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Charity hopes more people will learn Braille

Chris Craddock
BBC Jersey communities reporter
BBC Jenny sits in a chair looking at the camera. She has a light blue polo t-shirt on with a Guide Dogs logo on it with a black underlay and cream coloured trousers. She has a lead in her hands and her Labrador Retriever sitting to her side which is looking to the left of the photo.BBC
Jenny Stafford has begun learning Braille with Jersey charity EYECAN

A woman who is visually impaired said she jumped at the chance to learn Braille despite it being like "another language".

Jenny Stafford said she had hoped to study Braille when she started to lose her sight but was told no one taught it in the island.

She said learning the system which enables blind and visually impaired people to read and write would give her "another level of communication" and allow her to read the Braille labelling on her medication.

Ms Stafford was among those who attended an event organised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and local charity EYECAN at Jersey Library on Wednesday celebrating 200 years of Braille.

A group of people are watching the speech being made.
People listened to find out what support is available in Jersey for Braille users

Ms Stafford had a test to see if her fingers were sensitive enough to use Braille and a lesson to learn some of the letters of the alphabet.

She said learning was challenging but the opportunity was "amazing".

"It's like another language but it's very, very interesting and at the moment I'm enjoying it, but it is early days," she said.

Mark smiles at the camera as he wears a black polo t-shirt with the EYECAN logo on it. Behind hime - people are talking to each other in the background. Mark has short grey hair and a short white beard.
Mark Coxshall wants more people to learn Braille in Jersey

Mark Coxshall from sight charity EYECAN said very low numbers of people were currently learning Braille with the charity.

He said they did not know how widespread the skill was in the island and the charity was motivated to grow the number of people learning with them.

"We've got two people learning at the moment and we've got three people identified through their parents who want to make sure the learning is available to their children," he said.

Dave smiles at the camera as he wears a white shitr and holds his walking cane. Behind him is a desk with lots of braille equipment on it.
Dave Williams said Braille reading was a big part of his life

Dave Williams, from RNIB, opened the event and said he wanted to highlight the importance of Braille for those who are visually impaired.

He said he used Braille to read bedtime stories to his son and "actually proposed to my wife using a braille scrabble board".

Mr Williams added: "Braille means independence, it means opportunity and it means we as blind people have the ability to write our own story."

The visit to Jersey was part of a year-long RNIB Braille and Beyond UK tour of libraries to mark the 200th anniversary of Braille.

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