Trevor Franklin went blind at the age of 60 and this hit him especially hard, so much so that he reached a point of wanting to kill himself. Then a friend persuaded him to get in touch with the RNIB. This good news story is reported here in the Telegraph.
Two good ways to reduce the risk of going blind are giving up smoking and cutting down on salt and salty food. These will improve your health in countless other ways too.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
RNIB's help transformed Trevor's life
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blind people are to march on Parliament in protest at their exclusion from a vital disability benefit.
Blind people protest at exclusion from vital disability benefit
Article in the Telegraph
Extract:
"They have accused the Government of "betrayal" over its failure to allow them to claim a mobility allowance that could fund essential trips for medical treatment.
At present they are ineligible for the Disability Living Allowance higher-rate mobility component, even though it can be claimed by wheelchair users who are more mobile.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) said it had spent 18 months working out a solution with Government officials, only for James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to ignore it.
It is now leading the biggest lobby of Parliament by blind people in an attempt to force him to back down.
The charity said it would be a test of Gordon Brown's recent call for fairness.
Steve Winyard, head of campaigns at RNIB, said: "The Government says it wants fairness. What's fair about blind people who can't drive only receiving £17.75 per week when other disabled people who can drive receive £46.75 per week?""
Posted by
Willow
at
11:46 am
Labels: Disability Living Allowance, James Purnell, mobility allowance, RNIB, Royal National Institute of Blind People, services for blind people, Steve Winyard

