Hello! It’s been a while since I wrote on this blog but I am really pleased to announce that Hareonna Diversity is back in business from 26th October 2014. I will be starting a new ad-hoc contract with NHS England as an external appraiser for information standards. This has given me to opportunity to return to running my business.
I have had a wonderful time working for RNIB covering some really exciting campaigns. I’ll outline a few of them below. But firstly I just wanted to say thank you to all of the great people and organisations I’ve worked with over the last 4 and a half years whether I was delivering contracts for you or working with you at RNIB I have had a wonderful time covering really varied areas and topics.
So what have I been up to at RNIB? Well one of my previous blog entries from nearly 2 years ago relates directly to one of the biggest campaigns I worked on, the bus campaign. In fact a great deal of my time has been taken up campaigning to improve bus services for blind and partially sighted people. I have attended nearly 30 Swap With Me bus events and met with bus operators from all over the country helping them to improve access and customer service. The campaign has been featured on Channel 4 News and You and Yours on Radio 4. Last summer I travelled over 2000 miles on buses around England on a bus relay. This summer I turned my attention to Scotland and travelled from northern England to Edinburgh by bus over a couple of days. You can find out more here and get involved by emailing Baroness Kramer about making a positive decision to ensure all bus drivers in the UK are trained in disability awareness.
Other campaigns I’ve worked on have been the Talking ATM campaign which has secured commitment from the main UK banks to provide accessible ATMs which talk to blind and partially sighted people through headphones.
I’ve also been involved with projects to make NHS and DWP information more accessible. I currently sit on the advisory group for NHS England’s accessible information standard. NHS England are currently consulting on that standard and you can find out more here.
I have enjoyed my work so much at RNIB I have decided to stay on as a Volunteer Campaigns Co-ordnator so I can continue to campaign locally on these and many other issues.