That'll be the Day

In this podcast, tom Walker talks to Geoff Cope who, after a successful career playing cricket for Yorkshire and England, was diagnosed at the age of 37 with the eye condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa. Geoff shared dressing rooms with some giants of the game including Geoffrey Boycott and Freddie Trueman and has a wealth of stories to share.  

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lose your eyesight? The American author and writer, Jon Gingerich has retinitis pigmentosa. RP is a progressive condition which means that a person's sight will continue to get worse over the years. Often, after the vision has been stable for a while, it can get worse suddenly over a short period of time. This is Jon's story.

From a victim of the Omagh bombing to a winner of The Voice, Tom Walker talked to some extraordinary visually impaired people while recording an edition of the In Touch Programme for BBC Radio 4 some years ago.

As you will hear in the Christmas edition of my That'll be the Day podcast, there's so much more to Penny Melville-Brown from Fareham, than losing her sight or being the first female naval barrister. Throughout her life, Penny has known success and disaster in equal measure, but what becomes patently clear, is that resilience is conspicuous by its presence. By any standards, Penny is a remarkable person and recording the podcast with her was a pleasure.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Deborah Fairclough, a visually impaired woman from Sheffield, whose recent experience of travelling by train was quite traumatic. When the assistance Deborah booked didn't turn up to help her to get off the train, she had no option other than to try to do that independently. It very nearly didn't end well. Thankfully, Deborah is still here and able to tell the tale.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Alan McCoomb from Liverpool who, at the age of 34, had a stroke which resulted in him losing his sight and in considerable cognitive deficit. The doctors said Alan was lucky to survive. Since then, Alan has taken advantage of the opportunities that have come his way, including studying for a degree in History and continuing with his love of cricket.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to a visually impaired man whose graduation ceremony was ruined by disability discrimination and thoughtlessness. But as you will hear, there's much more to Connor Scott-Gardner than this. In addition to campaigning and raising awareness of the challenges visually impaired people face, Connor has spent a year living in Colombia and is trans-gender.

In this podcast, Martin Conway who's totally blind, tells Tom Walker about his experiences of waiting for a very long time for help to get off and on aeroplanes. Martin regularly flies between Manchester and Ireland to attend GAA and other sports fixtures. Martin isn't alone … the BBC's Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner who uses a wheelchair, has also recently been forced to wait for way too long for assistance at Gatwick Airport.

In this podcast, Margaret Ord tells Tom Walker about how she coped with her visual impairment. At school, university and in her working life, virtually no adjustments were made for Margaret, with the exception of in her Biology O Level. It's a story of determination - with a bit of blag thrown in!

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to the visually impaired drag queen, Jake Sawyers, aka Venetia Blind. As you will hear, there's much more to Jake than his drag queen act. Jake Talks about the challenges he experienced when attending mainstream school and when training to be an actor.

In this podcast, Tom Walker speaks to the Blind Braille Artist, Clarke Reynolds, about how he uses Braille to create art installations, how he has coped with losing his sight and so much more. Given that he has only recently lost his sight, Clarke has developed considerable insight and understanding of the challenges blind and partially sighted people face. In this conversation, Clarke talks openly and honestly about the difficulties he and his family have faced. There's an abundance of joy and resilience about Clarke, and I enjoyed listening to him.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Sean Harrington, a visually impaired singer/song-writer, who is making waves on the Irish music scene. Tom caught up with Sean just before he was due to go on stage at the Irish Centre in Liverpool.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to visually impaired probation officer, Gill Wake, about the challenges she has faced at work and her views on the wider issues facing disabled people. Gill has over 32 years' experience of working with offenders, some of whom would be classed as seriously dangerous. There are stories and funny anecdotes aplenty.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Gary O'Connor about the challenges he faced in his personal and professional life while losing his sight as a result of the eye condition, Choroideremia. Gary tells Tom about the lengths he went to, to hide his eye condition from his employers and his passion for music.

In this Christmas edition of the That'll be the Day podcast, tom Walker talks to the visually impaired comedian from Liverpool, Chris McCausland. Chris tells Tom about school; his first comedy gig at an open mic night; and the challenges for him, as a blind person, of working in television. Chris also has some hilarious stories that will provide you with some entertaining Christmas cheer.

In this edition of the That'll be the Day podcast, tom Walker talks to Gillian Stafford, a visually impaired woman from County Meath in Ireland, about the challenges she experiences in her daily life. During the conversation, Gillian speaks honestly and openly about the difficulties she has faced at university and in trying to secure employment. Gillian also reflects on the ignorance she has faced in the community in relation to her visual impairment.

In this edition of the That'll be the Day podcast, Tom Walker meets the writer and actor, Adam Fenton on the stage of the Unity Theatre in Liverpool. Tom talks to Adam about his solo-show, Tuning In, which was one of the events to mark Disability History Month. During their conversation, they discuss the challenges Adam faces as a neuro-diverse person.

