Toby Davey Audio: Recent Episodes
Toby Davey
freelance Radio Reporter / Audio Producer
Currently - Freelance Reporter - BBC Radio 4’s In Touch programme - producing features and items about news, views and information for visually impaired people.
2006 to 2018 - Deputy Director of VocalEyes national charity providing access to arts and culture for blind and partially sighted people - production of podcasts including; interviews with visually impaired and sighted artists highlighting access to theatre and the visual arts , production of museum audio-described guides, theatre introductory notes and audio newsletters.
Voicing VocalEyes monthly slot on RNIB Connect Radio highlighting audio-described events.
2000 to 2006 - Broadcast Assistant/Researcher/Reporter - BBC Network Radio - Working on both live and recorded programmes for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4 including; Night Waves, Front Row, Saturday Review, You and Yours and In Touch. Researching items for programmes, production of features and items, recording interviews and other audio content, liaising with and dealing with contributors, press and PR officers and the general public.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Mark Upton the first blind Chief Executive of OxEyes, the local sight loss charity supporting blind and partially sighted people in Oxfordshire. We will start Mark’s Tracks of My Life journey at the age of 14 with a rock album that featured many great guitar solos which could be described as the best air guitar album in the world and one that kick started his love of rock and heavy music. this album also started his discovery of as he says real music for him to with a certain Queen track that was featured famously in that classic 80s film Wayne's World. We then move to GCSE exam time for Mark and school days that were perhaps not the best for him with a track that takes him back to those spring days when he knew school was almost over and that sense of freedom which was just a couple of months away. Although with maybe a bit of an unknown future ahead for Mark. Then to College for Mark which he says were his lost years in a way doing a practical course in wood work that probably was not the best choice thinking about a future career but a choice that his parents fully supported him in. Although Mark had a small group of good friends at College in some ways, he felt that he did not really fit in. College was very different to school and there was again that sense of freedom during this time marked by another heavy rock track from an album that Mark used to listen to and get lost in on the train journey in and out to college. We then come to a change in Mark’s musical tastes which was influenced by one of his house mates when he was living in Chichester working in retail for a short period of time before starting on his career in the sight loss sector. One day by chance Mark came across a job at 4Sight (formally West Sussex Association for the Blind) when browsing the internet and joined 4Sight as an Assistant Out Reach Worker. A job that Mark says he could be good at , he could enjoy and one where he felt he was Abel to give something back to other visually impaired people and an amazing start to his career in the sight loss sector. Before we come to Mark’s final track, we have one for his wife Erika who he met through a dating site when he moved to Oxford to join OxEyes and a track for their son who arrived in to the world in the autumn of 2020 from one of Mark's favourite films, O Brother Where art thow, which mark used to sing to him when he was in the womb and as a baby to. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by easy listening music fan and presenter of Connect Radio’s Sunset Melodies show, Gary Moritz. Gary’s Tracks of My Life journey will start with his preschool days and time spent round at his Grand Parents home. Garry’s grandmother had a profound influence over the years on his musical taste and feeding his fascination with nostalgia which would later form the foundation for his Connect Radio show Sunset Melodies. We will then move to teenage years for Gary and his discovery of the music of Elvis Presley which then lead Gary to appreciate his mum’s record collection and introducing Gary to easy listening vocalists. Then later to the discovery of Frank Sinatra which started with a track from what might be the very first concept album. With fond memories also of spending many hours in a local record shop collecting rock n roll records and later of course Frank Sinatra records too. At the age of 16 Gary was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) which came as a shock to Gary and his Mum at the time. Being diagnosed at an early age and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to drive Gary decided to travel and at the age of 19 Gary along with a close friend went on an Elvis inspired trip to Hawaii. Sadly towards the end of their time in Hawaii a hurricane hit which forced them to stay in their hotel watching old films on the TV and seeing the musical An American In Paris really started Gary’s love of old movies. Gary will then reflect on his time playing cricket at Stanmore Cricket Club under the captaincy of his Dad who was a pretty good Cricketer. Garry even played alongside a famous England Cricketer and he has fond memories of great times in the club bar after the games listening to engaging stories from some of the older members of the club. Due to the deterioration of his sight there came a time for Gary when he had to give up playing Club Cricket which gave him the opportunity to spend his free weekends painting in his art studio which included painting portraits of Rock ’n’ Roll and Pop stars while listening to the Des Carrington show on the radio which furthered Gary’s love of easy listening music. Gary will then reflect on the time when he started out as a mobile DJ with 15 years of Disco work which expanded his musical tastes further into 70s and 80s music and recalling how a certain disco track which was always a good floor filler! Before we come to his final track Gary will talk about the time when he decided to take medical retirement from his office job to bring up his children at home. With very fond memories of fun times with the kids and playing at full volume one of his easy listening tracks that his kids would also sing along to. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Actor Ryan Kelly who has been playing the character of Jazzer in the long running BBC radio drama, The Archers for over 20 years now and he was the first blind student to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Ryan’s Tracks of My Life journey will start with what might be his debut as a performer singing ‘I want to be a punk Rocker’ by Andy Cameron in church to the Priest at the age of 2 which his Mum was not too impressed with at the time, but he was only 2 then. Then we will move on a couple of years to when Ryan was 5 or 6 and an introduction to folk music on long Taxis journeys to and from blind boarding school on a Monday morning and Friday afternoon with a track by Foster and Allen which was constantly played on the cassette player by the Taxis driver Mrs Flanagan and Ryan was known to sing the song at home in an Irish accent. At school to fit in Ryan perfected an English accent but would revert back to his Scottish accent at home and maybe good practice for his chosen career as an Actor later in life. We will then come to a track that is dedicated to his wife Sonya. Ryan and Sonya were childhood sweethearts at school for about a year and a half before Ryan went off to the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford to start his studies in the performing arts. It was not until a couple of years while Ryan was at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School that Ryan and Sonya got back together again and got married. Ryan will then reflect on his time studying the Performing Arts at the RNC with the support and grounding in the arts from both Amanda and John at Hereford who really helped Ryan to successfully gain a place at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School which not only provided Ryan with training in Acting but also in living too. Then we will come to a track that is dedicated to Ryan and Sonya’s daughter Bethany and memories for Ryan of a phone message from Sonya while Ryan was in Bristol acting in a play to tell him that she was pregnant with Bethany and a real magical feeling for Ryan of not only the news of Sonya being pregnant but also an acting performance that had gone so well that night too. A feeling that he has not had before or since that magical night. Before we come to Ryan’s final couple of tracks Ryan will reflect on his time in that long running BBC Radio drama, The Archers playing the role of Jazzer. What it is like for him as a blind Actor playing a sighted character which many listeners may not know about when they tune in to Radio 4 and get their regular fix of The Archers. how much Jazzer has changed and grown as a character over the years and whether there is a bit of Ryan’s own personality and character in his performance at all when he is playing Jazzer. