Hello, my name is Amy and I have been registered blind since birth. I am currently a first year journalist student. This blog is going to be documenting my journey from the past%, through the present and into the future.
With the promise of a general election on the 4th July the entirety of the UK is filled with anticipation for what is to come. The announcement was made outside 10 Downing Street in the pouring rain with D:Ream ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ blasting in the background ended months of speculation.
What is a General Election?
A general election is a national vote which elects Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. In the UK there are 650 constituencies and each of these has a seat in the House of commons. Each constituency elects a candidate who will take on the role of MP and represent the local community, vote on bills and hold the government to account.
Candidates my represent a political party but can also stand as independents
How does voting work?
The UK has what is known as a first past the post voting system; this is where voters will cast a single vote for a single candidate. Registered voters in each constituency cast there vote either in person or by post and the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.
Nationally the party with the majority of seats wins the election and forms the government on the invitation of the monarch, in UK’s case a majority or ‘post’ is 326 seats.
If a majority is not reached the party with the most amount of votes has two options. Option one is to make a deal with another party to get them over the post; this is known as a coalition government the most recent example of which was in 2010 between Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg. Option two is to work as a minority government which means relying on other parties votes to pass legislation, the most recent example of this was in 2017 with Conservative leader Theresa May.
What happens to Parliament before an election?
Before an election the Prime Minister has to ask the monarch to ‘dissolve’ Parliament. MPs will lose their status and become candidates and campaign for re-election if this is what they chose to do. The government will enter ‘purdah’ which is a pre-election period which restricts ministerial and departmental activity during the election campaign.
Who can vote in an election? Who can stand in an election?
To stand in a general election candidates must be:
Be over 18 years old
A British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen
Not be a member of the police, army of civil service
Cannot be subject to a bankruptcy order
To vote in a general election you must:
Be over 18 years old
Be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen
Be registered to vote in your constituency
Have a form of photo ID
Not be imprisoned
Not be in the House of Lords
What happens the day after an election?
Some constituencies don’t call there results until the early hours of the morning: but once all constituencies have been called the leader of the party with the majority is invited to meet with the monarch. The monarch will then invite the leader to form a government in there name and the leader of the second largest party will become leader of the opposition. The process of choosing cabinet members begins and various roles are given out within the party.
How often are general elections called?
The latest a government can call a general election is the fifth anniversary of the first session of the current parliament. But the Prime Minister can call an election any time within that five year period. 25 working days are then allowed for an election campaign to take place before the election is held.
January is the month to try something new and challenge yourself, with annual events like Dry January, No Spend January and Veganuary. According to Veganuary 9% of British adults have taken part in Veganuary at some point since the campaign was first launched in 2014. Veganuary themselves have estimated that is around 6 million people.
The idea of a “new year, new me” inspired me to try Veganuary for a week. On the whole, I am a dedicated carnivore, so the idea of going vegan for a week was daunting. After getting some reassurance from my aunt I headed out to the shops and brought myself a weeks’ worth of vegan friendly food.
I started off my first day by having a croissant with some ham and applewood smoked cheese. I was surprised by how fluffy and buttery the croissant tasted and pleasantly surprised at the taste of cheese. I was off to a flying start, none of my fears were true and I started to think “I can do this!”. Later on I made myself a chicken and bacon toastie for lunch which had a rubbery texture and a very salty taste but was otherwise extremely bland. For dinner I made sausages, broccoli, pasta with some Philadelphia mixed in, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell the sausages were meat free if I didn’t know and the Philadelphia tasted a lot creamier although it was very bland and slightly watery.
I can definitely do this.
But then came lunch time day two… I made myself a cheese and ham toastie with some cheese tortilla crisps. The meal would have been great had it not been for the melted cheese. That cheese that had tasted nice the day before now tasted horrid it was like liquid plastic. I thought I would try and improve my day by having a kit kat. Unfortunately the kit kat had a very grainy taste and dinner wasn’t an improvement either, with the fish tasting sour.
Maybe I can’t do this.
However, day three was a slight improvement with the pizza having a creamy texture but again not having any flavour even from the onions or peppers. Day four was similar with the garlic kievs have a strong smell of garlic but strangely not tasting like it. Day five however did bring a bit of flavour back into my pallet with the burgers have a peppery taste and rubbery texture.
No, I can do this.
