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IN TOUCH 鈥� Local sight loss charities; Doctor Who

TX:听 30.01.2024听 2040-2100

PRESENTER:听 听听听听听听听听 PETER WHITE

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PRODUCER:听听听听听听听听听听听 FERN LULHAM

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White

Good evening.听

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Dr Who theme tune

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Well, no prizes for guessing that tonight we鈥檙e going to be featuring Dr Who, a programme that falls into the small but select category of having celebrated its 60th anniversary, rather like In Touch, except that even without the Tardis we got there first.听 Later, we鈥檙e going to be looking at how accessibility forms part of the Whovian celebrations.听 And talking to some of the people who made it happen.

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But first, alongside the big well-known names working in the field of blind welfare, like RNIB and Guide Dogs, is a cohort of small and some not so small local organisations which can sometimes go under the radar when it comes to offering on the spot help to visually impaired people.听 So, what do these organisations do, how can you find them and, as we hear more and more about the financial struggles of local authorities, who have responsibilities such as assessing care needs and providing rehabilitation services, where do these local organisations fit into the picture?听 One hundred and ten of them come under the umbrella of the membership organisation Visionary and I鈥檓 joined by their Chief Executive, Fiona Sandford.

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Fiona, first of all, Visionary鈥檚 mission statement is to develop a strong national network of sight loss organisations, covering all parts of the UK but, I mean, how would you define their aims because that鈥檚 a pretty broad remit?

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Sandford

Hi Peter, thank you so much for having me.听 Most of them will provide advice, information and guidance in some shape or form.听 As you said, some of them are large, some of them are small.听 Our job, within Visionary, is to help them be the best that they can be.

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White

So, I mean, how autonomous are these organisations?听 Do they have defined responsibilities or can they pretty much do what they like, in other words, can they identify a need and try and fill it?

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Sandford

So, that varies also.听 Some of these organisations provide commissioned and contracted services in partnership with health and social care in various shapes and forms.听 Some of them provide care homes, some of them provide education, some of them have schools.听 So, are they autonomous?听 Yes, within the regulatory framework in which they operate.

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White

Because some of them have really done quite, what you might call, big projects, I mean some of them organise holidays, even foreign holidays.听 I mean, certainly in the past, I鈥檝e known them do that, I don鈥檛 know whether finance is again a bit tit for that kind of thing.

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Sandford

They have a huge range of offerings.听 The holidays are maybe something that they did previously.听 I think what they do now is more cutting-edge type of things that a lot of them provide tech services, a lot of them provide information on what tech people can use to help them in their own homes, to help them navigate, to help them stay in touch.听 Lots of them provide children and family services, others provide, probably what you would describe as more traditional charitable services, things like befriending services, information, lots of them have helplines.听 There鈥檚 no blueprint really as to what these organisations do.听 They鈥檙e all very responsive to the community they operate within.

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White

Staying on that, how much are blind and partially sighted people, themselves, involved in their policymaking and the decisions about what they do?

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Sandford

Increasingly so.听 I couldn鈥檛 speak on behalf of all 110 but certainly the ones that I鈥檓 aware of and the ones that I speak to regularly do have representation and do respond very much to what the members of their community need them to do.

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White

How would you describe the relationship between your organisations and the local authorities within which they operate?听 I mean isn鈥檛 there a danger for you that if the local authorities are struggling, so will some of your organisations be because they often rely on money from local authorities to do some of their work.

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Sandford

The charitable services that these organisations provide should be very much in addition to what the local authorities do, rather than instead of or a replacement for.听 Most of these organisations they鈥檙e good at generating income.听 You鈥檙e right to point out there is a bit of a funding crisis, obviously everyone is being hit by the cost of living and the state of the charitable economy that everyone operates within.听 So, there are definitely funding challenges out there for these local organisations, as there are for local authorities.

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White

To what extent are you able to do really quite down to earth things for local people 鈥� white canes and perhaps kitchen aids, that kind of thing 鈥� or indeed intervene if someone鈥檚 trying o get a service to which they鈥檙e entitled but not getting?