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm. Please note that for Christmas 2021 the normal Sunday 8pm repeat will be on Christmas Day Saturday 25 December 2021 at 9pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Steven Scott, who has just hung up his RNIB Connect Radio microphone and headphones to concentrate on other broadcast work and to launch his new channel Blind Guy Talks Tech. In Steven’s Tracks of My Life we will start with both his love of good quality sounding music and of course technology too with the first audio CD single he was given as a present from his Mum and the first time he really sat down and concentrated hard on listening on headphones to music CDs on his Dad’s HiFi system at his Grand Mother’s house and being blown away by the sound quality of CDs when listening through headphones. Steven will then share with us what life was like for him growing up in tenements in the east end of Glasgow and how music also played a big part in his early family life. Then we will come to School life for Steven with his Mum fighting hard at the time for Steven to go to a mainstream Primary School and how she worked hard to support him through those early Primary School days. Next, we will come to High School life for Steven again at a main stream school but this time with a resource centre for visually impaired children. With Steven Recalling how back then if there were classes that were felt not suitable for a visually impaired childlike PE then it was off to the VI resource unit for you. For Steven spending time in the unit gave him the opportunity to start getting into technology, sorting out the unit's computers and finding out how they worked which would prove good for the future. All set against the background of an iconic 1980s album track that Steven and his school friends used to sing along to! We will then hear the very first track that Steven played out on his first commercial radio show back in 2001 which was the starting point for his radio and broadcasting career and how maybe at that time not having such a very strong Glasgow accent may have helped him a bit to get into radio back then. Steven will then reflect on his early life growing up with his Mum and sister as a single parent family before at the age of six his Step Dad or as Steven says his ‘real Dad’ came on board and took over. With a favourite track of his Mum’s which was played on the radio back then which may have sowed the seeds for Steven’s love of Country Music later on in his life. Before we come to Steven’s final track, we will hear an exclusive RNIB Connect Radio recording from a British Country Music band which went on to be a very big hit for them. Over the years when they did hit the big time, Steven did keep in touch with the band and has even been invited backstage to meet up with them again when he has been to see them in concerts. To find out more about Steven’s new channel Blind Guy Talks Tech do visit the following website - https://blindguytalkstech.com You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Stuart Lawler, Head of Content Creation and Business Development Manager for Sight and Sound Technology Ireland. Stuart’s Tracks of My Life journey starts with ABBA winning the Eurovision contest in 1974 with their track Waterloo which launched their successful pop music career and the same year that Stuart was born. Stuart also has a connection with Eurovision as he joined the Irish judging panel for the 1995. Contest Early life for Stuart was spent growing up on his parents farm in Kildare, rural Ireland, being treated by his parents the same as his two sighted sisters which gave Stuart a great growing in life and work ethic too Then Stuart will talk about his life at boarding school and then College life for him in Dublin and a track that is strangely on a lot of radio station Christmas playlist that takes him back to those boarding school days. While Stuart was studying Music Technology in Dublin he also spent time on community radio station NEAR FM (North East Access Radio with fond memories of presenting his very first live music show with a certain boy band track that featured very heavily on the stations playlist back then. Before we come to Stuart’s final track we have a track that he has dedicated to two close friends who were work colleagues too who sadly suddenly passed away a couple of years ago which had a real lasting affect on Stuart’s life and his career path too.. We will end with a very up lifting track which some people might think is a bit of a strange choice coming from someone who graduated with a degree in music technology but a track for Stuart that he will put on if he is not feeling great that certainly lifts his spirits.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Theatre Director, Writer and Actor Christopher Hunter.
In Christopher’s Tracks of My Life we will start with early life for Christopher growing up in India as his Farther went out there to work on a Tea Plantation and met his Mother in the 1950s. Although Christopher was born in England and went to boarding school in England, he spent his childhood growing up in India with fond memories as a child of flying to and from England to India. Christopher’s first language was Hindi as it was the policy among Planters at the time to teach their children Hindustani, although he would speak English at home to his parents. Christopher will then talks about boarding school life in England and spending his pocket money on his first single which was by Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Cliff Richard at the time was marketed as the British Elvis Presley and due to Cliff’s Indian heritage his records seemed to be the only ones you could buy out in India at the time. Then we will move to College life in Manchester for Christopher and his first steps treading the boards as an Actor. With a track by the poet of those student years for Christopher and many others at the time who could encompass the feelings of a generation in a song. Christopher will then talk about his best friend Duncan Gibbins who he met while they were both at the National Youth Theatre School who went to Hollywood to make films after winning many awards for pop videos in the early days of MTV. Duncan tragically died in a wild fire that swept down Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles in the early 1990's. Then we will come to some of his Theatre work including the recent production ‘States of Mind’ for Extant where Christopher took one of Shakespeare’s poems and turned it into a live performance with integrated audio description. As Christopher says he is a child of the 60s and a lover of folk music and before we come to his final track, we have a folk track by a British artist who certainly puts a modern twist on to old folk songs. Christopher’s final track is one that demonstrates as a performer you can still be creative and leave a legacy even in those last few days of your life. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by BBC Journalist and Audio Producer Emma Tracy. In Emma’s tracks of My Life we will start with a track by one of Emma’s Dad’s favourite Irish Artists Christy Moore and memories of going to see a Christy Moore gig with her Dad in Hammersmith not that long before her Dad passed, but a great gig, a beautiful evening, and a treasured memory for Emma. We then move back to teenage life for Emma and as Emma says at ' School’ in Ireland, listening to the first album that Emma really got into the lyrics and music of on cassette tape and a track that Emma could play on the guitar back then.
