all 24 characteristics are present in everyone, yet it is only through discovery of these specific levels which defines a personality. Subsequently practicing regular mindfulness can create awareness to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Again, she urged members to take the online VIA Framework test. You can take the test by visiting the link here.
We noted how stress and uncertainty can narrow attention until a single problem or difficult detail, begins to fill the whole mental screen. A wider perspective gives that difficulty space to remain real while allowing other parts of the picture to come into awareness.
Laura described a scenario when shopping with her daughter and not wanting to be perceived as judgemental as these situations can often be stressful. By widening the perspective and not instantly reacting, the ‘pause’ acknowledged concerns regarding financial restraints, style, protection but it gave her time to consider the 10/10 practice.
“Will this matter in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 months etc?”
Laura suggested that perspective is useful when it is connected to the reality of the moment. Within Eye Matter, many members may be experiencing changes in new technologies, navigating their environments and changes within their everyday lives as a consequence of sight-loss.
Eye Matter’s reflections
At the end of each session the group is invited to reflect on that evenings’ experience.
Laura responded to one person’s confession, that although they had found the practice relaxing, the chaos in their mind prevented them from changing perspective. By reassuring them that this is often a natural reaction, she encouraged them to revisit the practice in their own time.
Another member appreciated Laura’s relatable examples in relation to understanding the theory behind perspective. Laura expanded the notion of ‘zooming in and out of a situation’ and how, within a year, they can be perceived differently. She warned against placing too much emphasis on one experience.
Eye Matter discussed how a small, relatively insignificant change, such as losing a set of keys can distort a situation. This led to discussing the merits of setting their own realistic standards which could result in the beginning of a downward spiral if they were not achieved. Laura concluded we are often harder on ourselves.
Join us each Monday on Zoom.
Please read the full article on Facebook here or alternatively, check out our Marvellous ME Monday page on the website here.
‘Run Around Sue’
Dedicated to our very own Suzie, Daniel Griffiths performed ‘Run around Sue’ at our Exclusive Zoom Concert, ahead of his Great South Run for Eye Matter.
On Tuesday 15th September nearly 20 Eye Matter members joined fellow member Daniel for an evening of music and chat. He opened with a tease from Phantom of the Opera and then onto a range of songs spanning from the 1960’s to the 1990’s and beyond.
Daniel is undertaking The Great South Run, a 10-mile run along the Portsmouth coast, on Sunday 18th October.
. Rosy was first to post her appreciation of his concert, “Thank you Daniel for a great concert on Zoom”.
Daniel played hits by Oasis, Greenday and Take That on his acoustic guitar and showed great skill in adapting his voice to the various styles, providing a selection of songs that soon had Eye Matter singing (albeit muted), and dancing along.
Natalie wrote, “Thank you, Daniel, for an amazing concert. I would love to hear you live as Zoom doesn’t do your talent justice, though saying that, I am so lucky to be able to hear such wonderful talent and skill from the comfort of my own home. Please indulge us some more in the future. One good thing about Zoom is you couldn’t hear me singing along! Thank you, mate.”
Last year, at our Eye Matter concert, Daniel performed an original arrangement of The Beatles ‘She Loves You’ which we were delighted to hear again. One member declared that he performed it better than John Lennon had ever done!
Another truly outstanding track was A-ha’s ‘Take on Me’ which Daniel had performed previously at our ‘Blindies Got Talent’ (BGT) night. One member confessed to be almost moved to tears by the emotion it evoked.
Daniel chatted amicably to his audience about his previous experience performing gigs, working in a recording studio and writing his own music. Eye Matter was equally delighted when he performed some of his own pieces. One member commented that it sounded like something Oasis would sing.
Rachel, (Eye Matter’s choir teacher), praised Daniel, “Huge congratulations and thanks for such a brilliant concert Daniel, 🙌 I loved it, especially hearing some of your own songs, you at the piano; Well, the whole thing was just wonderful! 🥰.
Daniel confessed his repertoire must contain around 300 different songs. He is self-taught, after being presented with a guitar when he was younger, despite struggling to read music, due to his sight-loss, he soon developed a flair for listening and interpreting musical styles.