Day 6 was some dinosaur nuggets which had a rubbery texture and were very dry with no real flavour. Day 7 was the day I used up what I hadn’t eaten involving cracker and Philadelphia, crisps, croissants and biscuits. All of which had a very bland taste, dry texture and occasionally a powdering texture.
I actually did it!
I can definitely see the appeal of going vegan, with the diet resulting in 75% less climate-heating emissions and pollution. I very much enjoyed having meat and flavour back in my meals.
You wake up, get ready for the day, go to work, to the shops, pub, gym. But can you imagine doing these things knowing that you are losing your sight? Or waking up one day and your sight completely gone? According to Fight for Sight a leading UK eye charity 78% of people fear losing their sight.
But this is what Colin Bowley’s life was like before he lost his sight.
Photo from Facebook
Colin Bowley, 60, lives in Broxbourne on the border between Essex and Hertfordshire. He used to work as a Financial Journalist in London, he has two children and two grandchildren. He had a busy and enjoyable life both in and out of work; but it was always marred by the knowledge that he was going to lose his sight, something which at the time would have turned his world upside down.
Colin has Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) which runs in his family. This condition is the most common inherited eye condition affecting 1 in 4,000 people. RP affects the light-sensitive tissues in the back of the eye causing them to breakdown slowly overtime. He also suffers from Glaucoma happens when the optic nerve gets damaged which leads to a build-up of fluid in the front part of the eye increasing the pressure inside the eye. Colin’s Glaucoma wasn’t diagnosed as early as it could have been diagnosed sooner, but due his RP he was unable to notice the difference in vision the Glaucoma caused.
A video showing a simulation of what retinitis pigmentosa could look like compared to normal vision
In 2008, Colin had to stop working. “I felt like my world was closing down on me and I became very depressed.” When he was outside he found it embarrassing which added to his depression, so he began staying inside more and more. At one point he would even refuse to go out even with assistance, “as my sight deteriorated so did my confidence.” With help from family and friends, Colin decided to take their advice and put his life “back together again”. He contacted the local council and within a few weeks he was having lessons on how to use a long white cane.
“Using the long cane was extremely difficult and I was having real trouble with it physically and mentally as I had to constantly concentrate on memorising the route and look out for landmarks so I would know where I was. Any distraction sent me in a spin and made the experience unpleasant.”
Shortly after starting long cane training, Colin was advised to contact Guide Dogs for The Blind to enquire about the possibility of getting a guide dog, so he did.
Photo taken by Ann Danhaive Bowley
In March 2017, Colin was matched with guide dog Arthur.
Photo taken by Sara Burrell of Arthur’s first day Photo taken by Sara Burrell of Arthur’s first day Photo taken by Sara Burrell of Arthur’s Final walk out
Arthur was born in 11th June 2015. In just under two years he learnt how to be a guide dog from avoiding obstacles all the way to finding seats.
Photo taken by Ann Danhaive BowleyPhoto taken by Ann Danhaive BowleyPhoto taken by Ann Danhaive BowleyPhoto taken by Ann Danhaive Bowley
“My life changed dramatically once we qualified”. Colin not only got Arthur, but he got his confidence back. He was able to go to places he hadn’t been to for a few years, and he started to socialise with his friends again as well as meeting new friends which encouraged him to go further afield.
Video taken by Ann Danhaive Bowley
Since then, Colin has skydived, abseiled down spinnaker tower, walked over the top of the O2, walked 60 kilometres from Eastbourne to Hove and gone on Europe’s longest zip line in North Wales. He also started volunteering at guide dogs as a fundraiser and soon become fundraising co-ordinator for his Broxbourne.
Photo by Aidan Chaffe from Facebook Photo taken by Ann Danhaive BowleyPhoto taken by Ann Danhaive BowleyPhoto from a Guide Dog article
Unfortunately, Arthur was diagnosed with cancer meaning he has been forced to retire as a guide dog. Colin was a bit hesitant to go back on the list for a guide dog as he didn’t want to “replace” him, but Colin “quickly realised that he [Arthur] wouldn’t want me to go back to my old, depressed life and waste the independence he has gifted me.”
Colin wishes that there was more public awareness of all disabilities, education and accessibility, especially as a small adaption can make a world of difference. He also would like more funding to go into medical and technological research.
With hindsight Colin would tell himself to reach out sooner while he still had sight instead of living in denial. If he could give other visually impaired people advice he would say “I understand how fearful you must be but reach out to friends, family and charities that support the visually impaired. Although life will never be the same again, there is life out there and it can be a good one.”