Then we come to late teens for Emma and entering talent shows in Ireland which were very well supported by her family. Emma's Brother even said at the time that if Emma made it as a singer, he would offer to be her manager! We will then come to a track from a well-known Scottish duo that marks the time when Emma met her Husband Robin who introduced Emma to Scottish folk music. Emma will then reflect on a long friendship with her friend Ellie who she first met at an RNIB get together many, many years ago which started up a Braille pen pal letter writing correspondence and how good it was during those teenage years to be able to write to another young blind person and share experiences with each other. Finally we will end with a couple of comedy songs that make Emma and her family smile including her two young boys. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Tokyo Paralympic Javelin Gold medallist Dan Pembroke who also smashed Paralympic records with his F13 Javelin 69.52metre medal winning throw. Through Dan’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from early life at the age of 6 sitting on the sofa with his Dad and jamming along on the harmonica to a great Gary Moore track which as Dan says really showed the power of music to him even at such an early age. Dan will then recall some of the adventures and fishing trips he went on with his Dad along the Thames on his Dad’s fishing boat which with all the camouflage netting would blend into the river bank. Then we move to late teenage life for Dan and great party nights out with his best friend Joe and reflecting on life for Dan as a teenager at school which was not such a great time for him. Although Dan was diagnosed with the condition Retinitis Pigmentosa at an early age he had always been into sport and only missed out on competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games due to an elbow injury. After missing out on London and feeling quite down at the time, it was a track from the film ‘Into the Wild’ That jolted Dan to kickstart a burning ambition he had always had of going travelling to see the world while he still had enough good usable vision left. Then we will hear from Dan as to how he first ended up in Sardinia, spending time in the wilds on his own fishing from a kayak and sleeping on beautiful beaches. Dan returned back to Sardinia in 2015 this time working as a freelance personal trainer and massage therapist for the summer tourists. After a few months Dan met a local lady working in her family's supermarket who he was instantly captivated by and managed to pluck up the courage to ask her for coffee, they hit it off, started dating and ended up travelling around the world together. It was in Tasmania while on their travels that Dan realised that his sight was really getting worse, and they decided to come back to the UK for Dan to study at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford and it was meeting a few of his old athletics mates that inspired Dan to get back into competing but this time for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Finally Dan will reflect on how taking up sport again as a visually impaired athlete has turned around his opinion and feelings about his eye sight 180 degrees which has certainly paved a pathway into the future for Dan where he feels free. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Stand-Up Comedian and Actor Georgie Morrell who also presents Connect Radio’s movie music show Sounds of the Silver Screen. Georgie’s Tracks of MY Life journey will start with early life for her, although at the age of 3 being diagnosed with chronic arthritis and then a year later being diagnosed with glaucoma uvieyertus, Georgie was not raised as a disabled child at all by her parents and was treated exactly the same as her sighted siblings. Music has certainly played an important role in Georgie’s life, and one of her early memories is Being given her first album on cassette tape by her Brother which Georgie played until the cassette tape was almost worn out. Some of Georgie’s chosen tracks have meant quite a lot to her over the years and she is fascinated by how some tracks might have different meanings to other people and how those meanings may change over time too. We will then hear from Georgie about how important it is for her as a performer to go and see live performances whether it is a music concert or a theatre show. Georgie will also talk about the first time she got up on stage as a 10-year-old and made the decision there and then to become a performer.
Then we will follow Georgie as she moved from her suburban home town to the bright lights of . London at the age of 18 And As Georgie says, ‘London is full of weirdos and you can blend in with them if you like!’ Then we will come to a track that says a lot to Georgie now and one that she would have liked to have had when she was going through all the stuff that we all go through as a teenager along with having to manage her disability at the same time too. Finally Georgie will talk about the freedom she gets from being up on stage performing whether that is as a Stand-Up Comedian or an Actor, reflecting on her career so far but with still so much to achieve and so much further to go too. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Mike Wood who has spent almost 40 years as a volunteer with Talking Newspapers, joining his local talking Newspaper, the Swindon, and District Talking Newspaper Association in the early 1980s and then heavily involved in the setup of the Talking News Federation in 2004 / 2005 and Mike is the current Vice President of the association. Through Mike’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from early life at home for Mike with his parents and his Mother’s parents all living together in the same house. Fun times for Mike playing outside with his mates before having to go to school for the first time. At the age of 5. On that very first day at school Mike returned home after the first break at 11am to a surprised Mum who asked, ‘what are you doing at home?’ with Mike’s reply ‘well I have tried school for a day, and I don’t like it!’ We will then move on a couple of years for Mike and a bit of a battle for him between playing football on Saturday mornings with his mates and learning the piano with his Aunt where in the end he won the battle. Looking back now Mike would maybe have liked to continue the lessons to be able to play the piano like some of the musicians on his chosen tracks. As a teenager Mike’s parents would have preferred him to listen to classical music but it was Trad Jazz for Mike and following some of the jazz bands of the day with their toe tapping music. Then we will hear from Mike as to how he got involved with his local Talking Newspaper in the early 1980s, the setup of the Talking News Federation in the early 2000s and how Talking Newspapers have evolved and developed over the years with the introduction of new technology such as memory sticks and now online digital presence too. Mike will then share fond memories of some of the great Jazz concerts he has been to over the years and one at Ronnie Scott’s which included a classical music performance that Mike’s parents might have been proud of! You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Sharon Schaffer, who in July 2021 joined Saffron Walden based sight loss charity, Support 4 Sight as their Chief Executive Officer. Sharon’s work in the sight loss sector began with managing the London Visual Impairment Forum, working with eye health networks across the East of England with the England Vision Strategy, and before joining Support 4 Sight Sharon was Service Manager for Sight Concern Bedfordshire. Prior to her work in the charity sector Sharon was touring the country as an Actor and running a very successful theatre company.
