Louie’s story

Louie is 5 years old and is registered blind.

Recently Louie’s mum Karen has introduced him to Talking Books, which he listens to a lot – especially just before bedtime and when he has to travel up to Great Ormond Street hospital, which he does every three months.

Karen said: “Louie loves his Daisy Player and loves speeding up and slowing down stories. I can hear him laughing through the ceiling!“

I’m sending off the next batch of stamps next week.  It’s a small contribution to helping the vital work of the RNIB but every bit helps.  If you have any used postage stamps please get them to me asap.  It’s recycling something that you’d throw away for a very good cause.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to send me stamps.  There is a big pile on my table ready to be parcelled up.

Gromit posts his Christmas cards

If you were celebrating Christmas, I hope you had a good one.  I received many less Christmas cards through the post this year and many more online ones.  I suppose it might be my age but I like the excitement of (carefully) opening the envelope and seeing a personal message.  Many of my cards came from the UK and this year’s Christmas stamps featured the characters of Wallace and Gromit, plasticine figures made by Nick Park.  I listened to his choices on Desert Island Discs the other day and he sounded absolutely thrilled that his creations were on the stamps.

I know that volunteer Terri who works tirelessly collecting the stamps for the RNIB in the UK is also thrilled whenever we send a parcel from the UAE.  She sees first hand the excellent work to help people who are blind that these funds help enable.  I aim to send a nice package by the end of January so please get your stamps to me soon (direct to me, via Gulf for Good or Volunteer in Abu Dhabi).  Thank you for all your contributions large or small and Happy New Year.

Image by Kevin Dooley

This morning I opened 7 days over my morning porridge and was incensed by the headline about a passenger who is blind who was refused a place on a flight from Dubai unless he was accompanied by a sighted guide.  As a person with full sight I take the freedom to travel without too much inconvenience for granted but I know from talking to friends who are visually impaired that this is not the case for them.  Ignorance and prejudice often rear their head especially with air travel.  One bug bear for instance is being encouraged to get into a wheel-chair; ‘It’s my eyes that don’t work, not my legs’ quipped one of my fed-up friends to an over insistent member of the ground-staff.  All travellers, whether sighted or visually impaired, want to be treated the same.  I hope this is a wake up call for this airline and they train their staff and change their practises to consider the person first, not their disability.

I’ve got a huge pile of stamps to send off.  Thank you for everyone who continues to support this cause and takes the time to keep their used stamps and send them to me.  Keep saving them – every single one makes a difference.

Henry Wanyoike with his trainer and guide meeting English College students

I received a really nice note today from English College, Dubai giving me an update on their stamp collecting activity.  To quote, “I have got a group of our youngest students in the secondary school setting up and running the collection points for stamps here in the secondary school and also in our primary section. The students are very excited and enthusiastic and are taking full responsibility for this activity and hopefully we will soon have lots of stamps to send you.”

It’s great to hear this, as many children in our community get bad press I think (expat brats, terrible teens etc.).   As a mother of secondary school girls myself  I witness a much greater degree of altruism and real concern about our society, environment and helping others among their peers than often credited.  Saving stamps won’t save the world, but it does recycle something that would be thrown away to help people who are visually impaired.  I was searching for a nice picture of the English College to no avail, but I did come across this one in the Gulf News of other students meeting Henry Wanyoike.  Henry is a one of the world’s fastest runners and has participated in the Dubai Marathon many times – I’ve met him on a few occasions.  He lost his sight overnight when he was 17 due to a stroke and is a great champion for helping visually impaired people to become independent as well as an ambassador for Seeing is Believing (a charity helping to cure preventable blindness).  The RNIB does work in both these areas too so please help them by saving your stamps and sending them to be recycled.  Good luck with your collection English College and thanks to everyone saving stamps.

Your stamps help the RNIB carry on their vital work so please keep them coming.  Thanks to everyone who has sent them to me.  I’ve had envelopes containing 3 stamps and, this week, another parcel with a huge collection.  I’ll be sending another batch off in no time at this rate.  Volunteer in Abu Dhabi are doing a great job of collecting in the capital too.  So remember, in the summertime, save your stamps and slip on your shades.

Stamps ready for sorting, trimming and packing.

I’ve been really busy this week and didn’t get round to phoning TNT to collect the stamps to send to the RNIB.  How glad I am that procrastination paid off for once as so many good things happened.  Firstly, P from Gulf for Good thrust a little package of stamps into my hand when I was in her office this week.  Next I received a fantastic e-mail from the organisers of Volunteer in Abu Dhabi. The enthusiasm and generosity of spirit seemed to leap out of the computer.  They have asked people to come forward as “stamps ambassadors” to encourage and coordinate collection of used postage stamps within their work place or school in the capital.  I’ll be adding these organisations to my Roll of Honour list as they come on board.  You can contact Volunteer in Abu Dhabi through their Facebook group or, for stamps- related enquiries, contact me.

Finally, my husband walked through the door last night struggling to carry all our mail – which was mainly addressed to me.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed; from someone who took the trouble to put 6 Australian stamps in an envelope, to JR for a lovely, large bundle, to Andrew for a super, chunky envelope-full, to William who sent a most amazing collection of stamps dating back to the 1970s (bringing back childhood memories for me and fascinating my 13 year old daughter).  There were masses of foreign (i.e. non-UK) stamps which are worth more to the charity.

Here’s a reminder about what these stamps help the RNIB to do:

Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is the UK’s leading charity offering information, support and advice to over two million people with sight loss.

Our pioneering work helps anyone with a sight problem – not just with braille and Talking Books, but with imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges.

We need you to get involved to support our vital work. As a charity we rely on your generosity.

People are still losing their sight unnecessarily. We campaign to eliminate avoidable sight loss and support research into the causes and latest treatments of eye conditions.

I’ll send the parcel this week and pass on any feedback from volunteer Terri in the UK.  Thank you to everyone in the U.A.E. who has helped to make a difference through sending used stamps – keep collecting!

Leonard, a terrier, was found in Essex, underweight and wary of people. He now lives with his new owners Claire and Pete in Maidenhead.

“How much is that doggy in the window? Woof, woof!”

The Royal Mail in the UK is commemorating Battersea Dogs & Cats Home 150th anniversary with a set of special stamps showing some of its success stories.  I challenge you not to say “aaah” to these pictures (click here).  They are gorgeous.  It’s also a reminder to get your stamps (with or without pictures of dogs on them) to me as soon as possible as I will be sending a parcel off to the RNIB at the end of next week.  Even one or two will help towards their fundraising target to benefit people who are blind and visually impaired.  Leave a comment or visit the How to page for contact details.

If you want to know more about Battersea Dogs & Cats Home click here.