It has been just over four years since the last general election was held in December 2019, and on 17th December 2024 it will have been five years since parliament sat for the very first time. This means that the UK is due a general election within the next year.
Currently Labour is leading in the opinion polls, but with recent boundary changes the results of an election could be impacted.
Boundary changes are intended to reflect the population so that each constituency has an electorate between 69,724 and 77,062. The last boundary changes were made in 2010 with reviews held in 2013 and 2018 but due to opposition no changes were made. Boundary reviews now need to take place every eight years.
Recent changes made by Boundary Commission of England have seen Wales lose 8 seats, Scotland lost 2 seats, England gain 10 seats and Northern Ireland retaining all their seats.
So how could these changes impact an election?
By changing the boundaries, it leaves marginal seats vulnerable, whilst increasing the majority in safe seats. There are currently 67 marginal seats in the UK, these are seats that have been won by a margin of 5% or less.
The lowest majority seats belong to Fermanagh and South Tyrone in Northern Ireland with only 57 votes between Sinn Fein and Ulster Unionist Party. With the recent boundary changes this constituency are taking 4.1% of Newry and Armagh, and 0.9% of Mid Ulster. This could potentially make this constituency a safer seat for Sinn Fein as the boundary changes take in constituencies with majorities over 9,000 votes.
Scotland has been reduced from 59 to 57 seats with the Highlands reducing from 3 to 2 seats, Allan Faulds who runs Ballot Box Scotland believes the “boundary changes probably won’t impact voting patterns” adding that Scotland has “already seen strong tactical voting that has made most constituencies into clear “the SNP versus one other party” contest.”
image from Ballot Box Source: Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News”.
Wales has decreased by eight seats, two constituencies in Wales are minority seats. One is Alyn and Deeside with 213 seats separating Labour and the Conservatives. The other is Delyn within the county of Clwyd which has a majority of 865 votes. Both constituencies have no changes to their boundaries.
In England the scale of change is large, out of the 533 constituencies only 55 will be unchanged. Seats in the North East, North West and West Midlands have decreased, while those in the East of England, South East, South West and London have increased.
Cheltenham has undergone boundary changes in all but two of the wards. Rowana Hay leader of Cheltenham Borough Council stated in a press release “I’m pleased that the boundary changes put forward to our members were taken into account. These ward changes will better reflect the increase in our population and growing communities.” Cheltenham is also a marginal seat with only 981 votes between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The boundary changes have seen Cheltenham reduced with some of the area going to Tewkesbury, potentially increasing the safe hold the Conservatives have in Tewksbury, but this means that Cheltenham could change to a Liberal Democrat seat.
On the other hand, Dagenham and Rainham have a 12% increase to their constituency; gaining 9.1% from barking and 2.9% from Hornchurch and Upminster. Currently Dagenham and Rainham is a Labour seat but with only 293 votes separating Labour from the Conservatives. Barking is also a current Labour hold with a much higher majority of around 15,000 which could mean an increase in Labour votes. However Hornchurch and Upminster is a Conservative hold with a majority of around 23,000. This is definitely a constituency to look out for when the next election comes!
There are many more constituencies that have had boundary changes, you can see if you have changed constituencies on the House of Commons website.
Historically boundary changes have favoured the Conservatives and looking at the publication of estimates for if the 2019 election had been held with the new constituencies, we can see that the Conservatives would have had 372 seats rather than 365, with Labour getting 201, Liberal Democrats getting 8, Plaid Cymru getting 2 and the SNP, Greens and Northern Ireland votes staying the same.
If the boundary changes had an impact the most likely place we will see a change is in England, but based on recent opinion polls Britain could see a shift in its politics.
The truth is we won’t know for certain until 10pm on Election Day.
Billowing steam and captivating scenic views are often paired together and create some of the best memories of the English countryside. whether on postcards or cameras these scenes never fail to amaze and melt the hearts of grown adults. but if you want to capture these stunning scenes for yourself, here are the top 5 best heritage railways.
Situated in the beautiful seaside town of Paignton this railway brings together views of the sea and forests as you travel from Paignton down to Dartmouth on one of there three stunning steam locomotives.
10 stations all within 20 miles of each other with the added bonus of the Sommerset countryside. this line also happens to be the longest heritage railway in England.