Through Sharon’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from early teenage life with her best friend Ant and being in their minds the first teenagers to discover and listen to artists from the late 70s and the early 80s. Then off to studying the dramatic arts, joining White Horse Theatre Company. And 8 months of life in a van Touring around Southern Germany performing English shows to German schools and colleges. Then back to England with a period of time resting before performing with and setting up Kaos UK Theatre Company with her husband, and touring productions around England, Ireland and internationally including a very memorable performance of The Importance Of Being Earnest. Then a trip that took Sharon and her husband miles away to the Pinnacles in Australia for a pre wedding honeymoon before getting married on stage at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth. Finally we come to the time when Sharon moved into working in the sight loss sector with fond memories of the London Visual Impairment Forum meetings which brought people from the Greater London sight loss sector together to share information and news with the Christmas gatherings always including a bit of festive cheer and live music to get everyone in to a festive mood ready for the seasonal holiday.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by blind music producer, audio engineer and accessibility consultant Jason Dasent who has over 20 years in the music industry originally from Trinidad and now based in London. Through Jason’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from his early life out in Trinidad and one of the first tracks he heard which he as a music Producer comes back to time and time again when producing lush harmonies for his music. Tracks
WE will hear from Jason about how he got into music and music producing while still at school as a teenager. His fascination with the sound of early 80s Synthesizers including the Roland Jupiter-8 and Yamaha DX-7 which formed the sound of many early 80s electronic bands. We will also hear a track by a certain Scottish singer whose career started out from a TV talent show who’s voice tics all the boxes for Jason as a music producer. Then there is a track that both Jason and his wife Sara sang at their wedding out in Trinidad during a hurricane which thankfully did not end up spoiling the day for them and their friends and family. Jason will reflect on his music producing career so far and his thoughts and plans for the future. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Guide Dog owner Paul Fuller who Recently joined Scope as their Executive Director of Partnerships after a long career as a graphic Designer working for the BBC and then Sky. We start Paul’s Tracks of My Life journey with a track from his parents record collection which he has on permanent loan that takes him back to early childhood memories growing up in Kent and the start of his love of drawing and painting. after school Paul went to Art College and on graduation at the age of 21, he landed a dream job as a graphic Designer for the BBC. It was only a week after Paul started at the BBC that his parents rang him up and invited him home for supper to tell him that he had choroideremia a hereditary eye condition that would lead to blindness sometime between the ages of 30 and 70. Paul continued working at the BBC for a while before moving to Sky and it was at Sky that Paul met his wife Jackelyn and within a very short period of time they got married and started a family. Sadly during 2012 and around the time of the London Olympic Games Paul was diagnosed with cancer and spent quite some time at the Royal Marsden Hospital and it was a certain Bob Marley track that Paul would play every morning to help him get through the day. Thankfully with the treatment and care from the Royal Marsden hospital Paul battled through the cancer and decided on his return to Sky that it was time for him to leave Sky after a very successful and wonderful time working for the broadcaster. It was around this time that Paul’s eye sight started to deteriorate even more and he and his wife decided to go travelling around the world and it was on his return from their travels that Paul was matched with his first Guide Dog Bolt who has been life changing for Paul. Having taken early retirement from Sky for a number of reasons Paul thought about becoming a Trustee for either the RNIB or Guide Dogs but he did not feel that this was the right thing for him and maybe there was something else he could do in the 3rd sector and it was a recruitment firm that had aligned Paul to a Trustee role at Guide Dogs who asked him if he had really retired as they thought he might be the right person for a role at Scope. After a Zoom interview and meeting during the early stages of the Covid Pandemic Paul decided to take up the role of Executive Director of Partnerships at Scope. Finally Paul will reflect on his very positive glass half full outlook on life and like the title of one of his Tracks of My Life tracks - life is what you make it! You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired Chef Jo Parsons, who has worked in many professional kitchens over the years, now running her own catering business ‘jO’s Kitchen’ from her home in South Devon as well as passing on her cooking skills to other visually impaired people through her Cooking with Confidence’ classes. . . In Jo’s Tracks of my Life we will start with Jo as a three-year-old little girl living in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham and Helping her mum to clean the beautiful large pram ready for collecting her 8 week old baby Brother Simon. Who was being fostered by Jo’s Parents. Like Simon Jo was also adopted by her very loving and caring Mum and Dad Joan and Jim. We then move to school days for Jo with happy memories of infant and junior school but not so happy times at senior school apart from Jo’s close group of friends. Jo will then share some of the happy memories she had at senior school with her friends listening to the latest pop records on the steps outside the music room and not forgetting the mad dash on a Tuesday evening to get home for 4.25pm to catch the Bay City rollers TV programme Sangalang. We will then move to Jo’s time at Catering College, forging good friendships again and of course the Classic French cookery training from Chef Bill cahill. Joe will Then share some of the great catering jobs she has had over the years including time running the catering at a large private golf club in Birmingham and working as both Chef and Manager at the RNIB concept conference centre in Birmingham which was both very rewarding for Jo and lots of fun too. We will then hear from Jo about the first time she met her husband Brett back in 1980 in a Birmingham nightclub, dating for a while before they both went their own separate ways. Then meeting up again many years later, getting married, moving to South Devon and now enjoying their life together along with their four dogs. Finally Jo will talk about the pleasure that comes from passing on her cooking skills to other visually impaired people through her bespoke ‘Cooking with Confidence’ classes. Do visit Jo’s Facebook page for more details of some of her fabulous dishes and bakes - https://www.facebook.com/JOsKitchenDevon You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Nigerian borne, London-based singer and Acclaimed Soprano Victoria Oruwari who has performed on many stages across the world. In Victoria’s Tracks of my Life we will begin by joining Victoria as she boards a plane from Nigeria to New York as a six-year-old with her sister and the last time for Victoria as a partially sighted child. As the trip to New York was for eye surgery which sadly did not save Victoria’s sight. Then a family holiday in the Caribbean and the sounds of nature as Victoria woke up to the wonderful bird songs of the dawn chorus which was very different to the sounds of the city back home in Nigeria. In her mid-teens Victoria moved to the UK to study for her A Levels at New College Worcester with great support for her musical studies from the College as Victoria started to realise her full musical abilities, both with singing and playing the piano. Victoria then continued her musical studies at Trinity, College of Music with a performance in her final year that changed her life for ever. Victoria will then reflect on the power of music not only to paint pictures in your mind and take you to other places but how music has helped Victoria battle through some of those curved balls that life throws at you from time to time. If you would like to find out more about Victoria and hear some of her wonderful singing do visit her website - http://www.victoriaoruwari.com
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Guide Dog owner Tommy McInulty who had a very enjoyable career in the Merchant Navy before losing his sight overnight back in November 1983. Tommy has just retired after a very successful and fulfilling career in the sight loss sector first with Open Sight in Hampshire and then 12 years as Senior Regional Manager at the Macular Society.