In this edition of the That'll be the Day podcast, Tom Walker talks to Sandy Taylor, a visually impaired man who has led numerous successful campaigns with the National Federation of the Blind UK for better street access for blind and partially sighted people in Scotland, and further afield. Sandy talks honestly and openly about the challenges he has faced while losing his sight and the adjustments he has had to make as a totally blind person. Before he lost his sight, Sandy was a successful businessman who enjoyed driving and sailing. Sandy's mother always said he was determined and there is no doubt that the National Federation of the Blind UK has benefited from that.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Conway, a former extreme athlete from Australia, about the climbing accident which left him seriously disabled. Dave tells Tom about the accident, the impact on his life, and how, despite being blind, he is carving out a new career as an artist.

What does equality look and feel like for disabled people like me? What are we entitled to expect from service-providers and employers? Are the terms 'reasonable adjustments' and 'less favourable treatment' still relevant? For answers to these questions, I have spoken to the well-known visually impaired disability campaigner, Alun Davies. In the 1990s, Alun was involved in high-profile demonstrations that led to the Disability Discrimination Act. although his approach is more emollient these days, Alun still has plenty to say on what needs to change to improve disabled people's lives.

In this edition of That'll be the Day, Tom Walker talks to three people who have concerns about the impact of e-Scooters on visually impaired people. Their campaign has enjoyed considerable success, capturing the attention of the national media. One of Tom's guests, Rachel Pereira, tells us about her experience of coming close to being mown down by an e-Scooter in Nottingham City Centre.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Lloyd, a travel writer from New Brighton, about his experiences of losing his sight after a stroke. It started with what Dave was told were migraines but was in fact a blood clot on his visual cortex. In addition to losing a significant amount of his vision, Dave also had to contend with temporary Charles Bonnet Syndrome, visual hallucinations.

The visually impaired singer/song-writer, Joe Kenny from Northern Ireland, has just released his first single, Chasing a Dream. How accessible was the recording process for Joe who's totally blind? In this podcast, I discuss this with the musician, along with many other issues.

In this podcast, I'm talking to a visually impaired man who's written a book looking back at his time attending two schools for the blind in the 1960s and 70s. Writing under the name Paul Tyrone, Arthur Turner from North Shields has just published Out of Bounds, which is an honest reflexion on his time at the Royal Victoria School for the Blind in Newcastle, and Worcester College for the Blind. Not only did Arthur and his chums explore the roofs during his time at Worcester, he went underground as well. But there's much more in the book than these intrepid extra-curricular activities.

Could we ever replace guide dogs with a robotic alternative? Zhongyu Li, a PhD researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks it might just be possible In this podcast, Zhongyu tells me about his research. I also speak to Donna Waring from Salford, in Greater Manchester. Donna is an experienced guide dog user and has trained her own guide dogs.

In 2014, a visually impaired woman set up a Facebook Group to provide information, advice and support to blind and partially sighted people. Since then, VI Talk has gone from strength to strength. In addition to general issues related to visual impairment, group members discuss other issues including sport, music and cooking. In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Jo Fishwick who, with a couple of other visually impaired people, manages the group which now has over 3,000 members.

The Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB) has just appointed a visually impaired CEO. In this podcast, Mark Upton talks to Tom Walker about his early memories in school and work. Mark also discusses his plans for OAB and shares his views on the wider visual impairment sector.

Whenever I talk to Visually Impaired people about the subject of work, it's invariably a tale of woe. It's estimated that 75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are on the dole … A shocking statistic! You do however occasionally come across some positive stories, in which Visually Impaired People have been treated fairly and received all the support they need. Mark and Kerry Fielding who live in Blackpool started a new job recently and so far, everything is going well.

Tom Walker speaks to Lucy Edwards, the visually impaired BBC reporter and star of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and ClubHouse, about her success on social media, working in television and presenting a live show on BBC Radio 1.

Visually impaired performer, Mandy Redvers-Rowe stars in Measuring Up at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre on October 10,2019. This podcast looks at the trials and tribulations of trying to make it as a writer.

Tom Walker talks to Brian Switzer, a visually impaired Assistive Technology Instructor at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown Massachusetts, about preparing blind and partially sighted students for the world of work and the challenges they face when trying to find employment.

Devotees of Coronation Street will no doubt know that the character, Johnny Connor, is experiencing hallucinations caused by the little-known eye condition, Charles Bonnet Syndrome. In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Judith Potts from Esme's Umbrella and Nina Chesworth about their work with the Coronation Street script-writers to understand the eye condition. Judith's organisation supports people like Nina who have CBS. Judith tells Tom about the level of detail the script-writers needed to go into and Nina talks about her conversations with the actor Richard Hawley, who plays Johnny Connor.

Finding a job isn't easy for anyone right now, but for visually impaired people, it's even more difficult. Claire Randall from Kent, who went to blind school in South Africa, tells Tom Walker about the challenges she's facing in finding employment.

A visually impaired man from Birmingham sets out his concerns that the Guide Dogs charity has lost its focus. Paul Gough Hopkins is concerned the charity is concentrating on other services rather than providing guide dogs to blind people. Pete Osborne, the charity's director of operations, responds to Paul's concerns.