This railway is more than just a train and some scenic views this railway is an experience. from platform Punch and Judy performances and brass bands all the way to afternoon tea in the 110 year old observation carriage. it is definitely an experience you will never forget.
this is the oldest heritage railway built in 1835 by pioneer George Stephenson, it connects Pickering in the heart of the moors to the coast of Whitby. the stations along the way for a cream tea and even visit Goathland Station which was used as Hogsmeade Station in Harry Potter.
“If they know what they are voting for, they might start questioning it. And you wonder why we are in such a sh*thole”. That was the verdict of Britain’s only Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, in conversation with veteran environmental campaigner Jonathan Porritt.
The Cheltenham Green Party hosted Ms Lucas at the Parabola Arts Centre, on Thursday, with nearly 200 people in attendance.
Before the event started there was an opportunity to socialise with party members and councillors from across Gloucestershire. With only a few minutes before the event was meant to start the doors to the auditorium opened allowing the excitement and tension to flood through them as the crowd entered and begun to take their seats,
With the run up to the 2024 local elections events like this are important; especially for local parties which have the opportunity to secure more councillors. There will be elections in Gloucester, Cheltenham and in Stroud.
In Stroud there is an opportunity to become the biggest party with a working majority, in Cheltenham the Greens’ aim is to become the main opposition party which would push the Conservatives down into third, and finally in a Gloucester the hope is to elect the first Green Party councillor.
Gloucestershire is one of the leading counties for Green Party councillors already with 37 district councillors. The Green Party is leading the council coalition in Stroud with 14 councillors, and last year Cheltenham elected its first two Green councillors. It is also the biggest party in the Forest of Dean.
Dale a member of the Green Party spoke about Cheltenham’s history of being traditionally a two-party area between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, which means there “isn’t much of a choice.”
The Green Party has pledged “to stand in Cheltenham at every election. As if we keep stepping aside we will end up as a two-party state forever”.
Ms Lucas then took to the stage with a speech which overall reflected on making connections; whether those connections were with each other or the planet. With a reflection on three main things, firstly the green light the government gave to Rose Bank Oil Field, secondly the King’s Speech and thirdly the Autumn statement.
Rose Bank is the biggest underdeveloped oil field in the North Sea, and if it goes ahead, it will produce the same amount of emissions on an annual basis as the poorest, 28 countries put together. Ms Lucas said Rose Bank did nothing for “our energy bills, energy prices or energy security”. The government put this policy forward when parliament was on conference break meaning there was no scrutiny of the policy, she argued.
She said the King’s speech was “lacking in vision and narrative”, and she described Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement as ‘a smug and short term statement from a chancellor who it feels like is on a different planet.’
So what would the Green Party put in place if they were in charge?
Firstly they would put in place a clean air human’s right bill affectionately dubbed Ella’s law. Ella was a nine year old from London who was the first person to have air pollution put on their death certificate. This law would enshrine a new human rights to clean air which would be required to be achieved in England after five years. “Thinking about the impact on health service, on young people, on the environment. It’s a win-win from all of those perspectives”.
Secondly a renters reform bill “worthy of the name”; which would ban section 1 evictions which are currently in place under the current renters reform bill. As well as making sure the country builds more affordable homes and rent controls brought in places where rent is spiralling out of control.
Thirdly, it would bring in a fossil fuel phase out bill as the Green Party recognises that people will need time and training to get new jobs whilst still eliminating fossil fuels.
Mr Porritt (author of Seeing Green: The Politics of Ecology Explained) asked her what needs to be done about the difficulty of getting people to support Green Party politics, political discourse, climate change, growth in temperature across the world and her departure from politics at the next election.
The evening then wrapped up and the bar was reopened and ready for more socialising amongst guests and Green Party members.
If you want to get involved with the Cheltenham Green Party you can visit their website here or find them on social media @CheltGreenParty
Harmony of the Seas is a member of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class of ship. Measuring 1,181ft 1in overall and with a gross tonnage of 226,963 this ship can accommodate 6,296 passengers in total with 2,300 crew members. Aside from the size there are 3 key features that distinguish Oasis class from other classes which are: the Central Park area on deck 8 forward, Boardwalk area on deck 6 aft and the 8 different neighbourhoods the ship has.
Harmony of the Seas docked in Saint Kitts
Royal Caribbean is a US based cruise line which was part of the reason we decided to go on holiday to Orlando the week before. As the cruise sailed from Miami we got a private transfer down to Miami on Friday 18th August and stayed at the InterContinental overnight.