In Tommy's Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from childhood memories in Clydebank growing up with his Brother in a very loving and caring foster family. Then at the age of 16 joining the Merchant Navy, with a very enjoyable and happy life at sea working on the cruise ships until that night in November 1983 when Tommy lost his sight overnight. We will then hear from Tommy about how he coped with losing his sight, time at Manor House in Torquay for rehabilitation and training before starting his successful and fulfilling career in the sight loss sector. Tommy will then of course talk about the confidence and independence all his Guide Dogs have given him over the years and how their characters have maybe started to slightly influence his own character too. Tommy will then reflect on how much his life feels complete now after meeting his partner Paul back in 2012 and how his career in the sight loss sector has been a way of giving back to other visually impaired people the support, advice, and kindness that he received from many organisations and individuals when he lost his sight overnight back in November 1983.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Lloyd Coleman, visually impaired and hearing-impaired musician, composer, and Associate Music Director of the Paraorchestra. . Through Lloyd’s chosen tracks we will go on a journey from early life growing up in South Wales, at the age of 14 while at comprehensive school completing his Grade 8 in the Clarinet and gaining a scholarship to go to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. We then move to London as Lloyd continues his music education at the Royal Academy of Music, then in 2012 Lloyd joins the Paraorchestra to play alongside Coldplay at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. We then take a trip to Worthy Farm in Somerset as Lloyd and the rest of the Paraorchestra perform the Hero's Symphony by Philip Glass on the Park stage at Glastonbury 2016 the same year David Bowie passed away. Lloyd will then reflect on the support and help he received from the late musician, arranger, and orchestrator Larry Ashmore, who became a good friend while mentoring Lloyd when he was commissioned by UCAN Productions to write a piece titled ‘Breaking the Wall’. And finally there are fond memories for Lloyd of a trip to Uganda as a young musician and a magical performance of Mozart’s Requiem with a choir made up of young Ugandan voices which will stay with Lloyd forever. To find out more about the Paraorchestra do visit - https://paraorchestra.com And for more about Lloyd do visit his website - http://lloydcoleman.net
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Mike Brace CBE. Mike is a former Paralympic skier; former Chief Executive of Vision 2020 and he was also part of the team that brought the Olympics and Paralympic games to London in 2012. In Mike's Tracks of My Life you will hear him chatting about his school days, forming, and playing in a couple of folk bands, what life was like in the lead up to London 2012 and what sport and music really mean to him.
Do visit Mike’s website for more about his sporting achievements work with the Paralympics, Vision 2020 , his writing and of course his Guide Dogs too - http://www.mikebrace.co.uk Please note Mike’s Tracks of My Life was first broadcast on RNIB Connect Radio on Christmas Eve 2020. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by legally blind American artist and Arts Educator Elizabeth Castellano-Busnel, who was one of the blind artists featured in the recent documentary film Straight Off The Canvas. Elizabeth had to give up her teaching work due to a work accident although this has given Elizabeth more time to concentrate on her art work and family. Through Elizabeth’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from early days at a mainstream High School where Elizabeth was one of only three other visually impaired students at the school, how Elizabeth took her first steps into art after being inspired by watching one of her close friends drawing and painting. We will then move to Elizabeth’s time studying art at Manhattanville College in New York and time out here in the UK at Lancaster University which was a slightly better experience for Elizabeth than her time at Manhattanville College. We will then hear all about Elizabeth’s time as an Arts Educator helping to encourage and inspire students to full fill their creative dreams and ambitions through art. Finally we will hear from Elizabeth about the work accident that forced her to give up her Arts Education work although this has given Elizabeth more time to concentrate on her art and spend time with her family. To find out more about Elizabeth and view some of her art work do visit her website - https://www.castellanoart.net
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Andrea Begley, visually impaired Irish singer / song writer and disability advocate who in 2013 entered the BBC talent show The Voice and after wowing the judges at the blind auditions went on to be crown winner of the second series of The Voice UK. Through Andrea’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her first performance aged 11 for a Children In Need event at the Ulster Hall, time at University in Belfast which took her early musical playing and performing down a different route, as Andrea picked up the guitar and started to write her own music and songs.
how inspirational Andrea’s Aunt Philomena Begley - The Queen of Country Music’ as she is known in Ireland - has been to Andrea on her musical career.