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Sandford

The member organisations do have locations where people can go in and try before they buy.听 And those organisations they will almost always have people on hand who can support the people who want to purchase the equipment and show them how to use it.听 They will advocate for people and assist them in getting the support they require in order for them to remain independent within their own community.

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White

Do you think there are still quite a lot of people out there who do need your help but just don鈥檛 know that you exist?

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Sandford

Yes, I think that is a key issue.听 But, do you know, these organisations, although they鈥檙e small, some of them are quite mighty and they鈥檙e good at promoting themselves, they鈥檙e good at developing relationships with other organisations.听 So, places like the hospital, should refer to the local organisation鈥檚 statutory service providers, social work should refer to the local organisations, community-based libraries, thing like that, should hold information and, of course, there鈥檚 always good old Google.

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White

Many organisations which rely on volunteers have struggled during and since covid, how much has that been a problem for your organisations?

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Sandford

It really is a problem, Peter.听 I was speaking with one of our members this morning in Yorkshire, this is a very small organisation, has gone from 28 to 8 volunteers, that鈥檚 something which we鈥檙e hearing from a lot of the members that covid has changed something.

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White

So many services are saying this kind of thing, that we鈥檙e three years on from covid鈥�

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Sandford

Yeah but it hasn鈥檛 gone away.听 Do you know what I think?听 A lot of volunteers are older people and they may be still concerned about getting covid or they don鈥檛 want to be out mixing with a lot of different people.听 So covid is still a thing.

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White

In a nutshell, what could you do for your potential beneficiaries that perhaps other bigger organisations can鈥檛?

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Sandford

What the Visionary members can do is respond quickly and effectively to a community-based need, so they deliver services that are relevant to the community that people live within at the point when they need them to be delivered.

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White

Fiona Sandford, thank you very much.

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Sandford

Thank you.

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White

Now, if you鈥檙e one of the millions of Dr Who fans, the fact that the show recently celebrated its 60th anniversary won鈥檛 have escaped your notice.听 It certainly didn鈥檛 for Louis Moorhouse, a confirmed Whovian 鈥� a word I鈥檝e only just come across but is a good one 鈥� who hit on an idea to make tales of time travel more accessible to blind people like himself.听 Louis is with us.

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I mean, first of all, tell us about this passion you have for Dr Who.

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Moorhouse

So, Dr Who is something that I have been passionate about since I was about 10-years-old and I鈥檓 22 now, so a fair few years.听 And it鈥檚 just something that鈥檚 been in the family really 鈥� my brother was a big fan and I sort of inherited that I suppose.听 And, yeah, it鈥檚 just been something that I鈥檝e loved through the years.听 I watched it at the beginning of Matt Smith鈥檚 era all the way through and then sort of went back and discovered other sort of facets of it, you know, big finish and things like that.听 And, yeah, it鈥檚 just been a constant passion in my life really and I just absolutely love it.

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White

Now, given that you want to make it more accessible, how difficult was it as a programme to follow because obviously there鈥檚 a lot of visual stuff isn鈥檛 there?

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Moorhouse

Absolutely and I think it was mainly sort of the older series that I found difficult to access because it鈥檚 only recently that that鈥檚 become available in an accessible way via iPlayer.听 When I first took up the series it just wasn鈥檛 accessible at all and I just didn鈥檛 know what any of these characters looked like, I didn鈥檛 know what any of the doctors looked like, I didn鈥檛 know what any of these classic villains looked like or anything like that and I was just really keen to change that in any way that I could really.

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So, you get five pictures, which go to the first four doctors, the Tardis and a series of villains.听 You also get a USB stick which contains audio descriptions of these pictures and they sort of guide the fingers across the page, they describe the details.听 And between those two things you can really build up quite an accurate sort of mental image of what these characters look like.听 To hear these descriptions read back by these voices that have been involved with the show and I鈥檝e known for years on a project that I sort of started was really quite鈥� oh my god we鈥檝e actually done this, haven鈥檛 we?听 Unbelievable.