Saturday 19th August dawned and we prepared to embark on our cruise. When we got to the cruise terminal me and my sister were surprised that we would be staying in one of the Aqua Suites, As we were in one of the Aqua Suites it meant that we got assigned a ‘Royal Genie’ as well as earlier access to the ship and our cabin. For me personally this really helped as the early access was only for Suite guests so the only real people around were crew members; it also helped as the Royal Genie takes you to your Suite. As a blind person this helped me to memorise the way to the cabin in a less stressful and quieter environment.
We entered the ship in the promenade area which is home to many of the bars such as Bolero’s, On Air and Boot and bonnet there are also some food options on this deck including Café Promenade and the infamous Sorrento’s Pizza.
As an Oasis class ship Harmony of the Seas had a plethora of activities for guests to engage with. Granted a lot of these activities are universal across the oasis fleet but that didn’t make them any less enjoyable.
There are two main places to look for activities on an Oasis class ship the first is the Lido deck and up which would be decks 15 and 16 and potentially deck 14 if you were interested in the kids clubs. The other place to look would be the entertainment place which is on decks 4, 5 and 6.
Starting off at the entertainment place on decks 4, 5 and 6. on deck 4 there is an ice skating rink, art gallery, casino and of course the royale theatre. On this cruise their where two shows on at the theatre; at the start of the cruise Grease was on and then towards the end Columbus the musical was on. At the ice skating rink there were also to shows; at the start of the cruise there was a show called journey through time and towards the end of the cruise it was the ISkate ice showcase where the skaters performed to there favourite songs. The ice skating rink was also open at certain times for guests to use. There was also a silent disco and comedy nights which were based in the Attic also located on deck 4.
As I stated earlier Deck 5 (the promenade) is where a few of the bars were; however, deck 5 is also host to lots of different activities all the way from quizzes to games shows, karaoke to dance classes. Deck 5 also hosts the parties on board such as the welcome aboard party and balloon drop or the 70s disco party.
Deck 6 is where the Boardwalk is located at the aft of the ship, with a carousel, rock climbing walls, netted climbing for children and the aqua-theatre. This is also where the Ultimate Abyss slide ends which can make deck 6 a busy place especially with the shops, hot dog house and Johnny Rockets.
Going up 9 Decks we reach Deck 16 (there is no deck 13 as it is seen as unlucky). Deck 16 is where the Ultimate Abyss slide starts; it is also where the zipline and flowriders are located. The zip line goes diagonally across the boardwalk and is quite fun but can also be quite busy. The Flowriders produce stationary waves where guests can boogie board, body board or surf.
Deck 15 is where the pools, waterslides, minigolf, sports court, teen area and video arcade are located. there are 3 pools for guests to use and a splashpad known as splashaway bay which babies and children can use. Access to the waterslides can be gained on deck 15; there are 3 waterslides known as the perfect storm these slides are called Cyclone, Typhoon and Supercell. The minigolf is located at the aft of the ship and has 9 holes and a variety of obstacles to get through. The sports court can host anything from Volleyball to football and anything in between. The living room is the designated teen area where teenagers can go and do activities designed for them or play things like video games; the main video arcade is around the corner from the teens club and holds all kinds of different games.
Deck 14 is home to the other kids clubs from the nursery all the way up to pre-teen. Deck 14, 15 and 16 all have the adult only solarium at the front of the ship.
I mentioned earlier about the shows that where put on but there was also bands and soloists playing at different points throughout the ship. There were also a lot of different dinning options which I look at more in depth in my Suite blog post.
Overall I really like Harmony of the Seas and whilst she isn’t the biggest cruise ship she is still big enough to host everyone comfortable; it didn’t feel as if you were being squashed in even on sea days when everyone was in the same places it still felt comfortable even if there wasn’t as many seats.
I have lived with Aniridia since birth; and no matter how many ‘specialised’ doctors you see or how many other people with visual impairments you meet, you still feel isolated, different, and misunderstood. Now I don’t speak for everyone when I say that this is the exact reason Aniridia Network is important.
So, when I received an email invite to an in-person conference on the 2nd of September in Birmingham; I jumped at the chance to attend.
When I was booking my place, I noticed that it started early in the morning, so I decided to book to stay at a Premier Inn from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd September, allowing me to make the most of this opportunity. Something I was also grateful for when train companies announced a strike on the 2nd.