And we will of course hear from Andrea about her time on The Voice, as well as good times going to concerts and nights out with her friends and family. Why not visit Andrea’s website to find out more about her music and listen to some of her great tracks - https://andreabegley.com
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Historian of the Ottoman Empire and disability consultant Yusuf Osman. Through Yusuf’s Tracks of my Life we will go on a journey from school days at Dorton House School for blind and partially sighted children, feeling slightly out of place, being one of the only pupils at the school whose parents came from a different country. To then listening to cassette tapes of Turkish artists from his homeland on family car journeys including trips to and from boarding school at Worcester College with his Dad . Then we will come to a couple of rock tracks, one marking A level time at Worcester and the other a very powerful track that means a lot to Yusuf when he was going through a slightly difficult time while studying at Harvard. And finally to a track about a 9th century Greek Orthodox Abbess whose life has meaning and relevance for us today. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Kirin Saeed. Kirin is a blind Actor, Activist and Trainer, who in October 2020 with all the many Covid restrictions in place put on her own play ‘Crossing care’ all about the relationship between a blind person and their support worker. Through Kirin’s Tracks of My Life we are taken on a journey from early school days at Chorley Wood College for visually impaired girls, watching 1970’s science fiction TV shows and life as a young Asian teenager growing up in the early 1980s. Then to Kirin moving in to her first flat as an independent young woman in her early 20s. Kirin then reflects on her life in London and Scotland with her late husband Sandy who sadly passed away in 2014, and her life now on her own in Edinburgh where Kirin feels very much welcomed as an English woman in Scotland. . Please note Kirin Saeed’s Tracks of My Life was first broadcast on New Year’s Eve 2020.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Derry musician Richard Moore who At the age of 10 in 1972 was blinded by a rubber bullet from a British soldier’s gun as he walked home from school. In 1996 Richard set up the charity Children in Crossfire, in a way to give back and pass on the support and kindness that he received as a young blind man growing up in Derry to children who are caught up in the cross fire of poverty around the world.
Through Richard’s Tracks of My Life we are taken on a journey from life as a young boy growing up in Derry before the troubles started, living through them as a young blind man, setting up his charity Children in Crossfire, reflecting on the forgiveness and compassion that he was shown by his parents, passing on those values to his two daughters who mean so much to him and not forgetting his love of music too. Do visit the children in Crossfire website for more details about Richard's charity - https://www.childrenincrossfire.org You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Tiggi Trethowan, Guide Dog owner and host of the Draycott Diaries podcast, all about life in the Somerset village of Draycott on the Mendip Hills. Tiggi had an exciting career in television until she started to lose her sight due to an incurable eye condition which will eventually lead to total blindness. In Tiggi’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from school girl crushes on 1960s pop bands, to a couple of highlights from her TV career , then to the arrival of her Guide Dog Jackie and of course not forgetting her podcast, the Draycott Diaries. Tiggi will also reflect on how important her close friends have been for her over the years, standing by her when she started to lose her sight. As well as fond memories of her pet dog Smash who helped her get through some tricky times and a tribute to her late Farther.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Joe Kenny from County Armagh in Ireland.
For about 20 years now Joe has been gigging around Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.
Through Joe’s chosen tracks we are taken on a journey from family car trips as a boy listening to folk music on cassette tapes, time playing in bands while at Jordanstown School for visually impaired children,, going to rock gigs as a blind teenager to some of those tracks that have inspired Joe as a musician over the years. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Jo Wood, who in February 2021 took up the post of Chair of VocalEyes the national charity providing access to the arts through audio description for blind and partially sighted people. Through Jo’s Tracks of My Life we will take a journey from her early family life growing up in the south east of England, surprising herself, her family, and her school by getting into Cambridge to read History. Gaining a place in the Cambridge ladies crew for the 2005 Boat Race which was a bit of a bitter sweet moment for Jo at the time. Jo will then reflect on the time during the mid-2010s when Jo first had a detached retina in her left eye and then her right eye which started her sight loss journey. Then an encounter with audio description at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in 2017 which was a turning point in Jo’s new visually impaired life. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Columbian pianist and composer Kevin Satizabal who has performed on many stages in the UK and around the world as a soloist, accompanist and with orchestras including the Para Orchestra.
Through Kevin’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from his early life growing up in Columbia and then moving to the UK with his parents to begin his formal musical education. Set against the backdrop of those tracks, pieces of music and performances that have inspired Kevin to achieve his dream of making it as a blind musician.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.
Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.
In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by visually impaired DJ Aly Prince who can normally be found DJ’ing in clubs around London, festivals in Italy and of course on RNIB Connect Radio presenting the Folk and Roots show.
`Through Aly’s Tracks of My Life we will certainly go on a world wide journey through his life long involvement in music from times as a Mod in the mid-late 60s and early 70s, through the 80s, 90s and then right up to today.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Dancer and Audio Describer Bridget Crowley who has just stepped down from describing dance after 20 years of travelling around the country describing many dance and ballet productions from - Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, Rambert to Mathew Bourne's New Adventures company to name just a few. In Bridget's Tracks of My Life we go on a journey from her early days as a dancer winning a highly commended dance prize, time as Head of the Dance Department at Arts Educational Schools in London through to reflecting on over 20 years of describing dance and ballet for blind and partially sighted audiences. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Tom Walker who is a freelance radio journalist / producer, PR Consultant and much more besides. In Tom’s Tracks of My Life we will start with his early school days at Wavertree Blind School in Liverpool, then off to Worcester College for the Blind (now New College Worcester), And then to his early career days in Guildford. If you have come across Tom’s podcast series ‘That’ll Be the Day’ you will certainly know how much music plays a part in his life. Through Tom’s Tracks of My Life we will certainly be taken on a musical journey, with a couple of great concert performances along the way too!
To find out more about Tom and Walk on Water PR do visit his website - http://www.walkonwaterpr.com
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Naomi Riches MBE, who is an Adaptive Rowing Paralympic Bronze and Gold medal winner 2008 and 2012 respectively and is now using her Paralympic rowing experience and achievements through motivational speaking to inspire professionals and others to reach their goals and be the best they can be in life. In Naomi’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from slightly tricky times at a mainstream school, then to better times at New College Worcester before going on to University and then to the first time Naomi stepped into a competitive adaptive rowing boat in 2004. We will then hear from Naomi about what it was like for her competing in the first world adaptive rowing championships in Spain that same year. Then Naomi will reflect on how coaching young people to row helped her to recover after a very serious accident which could have put a stop to her competitive rowing career. Finally Naomi will share from an athlete’s point of view what it was like competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and how Naomi ended up singing along with a certain new romantic pop star who’s track due to the many GBR gold medals was played quite a lot during 2012!! To find out more about Naomi Riches MBE, do check out her LinkedIn profile page -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomiriches-motivationalspeaker/ Or why not follow Naomi on Twitter and Instagram. Instagram: @naomiriches_mbe Twitter: @NaomiRichesMBE
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Jonathan Huxley, a very successful British Contemporary Artist who is also visually impaired. . In Jonathan’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from his early teenage school days in the 70s and 80s at a school for visually impaired people in Coventry. Jonathan was the first student from the school to study art, firstly at Berkshire College of Art, before studying Fine Art at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic and then at the Royal Academy of Art in London. We will then move from London to New York during the early 90s as Jonathan made a name for himself as a club visual artist firstly in London and then to New York City, including art work for Grace Jones' birthday party at the infamous Tunnel Club.