Towards the end of the hour-long concert, he effortlessly turned from guitar to his piano to finish with yet more songs which left Eye Matter utterly spellbound!
If you would like to hear Daniel sing live, why not join the Eye Matter Singers series of Zoom rehearsals each Wednesday at 6.00pm prior their performance on Saturday 5th December in London.
Please visit this link to make a donation to his incredible challenge.
You can catch up with all our Exclusive Zoom concerts here.
Eye Matter members returned filled with confidence after an exceptional weekend of fun at PGL.
“It has been an absolute privilege to bring our members to PGL for the third year running. Watching people push themselves to climb, abseil, build buggies, fire arrows, shoot, throw frisbees and axes, whilst taking on challenges they may never have imagined doing.”
Suzie Simons Eye Matters founder) September 2026).
On Thursday 27th August, Eye Matter travelled to Sussex for their third PGL activity weekend and Suzie was keen to express her appreciation, ”Thank you to every one of you for once again going above and beyond to make our holiday at PGL absolutely exceptional, both for me, and the other 15 (11 visually-impaired Eye Matter members and 4 sighted guides) who attended.
From the moment Eye Matter stepped off the coach their special holiday had truly begun, “We were greeted by the most fantastic team of friendly, enthusiastic, helpful and fun guides. Nothing was ever too much trouble. The care and encouragement we received throughout the whole stay was truly wonderful.”
For Eye Matter members this was so much more than just a holiday, it was an opportunity to try things they might never otherwise have had the chance to try, challenge themselves, push their self-imposed boundaries and most importantly, have an absolutely fantastic time together.
This feeling was endorsed by Ksenia, “What a great holiday! I have met so many lovely people and was able to try so many things that I haven’t done before. Everyone has been so amazing and supportive. Thank you so much Eye Matter for organizing such a wonderful event!” Not even the unexpected rain showers could dampen Clive’s experience at PGL, “It was so great to meet such lovely people who despite the day-to-day challenges of being a visually impaired person (VIP) embraced every activity with such gusto and determination. This holiday has inspired me to maintain a ‘never-give-up’ attitude. There are no limits to what you can personally achieve with friendly encouragement and support, from those around you. I look forward to participating in future events and sharing new experiences with all of you. Once again, thank you Eye matter and all participants, for a wonderful, rewarding, fun weekend.”
On the PGL WhatsApp group Darren, who has attended every Eye Matter PGL holiday, left a voice note expressing his appreciation and enjoyment, “It has been an absolutely fantastic holiday and I have enjoyed every single minute. It was great to meet old friends and make new ones during this truly awesome experience. I am so proud and pleased to be part of such a great organisation as Eye Matter and look forward to doing it all again next year.”
Darren also added his gratitude towards, not only the activities staff, but also those in the canteen. Suzie agreed, “A special thank you to the restaurant team, who were absolutely fabulous. The food was delicious and plentiful, not to mention nutritious, and the support and kindness we received from the whole team throughout our stay was exceptional.”
Many such as Robert C, expressed their thanks to everyone involved. Clive added, “A special thank you to Suzie, Eye Matter, and all the wonderful volunteers, (Naomi, Rose, Seth, Cole) for making my bank holiday weekend so enjoyable. Thanks for your patience, help, support and most of all, companionship.”
More than just the activities, there was the chance to experience a pool party, karaoke, endless laughter and a huge amount of fun from start to finish. There was never a dull moment! For Marla (AKA ‘Dark Horse), this was an unforgettable experience. She was amazed at how much was packed into three days, “I loved everything about it: the rifle shooting, the Giant Swing, the Karaoke and meeting up with old and new friends. I especially enjoyed Aeroball which I have never done before. I was very shy at first but felt so confident at the end of the holiday I am looking forward to returning again.”
Stand-up comedian Stephen P confessed that although the Giant Swing was a step too far, he loved bouncing on the trampoline, “I really want to thank Suzie, Naomi, the volunteers, the PGL staff and also my fellow holiday goers for what was a really wonderful experience. In truth I can’t say I loved everything, (serves me right for going to the top on the swing!), but the rest was wonderful and leaves me with loads of joyful memories of abseiling, wall climbing and excitedly bouncing up and down on the trampoline (Ah! happy memories from childhood!”