There was a mixture of emotions leading up to the conference, excitement, fear, apprehension. I was excited to be able to engage with other people similar to me but at the same time I was scared of meeting these people because what if they didn’t accept me? What if I came away regretting going? All sorts of what ifs and doubts plagued me. Looking back all of the fear and worrying was unnecessary but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Remember how I said I booked to go up the day before because it would be easier and there was a train strike on the 2nd? Well, that train strike was extended to cover the 1st and 2nd. Which wasn’t great especially as at the time I happened to be over in America. This added to the stress of the event slightly but thankfully I still managed to make it up to Birmingham with the help of family.
The amount of information provided by the Network to help people was amazing from attaching an agenda of the day all the way to giving instruction on how to get to the venue in a variety of ways from walking all the way to bus and tram information. I have never been to an event where that much thought and detail was giving to help attendees. This helped ease my fear slightly and made me feel safer knowing that at any time I could check and re check the information as much as I liked without bothering anybody.
Finally, the day arrived, ironically, I think I was more nervous in the lead up than I was on the actual day. I arrived at the Library of Birmingham at about 9:25am and found a seat at a table. Now admittedly at the start of the day I didn’t really talk to people because I was still a bit scared but that soon changed.
We started out the day with a talk from Helen Campbell who is a MSC genetic engineering counselling student at Cardiff university. Helen was looking at the experience of people with sporadic and familial Aniridia and those experiencing further sight loss and the psychosocial impact this has. I found this talk particularly interesting as it is something I myself have experienced and gave me hope for the future and how Aniridia and sight loss will be viewed and treated.
The next speaker was Emily Nash who was talking about the improvements that needed to be made to public transport. This again was a talk that really connected with as someone who travels regularly and has often been let down by the current system that is in place.
There were also talks from Vivienne Kit and Dulce de Lima Cunha from Moorfields Eye Hospital who were talking about research into Aniridia, Bernie and Abbie Reddington who were talking about Auditory processing disorder.
This was followed by lunch which got a bit chaotic (though it wasn’t anyones fault) because although we were told what was available it was a buffet lunch which I personally struggle with (mostly due to the amount of people trying to get food at once). Even when I know what is available I still wasn’t sure where what I wanted was. During this break I spoke to other people who were attending on a variety of things; from just getting to know them to talking about hospital experiences and what needs to be changed.
Emily Sterling also from Cardiff university talked about knowing that you’re not alone and the use of the internet in Aniridia patients. I found this talk interesting; finding out about the different themes found when looking at this such as transformational and empowerment. Many of the quotes given about this topic were also very relatable; this one quote in particular resonated with me, “in my teen years it was hard to accept my visual impairment”. Considering this talk was about knowing you’re not alone I would say it was very successful; even hearing the research and quotes made me feel less alone.
Following this we had talks from trustees and patrons as well as Permjit Bhachu from Focus Birmingham.
The conference was then ended, and many people joined the social at the Rep bar where drinks and conversation flowed before some of us went for dinner at the Novetel Gourmet Bar. Again, here food, drink and conversation continued.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at conference and as soon as I got talking to people all of my fear and apprehension disappeared. I would definitely recommend attending a conference to others; not only can you engage with research you get to know other people and everything you have ever felt isolated, different, misunderstood, all seems to fade away just for a while.
At the end i also managed to pick up a few books and leaflets to try and help me explain Aniridia and how it affects me to those around me.
I personally will definitely be attending more events that are put on by Aniridia network, whether that be a meet up or a conference.
If you are considering attending an Aniridia network event I would recommend attending even if you only go for a short time. The feeling of being around other people with Aniridias one that cannot be replicated easily.
When we arrived at Miami Cruise Terminal me and my sister had no idea what was about to happen. We had no idea that we were about to embark on a cruise where we were staying in an AquaTheater Suite, which is part of Royal Caribbeans Star Class.
Depending on what class you are in you get certain amenities. In Star class you are entitled to complimentary gratuities, complimentary speciality dinning, complimentary minibar and laundry/pressing services, complimentary beverage and refreshment packages. You are also entitled to some of the best seats in select entertainment venues, VOOM Wifi, priority entrance to onboard activities, suite lounge and sun deck and of course you have access to your own Royal Gene!
