Exciting professional events....

Sight Expo 2016 was a really successful event with over one hundred people visiting it. My talk was very well received, there were about fourteen people who attended. I didn't have many questions throughout the talk but at the end there were quite a few people from different organisations who wanted to talk to me. I really enjoyed the experience, discussing the ways in which the challenges of sight loss can be overcome to a greater or lesser extent and that many positive experiences still happen, regardless of any impairments. Being visually impaired should not stop you from achieving your goals in life, you just may need to take a slightly different route.

My Award in Education and Training course is continuing well, I have completed two of the three units and the associated assignments. It is challenging fitting it into my already busy life, especially now work has become busy again after the summer. It is hard achieving a good work/family/study balance but that is a challenge that seems to face everyone these days. It continues to benefit the training that I'm delivering to care homes and I can see how I can improve my own training methods.

At Wiltshire Sight we are preparing for the Visionary 2016 conference which takes place on the 20th and 21st October. We will be delivering a workshop about how the Looking Out For Sight project has used research, strategy and action to influence professionals in the social care sector. It will be an exciting event, it brings together sight loss charities and organisations across the country so that ideas and practices can be shared. I'm rather apprehensive about attending the event because it is always challenging when I'm among lots of people who I'm not familiar with and I'm very aware that it's a professional setting and I want to make a good impression and be a good representation of Wiltshire Sight. I often miss what is going on around me, due to my lack of periphery vision and I do not always realise when someone is talking to me. I've also visions of knocking over wine glasses at dinner which is rather embarrassing! However, I won't be the only visually impaired person. This is what I really love about working in eye health area, I am not alone and there are many who understand the challenges I may have.

This event will be a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of project and to learn more about subjects relating to visual impairment through attending the different workshops. We will be staying overnight and attending the awards dinner. It will be an exciting couple of days.