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Accessible Dr Who

In this tactile picture, the Tardis is shown in flight, spinning around in space and moving off diagonally to the left.听 Start at the top middle of the page and trace down to find the light on the roof of the Tardis.听 This blue light turns on and flashes when the Tardis is on the move or materialises or dematerialises.

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White

Listening with us to that is Liz Davies, who鈥檚 production manager from the charity Living Paintings and they made the products that Louis been talking about there.

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Liz, tell us a bit more about them and how they鈥檙e made.

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Davies

Louis came to us with the idea several years ago now and we鈥檙e so delighted it鈥檚 all coming to fruition.听 And we鈥檙e doing all the doctors, we鈥檙e doing also a kind of key or iconic adversary or alien accompanying them on the tactile picture, as well as the Tardis.听 So, it鈥檚 really wonderful chunks of listening, experience and also exploring the tactile pictures that takes you through the kind of different eras and ages of Dr Who.听 And we worked with carvers to create the raised carved images that we then made multiple copies of in the vacuum form press, which we press on plastic and they are the tactile pictures, so they are original carvings.听 We worked with scriptwriters and also the 大象传媒 to produce the audio guides.听 It has been a bit of an enterprise.听 Obviously, we don鈥檛 have the staff team that the 大象传媒 do, it was me and Louis and a couple of other people along the way.听 Because we鈥檙e a charity we rely on volunteers, including the voices on the audio guide.

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White

And what about the kind of behind-the-scenes secrets that you reveal, such as how to sound like a dalek for instance?

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Davies

Oh yes, there鈥檚 lots of fantastic people involved in this, that helped us on this journey and they share their kind of nuggets of information, their anecdotes and they bring lots of lovely stories to the audio guides.

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Accessible Dr Who

So, here you can hear that sort of flutter just coming into my voice, there it is, so now I鈥檓 sounding as if I鈥檓 getting a really sore throat.听 So, if you just say 鈥榚xterminate鈥� like that鈥� 鈥榚xterminate鈥�, it doesn鈥檛 really work, so here鈥檚 where you really need to get into the part.听 So, now I鈥檓 going to give you one of my top dalek quotes: 鈥淭here is only one form of life that matters 鈥� dalek life.鈥�

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White

Well, don鈥檛 runaway because I鈥檓 going to get you to explain how people can get hold of these.听 But I鈥檓 also pleased to say that the good news on accessibility doesn鈥檛 end there because to mark the Dr鈥檚 60th anniversary the 大象传媒 has released hundreds of episodes from the back catalogue of the show, complete with audio description.听 To get you in the mood here鈥檚 a quick snippet of how it sounds.

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Dr Who archive

Who鈥檚 attacking us?

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A circular section of ceiling gives way and smoke fills the train carriage.听 Out of the smoke comes the intruders 鈥� cybermen.听 They open fire with their waist-mounted weapons and a fierce laser battle ensues.听 Two passengers are caught in the crossfire but one by one the attacking silver giants are gunned down.

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White

Well, Tom Williams, Head of Programming at 大象传媒 iPlayer was involved in the work to make that happen and he joins me now.听

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Tom, what was the inspiration for going to what must have been considerable lengths to produce all of this audio description?

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Williams

Well, we just had this magic moment, didn鈥檛 we, Peter, with, as you said, the 60th anniversary, Ncuti Gatwa taking over as Dr Who and Russell T Davies coming back to run the whole thing.听 And he was very keen on us making everything available on iPlayer and that job fell to me.听 And so, we started to think, look, how can we make this as big and as impactful as possible?听 And the obvious thing to do was just to make sure everyone in the UK could access their favourite programme 鈥� all 900 episodes, subtitles, signing and of course audio description too.听 It really was a massive undertaking, just marshalling all of that stuff really, not to mention all of the work that goes into creating the audio description and so, it鈥檚 a big piece of work.

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White

Just to put a slight dampener on it all, Tom, our listeners quite often complain that too few of the programmes that they love are audio described, can people take this as a sign that the 大象传媒 is perhaps making greater efforts in this area?