We were in cabin 9330 which was on the starboard side of the ship in the aft. As we were in an AquaTheater Suite it meant we were able to see/watch the AquaShow whilst onboard. Our Royal Gene was called Wendy and she was absolutely amazing throughout our cruise from the little things like making sure the cabin had enough snacks all the way to organising behind the scenes tours of the bridge, galley and even organising a special behind the scenes tour of the theatre for my sister who loves musical theatre.
When we first arrived there were balloons on the door and as we entered there was a happy birthday banner and cake for my dad and mum (me and my sister also got a cake but later on in the cruise). As we had priority boarding it allowed us to unpack and get to lunch before anyone else was allowed in the cabins which made the whole boarding experience stress free and a lot quieter.
As I mentioned earlier Star Class guests have complimentary access to speciality dinning, and we definitely took advantage of this. We didn’t go to every single speciality restaurant onboard as we didn’t really like some cuisines like izumi which is a sushi restaurant. We did visit: Johnny Rockets, Coastal kitchen, Chops grill, Jamie’s Italian, 150 central park and we accessed room service/Starbucks as this was also complimentary. Whilst this may seem like we has similar things every night I can assure you we didn’t and we even tried things we wouldn’t have thought to try had we not been there. Now as someone who was only expecting to go to one speciality dinning for one meal and then spending the rest of the time in the buffet or main dinning room, the concept of going to a speciality restaurant for every meal took some getting used to.
I still can’t decide if I liked Jamie’s Italian or Chops grill better.
Wendy (our Gene) made sure we knew what we were doing each day and when we were doing it, even sending us reminders 15 minutes prior to the event. Like I said Wendy was amazing and she would even take time to come see us at least two times a day to make sure everything was ok. It was more than ok.
With our star class status we could go along to the flowrider session put on for star class guests only and whilst I didn’t take part my dad and sister did. I was quite happy sitting getting gently sprayed with water as even though it was 8am it was already about 30 degrees. We also used to Suite deck a lot more than we did the normal pool deck as it was just a lot quieter and there was more shaded seating which was appreciated.
The priority embarking and disembarking from the ship was also an amazing perk for us especially when we had excursions booked, or when we got to Coco Cay as this meant we were some of the first at the loungers on the beaches.
Now the big question everyone is probably thinking. Is it worth the price?
From my point of view I believe it is worth the price, If you utilise as much of it as you can then it is definitely worth the price. Now we may not have necessarily utilised what we had as much as other people do but we utilised what we needed to. I think for us the biggest positives were the access to the Royal Gene as this helped our holiday run a whole lot smoother: this includes the prioritised seating we got, early access and the behind the scenes tours and all of the opportunities Wendy helped provide us with throughout the cruise. The access to laundry as we had already been on holiday for 9 days prior to embarking on the ship. Of course the speciality dinning really helped us to try things we might not have tried had we been in the buffet we probably would have stuck with what we knew we liked.
I think we probably could of used more of everything involved in the experience but we like to be able to go out and explore and experience things on the cuff rather than having everything in black and white. Whilst our schedule had been planned ahead of time for somethings we were able to adjust the timings to suit us, a brilliant example of this is when we moved our dinner to a later time a couple of hours prior as my sister wanted to go and perform at karaoke.
If you are planning on getting a suite which includes a Royal Gene I have two pieces of advice for you
Be nice to them they are human and they are amazing with everything they do behind the scenes.
Don’t feel as if you can’t change anything. If you don’t like that restaurant or the menu that day as to switch it out and if possible it will happen. If you don’t want to do that show it is completely fine
Overall if you can do a suite experience like this even if it is only once do it. I loved it and as a blind person it made my holiday so much more relaxing and I am sure it would make anyone holiday more relaxing.
I recently went on holiday to Orlando, specifically Universal Orlando. I thought I would give my ranking for all of the rides in the Universal Studios Park..
There are 13 different rides in this park some of which are rollercoasters and some of which are simulators. You can view the full list here.
As a blind person I am going to have different experiences on these rides as I interact with all of these ride differently to how everyone else would.
13 Illuminations villain con minion blast
This is the newest ride in Universal Studios, in fact it opened when I was in Florida on the 11th August, however, for me this ride was very underwhelming. for a new ride the line was short we only waited 30 minutes; this could of been because the ride is a moving walkway meaning the queue is constantly moving but it could also be a lack of interest in this ride. As I said this ride has a moving walkway which moves you through the building where you have to shot things that come up on the walls. Now the shooting aspect could be another reason I personally found this ride underwhelming as I had no idea what to do all I know is there were flashing colours. But I did overhear comments from other guests in the park about how underwhelming this ride was. for me personally this ride is definitely not worth the wait. One aspect of the ride I did like was the queue because it allowed you to interact with some of the replicas of the villains devices, it was also very cool which was a nice break from the heat.
