I thought I would make an Envision masterpost, bringing together all of the relevant information and links, regarding the RNIB's new young campaigning network - so that everything is collected in one place. I'll also give a brief overview of the group, what we do and what our aims are. At the bottom of the post you will find important links, including our brand new e-mail address, launch micro-site and Facebook page.
What is Envision?
Envision is a new campaigning network launched by young visually impaired and blind people, aged 18 to 30, working in tandem with the RNIB. The network's name is an abbreviation, with each letter meaning 'English Network of Visually Impaired Spokespeople for the Improvement of Obstacles Nationwide'. It is the goal of Envision to make a difference across England for other young sight-impaired people, tackling a whole range of difficulties that are encountered on a daily basis.
I primarily joined Envision to campaign but to also meet with other young visually impaired people and to make new friends. It has helped me harness confidence, especially with public speaking and presenting my views to others that I wouldn’t ordinarily have had the opportunity to yield otherwise.
Envision and I recently visited the Houses of Parliament,
where we attended Parliamentary training, helping to give us an introduction to, and a better understanding of, how Parliament works and its relevance. We met with our MPs to discuss the obstacles that we face in our local areas and the things that they can do to help improve them. Our network engaged with political researchers and correspondents to obtain more insight into a typical week at Parliament - and we even met with Gary O' Donoghue! The highlight of the day for me was embarking on a tactile tour of Parliament, visiting the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Royal Gallery, the Queen's Robing Room and the Prince's Chambers. It was an incredible experience, and something I will treasure for a long time to come.
The following day we went to the RNIB headquarters at Judd Street, where we attended a campaign workshop and met with an already established campaigning group from Scotland, to gain knowledge from their experiences and draw inspiration from the results of their previous campaigning work. We launched our English network along with the first campaign that we would be focusing on – the difficulties surrounding leisure and retail. There are a wide variety of issues to address in this area, and myself and the rest of Envision are excited and enthusiastic to get started.
Envision had a series of regional teleconferences in early December, to begin discussions detailing the next steps that we want to take with our campaign. We have decided that we want to tackle the obstacle of accessible menus in coffee shops. Each member of Envision was given the task of "mystery shopping" at each of the 4 main coffee shops, (Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Cafe Nero and Pret A Manger) to test the service, see whether they have accessible menus and know how to support a visually impaired / blind customer. You can read my results here, where I have compared and contrasted my experiences in 3 coffee shops and determined which chain was the most accessible.
The Steering Group
As there are quite a number of members of Envision already, we thought it would be best if there was a small group of core members to help coordinate and drive forward the work on Envision. It will involve a certain additional level of time commitment, including attending teleconferences and face-to-face meetings, as necessary. The steering group will work with the RNIB campaign team to:
• Contribute to the lottery bid
• Develop campaigns following
consultation with other group members
consultation with other group members
• Develop campaign resources
• External communications; writing blogs,
providing web updates, speaking at events and
representing Envision at meetings
providing web updates, speaking at events and
representing Envision at meetings
• Internal communications; communications between
group members, chairing teleconferences
group members, chairing teleconferences
• Develop Envision; including organising
regional and national events
regional and national events
Those who were interested in applying for the steering group could do so by e-mail, sending in a short biography about themselves so that they could be nominated and chosen to be included within the core member group. Our steering group has 8 members, including myself, and we'll be having our first meeting in London, at the RNIB headquarters at Judd Street, on February 17th.
Roles and Responsibilities
We have discussed roles and sub-groups within the steering group itself, dividing ourselves to work more efficiently in areas that we feel we are skilled in or would like to learn more about. I personally love social media, so became one of the first members to volunteer for the communications sub-group. The groups and members are as follows:
Chairs / Co-Chairs
• Kimberley Burrows (Manchester)
• Nina Davis (Birmingham)
• Tom Church (Essex / Swansea)
Secretariat
• Lucy Hayward (Birmingham)
Communications
• Kimberley Burrows (Manchester)
• Mohammed Mohsan-Ali (London)
• Sean Barlow (Essex)
• Lucy Hayward (Birmingham)
Campaigns Planning
• Francesca Balon (Wigan / Worcester)
• Nina Davis (Birmingham)
• Naomi Stevenson (Royal Tunbridge Wells)
• Tom Church (Essex / Swansea)
Insight Magazine Article
I was approached by the RNIB's Insight Magazine in November 2013 to help write a short article regarding Envision's launch and aims. Here is the finished result!
Article reads: A campaign group for blind and partially sighted 18-30 years olds was launched by RNIB in November. The development is being led by the young campaigners themselves to ensure it focuses on their issues.
ENVISION, which stands for English Network of Visually Impaired Spokespeople for the Improvement of Obstacles Nationwide, first met in June to discuss the aims of the group. The goal is Envision is "to make a difference across England for other young sight impaired people, tackling a whole range of difficulties that are encountered on a daily basis," said 25-year-old Envision member Kimberley Burrows.
"We launched our English network along with the first campaign that we will be focusing on - the difficulties surrounding leisure and retail. There are a wide variety of issues to address in our campaign, and me and the rest of Envision are excited and enthusiastic to get started. Envision have a series of teleconferences lined up in the near future, to begin discussions detailing the next steps that we want to take with our campaign," she added.
A lottery funding application has been made to gain support to set up and develop this network before it is rightly taken over and directed by its members. You can hear the views of the young campaigners in a YouTube video produced by RNIB at http://bit.ly/1bJPeWK
For more information about the network please e-mail campaigns@rnib.org.uk or call 020 7391 2123
List of Meetings
Here is a directory of the meetings that Envision have attended so far, along with their corresponding blog posts about the progress made throughout the events.
• RNIB Parliamentary Visit: October 2013
• Steering Group Meeting: 25th February 2014
• Campaign Skills Training Day: 10th April 2014
• RNIB Campaigner's Convention: 14th - 15th June 2014
• Steering Group Meeting: 23rd October 2014
List of Teleconferences
Here is a directory of the teleconference that I have attended so far; both communications sub-group teleconferences and general steering group teleconferences. Each corresponding blog post contains the minutes I took during the calls.
• Steering Group Teleconference: 29th April 2014
• Steering Group Teleconference: 3rd July 2014
• Steering Group Teleconference: 19th August 2014
• Communications Sub-Group Teleconference: 24th September 2014
• Focus Group Teleconference (Envision & VCC's): 6th October 2014
• Steering Group Teleconference: 17th November 2014