Keep up to date with everything our Student Voices and Young Voices groups have been doing. Check back regularly for the latest updates!
Since January, both groups have been busy representing the ‘voice’ of blind and partially sighted students and young people in the work that we do…
Our Student Voices volunteers have participated in various events in recent months. The group has been brilliant in supporting the work of our Student Transitions offer. Two students attended our online student transitions events to share their own experiences. One of them spoke at our #SocialEyes at University event where they advised students who were preparing to go to university on how they can better access social activities and opportunities. Another of our volunteers spoke at our #FutureVision for University session, discussing their experience of applying for university, DSA and accommodation. By participating in these events, they reassured other students of how they can access university. Find out more about our upcoming Student Transitions events!
Four of our Student Voices attended our ‘Meet the Minister’ Event at the Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) Hub in London. The students met with David Johnston MP, Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, and were brilliant in communicating their experiences of navigating education with a vision impairment. Continuing to support our policy work, one of our volunteers, Aleks, also attended an event at parliament to showcase the assistive technology he uses. Read Aleks’ blog here to find out how it went!
Our Young Voices have also been busy speaking at events, three of which attended the ‘Meet the Minister’ Event alongside the Student Voices. One of our Young Voices Young Leaders (YVYL) also shared their experience of socialising at college at our #SocialEyes at College student transitions event.
At the end of February 2024, we had our first Young Voices residential in South Yorkshire. It was brilliant to bring the group together in person to take part in lots of fun activities and begin their project work. Splitting into two groups, they decided on the themes of their projects. One will be focusing on sports and the classification system, and the other on the accessibility of retail. The groups came together again at the TPT Hub to continue work on these projects. They took part in a session run by Muller, where they learnt about how they can market and create a brand for their work.
Two members of the group have also contributed to community led work. One of them collaborated with the Natural History Museum to create a brand-new audio guide to aid the experiences of blind and partially sighted visitors. Finally, one of our YVYL collaborated with South East Sight Loss Council (SLC) with their filming project for Brighton and Hove buses around training drivers of the needs of VI bus users.
Find out more about our wonderful Student Voices and Young Voices by visiting our Meet the Student Voices and Meet the Young Voices pages. If you are interested in joining our Student Voices, all the information about what is involved and how to apply can be found on our Become a Student Voices or Young Voices Volunteer page.
Rainbow Mbuangi from TPT’s Young Voices volunteers recently starred in a film to improve VI awareness among Five Guys’ 4,000 staff.
Find out more about 'Young Voices Star Helps Improve VI Awareness for Five Guys Staff'Khansa is a member of our Student Voices, and she shares with us what volunteering as a student means to her. Read her story.
Find out more about '“Through Volunteering You Can Help Those Who Encounter the Same Obstacles as You”'As part of their DSA campaign, Student Voices met with Lord Chris Holmes to discuss their experiences. Read Paul and Asa’s blog to find out what happened!
Find out more about 'Student Voices Share Their Experiences of DSA with Lord Chris Holmes'Young Voices member, Elliot Greco, campaigns around mental health issues and advocates for other blind and partially sighted young people. For Mental Health Awareness Week, Elliot shares a poem he wrote.
Find out more about 'Young Voices Poet Shares How it Feels to Have a Visual Impairment'
This online community is for blind and partially sighted students, family and friends, education providers and other staff in the sector. It forms a supportive environment where relevant news, advice, questions and pieces of work can be shared to enable students with visual impairments to get the most out of their time at university.
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