12 Dispicable me minion mayhem
Another minions ride, this one is a lot older but is still a bit underwhelming. It is a nice calm ride to go on but it is very similar to a lot of the rides in this park and I have definitely grown out of these kinds of rides. Again I feel I could be missing crucial parts of this ride due to my sight loss and the fact this ride is a simulation. I can definitely see the appeal of this ride for younger guests or families.
11 fast and furious supercharged
This ride is very much like King King Skull Island. The ride is a party bus which is very jerky and is very loud and for me was very overstimulating with the noise, lights and movements. I really didn’t enjoy this ride and personally I think a lot more could have been done for this ride; they could of had a rollercoaster (which they are planning for Universal Hollywood) which in my opinion would have been a lot better and more exciting.
10 Race through New York starring Jimmy Fallon
This ride is very similar to the Minion Mayhem ride only with a tad more excitement. Again I feel I missed out on some elements of this ride due to it being a very visual ride. Again I loved the consistent theming throughout the queue and being given a colour which was represented on the NBC logo.
This is essentially the Studios version of Red Fish, Blue Fish, One Fish, Two Fish but it is themed to the Simpsons genre. A fun classic theme park ride, I have witnessed smaller children being scared of the ride due to the aliens and the sound they use for the alien voice. other then that this is a great classic theme park ride.
8 Hogwarts express
You may be thinking Amy you have already reviewed this but as the train goes both ways i am reviewing it again. This ride (like I have said previously) is a great way to stay cool for a few minutes and transfer between parks. I do like the fact the storyline changes depending on which way you are going. But again I missed out on part of the ride due to its visual nature. It would be great if Universal could offer visual impaired guests an audio description headset for the journey.
7 Transformers the ride 3D
This ride is again a visual ride whoever it is more like the Spiderman ride over in Islands of adventure meaning that their were 4D elements during the ride. despite this ride being mostly visual I still enjoyed although I did remember it being more exciting than it actually was. I did struggle with the queue as it was very dark and the lighting in the queue was red or blue which would change unexpectedly; as a blind person I really struggled with the lighting in this queue and even turning a torch on wasn’t helpful..
6 The Simpson
This is another simulation ride which is very visual but also physical as the ride vehicle moves around in conjunction with the visual aspect of the ride. For me personally this was one of the better rides as i could see the bright colours that they used in the film and the audio and physical movements of the car helped me gage what was happening.
This ride is another ride where you have to shoot something in this instance you have to shoot aliens. Now I love this ride its like a mini rollercoaster but a simulator at the same time. and honestly I just randomly point and shoot and it has never failed me so far. Do I get the best scores no. But I did manage to beat my family, don’t ask me how.
4 ET adventure
This is a classic Universal ride its calm yet still entertaining and interactive. For me personally the ride was just pitch black but I was told there were lights throughout the ride. Even though I couldn’t see the visual aspects of the ride I still really liked this ride and would definitely go on it again.
3 Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
This is probably the most daunting ride universal studios offers, but like we say in my family “if you can do rip ride rockit you can do anything”. I do really enjoy this ride and although I can get stressed going on it due the moving walkway and how quick you have to get in your seat. I also sometimes feel as if I am not secure in the seat but that is mostly in my head. This ride is enjoyable and you do get to chose music (although I didn’t as I was unable to access the touch screen). I would do this ride a few times maybe not all in a row but definitely a few times spread out over the course of a visit.
2 Harry potter and the escape from Gringotts
Escape from Gringotts was definitely in the running for first place, With the high speed rollercoaster section mixed in with 3D and 4D elements this ride was definitely one of the best. I loved the fact that even though I couldn’t see the 3D parts I still knew what was going on because of the audio, sound effects and 4D effects like fire and water. I would go on this ride all day if I could.
1 Revenge of the mummy
This ride most certainly deserves 1st place. Very similar to how the Gringotts ride works the Mummy has high speed rollercoaster sections which also go backwards. If my memory is correct I believe the Mummy has had some more parts added in as there were a few parts that I didn’t remember being in the ride previously. Again this is a ride I could go on continuously and never get bored of.
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