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Williams

Yeah, we could always do more couldn鈥檛 we, for sure.听 I鈥檇 like to say that it is because there鈥檚 two things that we鈥檙e doing here.听 One, is bringing back programmes from the archive and making them available for longer and I want to make as many of those fully accessible as possible.听 So, I鈥檓 hoping we can start to really grow the catalogue of audio described programmes on iPlayer.听 We have got a brilliant line up there, at the moment, of course, it鈥檚 always worth looking at the audio described category on iPlayer.听 We want iPlayer to be the best place to enjoy 大象传媒 programmes.

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White

Well, we couldn鈥檛 complete this piece without speaking to the first and, as far as I know, only blind person to appear on the show 鈥� if anyone knows better, they can tell me.听 So, welcome to, what I like to think of, as friend of the programme because she first appeared on it when she was about 12 鈥� Ellie Wallwork.

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Wallwork

Hi.

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White

Hi, there, again.

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Wallwork

Again, yup.

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White

First of all, I mean, were you a fan of Dr Who before you were offered a part?

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Wallwork

I wouldn鈥檛 call myself a Whovian but I definitely have been aware of the show for years and years because my dad鈥檚 a huge fan.听 It was quite a big deal to him when I was on the show.

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White

I was going to say he must have been very excited.

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Wallwork

I took him on set actually and that was really fun for him because he absolutely loved it, he was like a little boy on Christmas, it was adorable.听 So, I played Hanne, who was and still is in the Whovian world, a 14 or so year old Norwegian blind girl.听 She was sort of abandoned in a cabin in the middle of woods, her dad went missing and she wasn鈥檛 having a great time.听 And then the doctor comes and saves the day.

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White

And I believe you will be part of this Living Paintings project yourself?

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Wallwork

I am going to be one of the voices and they鈥檒l lend my voice to these audio guides, which I鈥檓 so excited about because I used to use Living Paintings as a kid, so my school had a lot of the books, they would borrow them and I would sit in my little chair in the kitchen, listening to these CDs, having the best time.听 So, marrying up two really important parts of my life is just an absolute dream come true, I鈥檓 so, so excited.

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White

Moving slightly away from Dr Who, what鈥檚 your take, at the moment, on how accessible the industry is for blind people, you know, is it getting easier for would be blind actors to get parts?

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Wallwork

I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 getting easier but there is still so much work to do because although there鈥檚 been a lot of strides and a really, really good amount of representation 鈥� for example, All the Light We Cannot See came out recently and that was incredible, like I cried because I was just so, so excited that somebody was representing us 鈥� I just think there鈥檚 always ways to go and I think the whole attitude surrounding blind actors needs to shift into well, we can do it and we鈥檙e perfectly capable.听 People really need to stand up and look at us and make sure that they鈥檙e thinking about us.

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White

And of course, All the Light and the actress who played the part featured on In Touch a few weeks ago.

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Wallwork

Yes.

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White

I should stress.听 Finally, let me go back to Liz because, I mean, people will be wondering how do we get hold of these.

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Davies

Well Living Paintings is a free postal library for anyone who鈥檚 blind or partially sighted in the UK.听 You can log on to our website at livingpaintings.org or you can call us up on 01635 299771 and we can send you out your first Dr Who pack.

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White

We鈥檒l have to leave it there but thank you very much, Liz Davies for the information, Louis Moorhouse, Tom Williams and Ellie Wallwork, thank you.

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All

Thank you.

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White

And that鈥檚 it for today.听 We welcome your comments and views on anything that we鈥檝e covered or indeed in your opinion should be covering.听 You can email intouch@bbc.co.uk, leave your messages on 0161 8361338 and we have a website with additional information bbc.co.uk/intouch from where you can also download tonight鈥檚 and previous editions of the programme.

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From me, Peter White, this week鈥檚 producer Fern Lulham and studio managers Simon Highfield and Sharon Hughes, goodbye.

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Dr Who theme tune

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