Please visit our Facebook page for the full article and photos.
Alternatively visit our website here.
Eye Matter member Alison’s South American adventure with Traveleyes, as part of our Eye Matter Effect series.
“I encourage anyone, who can, to follow their adventure seeking spirit and embrace travel”
- of our Eye Matter Effect series.
On 15 June 2026, Alison embarked on her fourth adventure with Traveleyes, the specialist tour operator that caters for the blind and partially sighted. Alison’s tour of Ecuador began on the mainland at the dizzying altitude of 2,850m above sea level (almost 10,000 feet), in the capital, Quito. After taking in the surrounding areas the group was off to visit the Galápagos Islands, visiting San Cristóbal and Santa Cruz, (two of the most populated islands in the chain) and smaller islands and places such as Baquerizo Moreno, La Loberia, Lobos Island, Puerto Ayora and Academy Bay.
Despite her sight-loss, Alison thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Galapagos island’s incredible wildlife, the drive through the breathtaking Andean mountains and experiencing the orange glow of the early morning sun on the snow-capped Cotopaxi volcano. Feeling the power and gravitational energy at the equator was a unique experience, which Alison described as “truly incredible” and left her feeling as though she’d been plunged into a physics experiment. Being in this dramatic landscape, thousands of miles from London, Alison was awestruck observing and bearing witness to the physical forces of the northern and southern hemispheres. It was a real, ‘you had to see it, to believe it’ moment.
Alison appreciated the sensation of walking on a “pristine white sandy beach”, wading out into crystal clear waters and observing animals in their natural habitats. One of her lasting memories was walking along the Galapagos Island’s black volcanic rock beaches and encountering a large colony of sea lions sprawled on the sand. The group were able to observe the sea lions up close and hear the cries of the pups as they waddled along the beach.
Food on the trip was diverse with both American and Caribbean influences. The predominant meat is chicken, with a large variety of fresh seafood and abundant tropical fruits available, such as, passion fruit, papaya, mango, guava and even blue berries. Combinations of these tropical delights, mixed with fresh juices created deliciously healthy and refreshing treats. Alison’s culinary highlight was the taste of fresh and delicious avocado, which accompanied her favourite dish, ‘Locro de papa’ – Ecuadorian potato soup. This traditional soup has a thick comforting base made from starchy potatoes, simmered using aromats of, onion, garlic, cumin and achiote (an Ecuadorian spice), then enriched with milk, soft cheese and served with fresh avocado and popped corn kernels.
Alison revealed that she has had a desire to visit South America for many years, “where some areas are considered by many to be a ‘melting pot’ nation, influenced by the Inca empire, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, native Americans and Spanish colonisation. All of which is reflected in the people, language, architecture, music and cuisine. I have always been fascinated by how these influences translate in the modern-day”.
During this tour Alison was able to interact with these different cultures, “the wonderful warm and friendly everyday people who find pleasure in sharing their much-loved homeland”.
Her tour party consisted of seven visually impaired people, eight sighted people and a tour manager from Traveleyes. There was also an accompanying tour agent (and native speaker), who facilitated our travels throughout the holiday. Together, the group explored the capital city of Quito, including its Old Town, the indigenous town of Otavalo, Piial Village in the heart of the Andes mountains and home to the inspiring Sacha Warmikuna which translates as ‘women of nature’, where women celebrate, empowerment, sustainability and ancestral traditions. Along with Chilcabamba and Limpiopungo lagoon at the foothills of Ruminhui volcano” to name but a few of many areas and places of interest.
When asked what had made this holiday special, Alison stated, “I am happiest and most at peace when I am travelling. For me, travelling enriches my soul and being away provides that unique opportunity to have a 360 degree reflection on life, evaluate and consider my goals, endeavours and aspirations for moving forward. I just love the freedom of escapism and discovering new places and people”.
To read the full article please visit our Facebook page; or alternatively, visit our Eye Matter Effect page.