Jonathan also shares memories of watching old Western movies with his Dad and how the genre has both influenced and appeared in some of his work. Finally Jonathan reflects on the strong relationship he has with his partner Jane and how he has also shared some of his life experiences with his teenage son. To find out more about Jonathan and view some of his art work do visit his website -
https://jonathanhuxley.com.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Anna Tylor who is the current Chair of RNIB having joined the Board of Trustees in July 2020.
Anna is a long-time advocate for greater inclusion of disabled people and especially blind and partially sighted people.
Anna is visually impaired herself and in her personal blog The Blind Truth she takes a wry look at living a colourful life with limited sight.
In Anna's Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in the Home Counties to teenage life striking out on her own and taking the world on for size. Reflecting on life bringing up her son as a visually impaired single parent and her first experience of being actively involved as a campaigner. Working hard during the 80s and 90s to support her son. Anna’s love of Bulgaria and her connection with the work of the charity Karin Dom which supports children with complex needs and their families in Bulgaria. finally, Anna shares why it is so important to keep those long-term friendships and relationships going over the years.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Blind Dave Heeley OBE. Dave Heeley is best known as Blind Dave to all those who know him and those who are aware of all his charity fundraising challenge sports events. Blind Dave's fundraising challenges have ranged from taking part in the ultimate World marathon Challenge - 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents, the Top2ToeChallenge - running and cycling from John O'Groats to Land’s End The Great North Run and the London marathon to name just a few of his successful fundraising challenge sports events! Through Blind Dave’s tracks of my life we will go on a journey from his early days at school, at the age of 10 realising that he was losing his sight and becoming a sort of celebrity to his school friends. Meeting his wife Deb and sneaking off to Gretna Green to get married. Reflecting on some of those epic fundraising challenges he has completed over the years, with more to come too. And finally, we will take a peek into Dave's woodwork workshop to find out how Blind Dave is able to do most of the DIY jobs around the house as well as creating some wonderful pieces of woodwork. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm. Do visit Blind Dave's website for more about Dave and all his fundraising challenge sports events. https://blinddaveheeley.co.uk/
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Katriona Taylor. Katriona Taylor is A very successful visually impaired British singer/songwriter who has performed with the likes of George Benson and the James Taylor Quartet, to name just a few.
In Katriona's Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in Portugal at her parent's tennis centre with the sounds of Brazilian music in the background.
Then to student life at Brunel University while studying law, after graduation then off to London to start her law career as a young Solicitor, working hard, enjoying London life, and dancing the night away at salsa bars.
Then after a few years Katriona decided to follow her love of singing, auditioned, and successfully gained a place at Central School of Speech and Drama.
Katriona soon became a singer with an established reputation for live performance, bursting on to the London jazz scene and selling out top venues such as Pizza Express Jazz Club and Cafe Royale as well as performing at international gigs and festivals.
Katriona has opened for the Grammy-winning soul legend George Benson in Europe as part of his world tour.
You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Do visit Katriona's website for all her latest news, music, gigs, and details of her latest album titled Blind passion -
https://www.katrionataylor.com/about-katriona/.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Joanne Roughton-Arnold. Joanne is a visually impaired Opera Singer, Artistic Director, and co-founder of FormidAbility the world’s first opera company putting accessibility at the foundation of the creative process. Joanne is a new Zealander who came to the UK in the mid-90s to follow her musical career firstly as a violinist before training as a professional opera singer. Joanne has performed on many stages in Britain and across the world as a solo performer as well as with the ParaOrchestra and her own company ForemidAbility. In Joanne’s Tracks of My Life we will be taken on a journey from her New Zealand homeland to her life now here in the UK. Early memories of dancing around her Gran’s kitchen to her first chosen track and hearing the Nova Strings perform at school which inspired Joanne to learn the violin. We will then be taken back to New Zealand with a track that features the unique sounds of New Zealand forest bird song, followed by a concert recording by two people who have played a huge part in Joanne’s singing career before hearing a track that Joanne performed on from the soundtrack to the amazing and inspiring Netflix documentary film, Rising Phoenix all about the rise of the Paralympic games. It was watching the ParaOrchestra performing at the 2012 London Paralympic Games and performing with them that inspired Joanne to set up FormidAbility. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm. To find out more about Joanne Roughton-Arnold and her Opera Company ForemidAbility do visit Joanne's website - http://www.joanneroughtonarnold.com/ or the FormidAbility website - https://www.formidability.org/
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Miles Hilton-Barber. Miles is a blind adventurer who has certainly travelled around the world, taking on many challenges and breaking records at the same time too. Since the age of 50 Miles has set numerous world records, undertaking extreme events across all seven continents of the world through mountaineering, desert and polar ultra-marathons, power-boat racing, scuba-diving, motor-racing and long distance, aerobatic and supersonic flying, to name just a few!
Through Miles Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey with him around the world. From his early Life growing up in South Africa, hitch-hiking around Australia with a friend taking up 14 full-time jobs before the age of 21. Realising at the age of 21 that he was going to lose his sight like his brother, with not much support out there. that Miles could see at the time.
And we will hear that after a bit of inspiration from a trip his brother did Miles decided to pick himself up and test his mind and body in many of the record breaking adventures and achievements he has done over the years. Challenges have included ultra-marathons to a trip round the world with two other disabled friends that notched up quite several modes of transport and broke a couple of world records on the way too. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm. For more about Miles Hilton-Barber do visit his website -
https://www.mileshilton-barber.com.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Vidar Hjarding MBE, Vidar is currently the Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands. Vidar is also a visiting Professor at Sunderland University. Vidar grew up in the North East of England with his English Mam and Norwegian Dad with frequent trips to Norway to spend time holidaying with his Norwegian relatives. Vidar studied French and German as an Undergraduate at Manchester University prior to graduating with a Post Graduate degree in Journalism from City University in London. Vidar is a great champion of the arts and especially accessibility of the arts for everyone with a keen interest in 19th century literature, mainly relying on and enjoying audiobooks as he travels round the country on account of his professional work. You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.
Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them. Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future. In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by Maria Oshodi. As well as being a playwright in her own right Maria is also the Artistic Director and CEO of Extant - a British based performing arts company run by, and for, visually impaired people providing a performance space for inclusive theatre for everyone. Maria’s first play The S. Bend was produced as part of the Royal Court Theatre’s young writer's festival in 1984. Many of Maria’s plays and productions have been performed on numerous stages across Britain and in Europe too. In Maria’s Tracks of My Life we will go on a journey from her early life growing up in Nigeria with her Mum and Dad, moving to London with her Mum and life in the Capital as a teenager when her sight started to deteriorate. Maria will also reflect on life as a young person in London during the 80s and 90s, going to watch Madness and The Specials, club life in the 90s and reflecting on the success of the acclaimed Extant production Resistance in the mid 2000s. You can catch the hour long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm. To find out more about Extant and all their great work do visit their website — https://extant.org.uk.
Welcome to my interview with Joanne Roughton-Arnold, visually impaired opera singer and cofounder of FormidAbility, Britain’s first fully accessible opera company focusing on their new R&D opera project The Bridge Between Breaths. The Bridge Between Breaths is a new opera which has been inspired on the felling of Colston’s statue, set in Bristol in the late 18th century as Pero Jones mourns for his beloved from the Caribbean island of Nevis. A performance of The Bridge Between Breaths videoed during recent rehearsals in London will be streamed via Zoom on Tuesday 8 September at 6pm to launch the Tate-a-Tate festival. Full details on how to watch The Bridge Between Breaths and support the FormidAbility R&D opera project can be found by visiting tete-a-tete.org.uk. When I met up with Joanne via Zoom we chatted about the background to The Bridge Between Breaths, where the powerful storey for the opera had come from, it’s links to the current times we are in at the moment, how FormidAbility is again breaking boundaries in access to opera by working with an artist to produce artwork live on stage while the opera is being performed to provide a bridge between sound and vision for deaf audiences and what affect Covid19 has had on rehearsals for The Bridge Between Breaths. I also took the opportunity to chat with Joanne about her involvement and working with Daniel Pemberton on the soprano parts for his musical score and soundtrack for Rising Phoenix the Netflix documentary about the rise and impact of the Paralympic Games. I first began by asking Joanne about how life in lockdown has been for her and her company FormidAbility since we last chatted back in May.
In this extended Podcast interview you will hear me chatting with Ben Ringham, one half of Ben and Max Ringham who created the immersive binaural sound design for the Donmar Warehouse critically acclaimed production of Blindness. Ben and Max Ringham have worked together for over 20 years. Initially producing music as Narcosis then as two thirds of Superthriller who have released four albums and supported Beck on the European leg of his Guerro tour. In 2001 they became associate artists with the Shunt collective, collaborating on large scale site specific shows such as ‘Tropicann’ and ‘Amato Saltone’ supported by the National Theatre which led to an invitation from Nicholas Hytner to score Henry IV in the Olivier theatre. In 2019 Ben and Max Ringham won the h100 theatre and performance award for their collaboration with Ella Hickson on ‘Anna’. A headphone based show at the National Theatre using binaural sound design to immerse the audience and create a unique theatrical experience. Blindness is a socially distanced sound installation at the Donmar Warehouse. Adapted by Simon Stephens from José Saramago’s dystopian novel Blindness, directed by Walter Meierjohann with Juliet Stevenson voicing the role of the narrator and the Doctor’s wife in this gripping story of the rise and hopeful end of an unimaginable global pandemic. When I interviewed Ben via Zoom we chatted about how he and Max got involved in working on Blindness, how they created the binaural sound design where some of the sound affects came from, what it was like working with Juliet Stevenson, the merging of music performance and theatre, some R&D sound projects they have been working on with the BBC and one for the Bose Frames and what their next project might be. I began the interview by asking Ben about his and Max’s background in music, their work with The Shunt Collective and getting that first theatre gig working on Nicolas Hytner’s National Theatre production of Henry Iv. Do visit the Donmar Warehouse website for more details about Blindness, links to reclaiming Blindness an audio interview between Simon Stephens and partially blind Production Consultant Professor Hannah Thompson unpacking the representations of blindness in theatre, literature and the Donmar’s production of Blindness plus links to the VocalEyes website to listen to and download the audio described introductory notes for Blindness.
In this Podcast interview you will hear me chatting with Ben Ringham, one half of Ben and Max Ringham who created the immersive binaural sound design for the Donmar Warehouse critically acclaimed production of Blindness. Ben and Max Ringham have worked together for over 20 years. Initially producing music as Narcosis then as two thirds of Superthriller who have released four albums and supported Beck on the European leg of his Guerro tour. In 2001 they became associate artists with the Shunt collective, collaborating on large scale site specific shows such as ‘Tropicann’ and ‘Amato Saltone’ supported by the National Theatre which led to an invitation from Nicholas Hytner to score Henry IV in the Olivier theatre. In 2019 Ben and Max Ringham won the h100 theatre and performance award for their collaboration with Ella Hickson on ‘Anna’. A headphone based show at the National Theatre using binaural sound design to immerse the audience and create a unique theatrical experience. Blindness is a socially distanced sound installation at the Donmar Warehouse. Adapted by Simon Stephens from José Saramago’s dystopian novel Blindness, directed by Walter Meierjohann with Juliet Stevenson voicing the role of the narrator and the Doctor’s wife in this gripping story of the rise and hopeful end of an unimaginable global pandemic. When I interviewed Ben via Zoom we chatted about how he and Max got involved in working on Blindness, how they created the binaural sound design where some of the sound affects came from, what it was like working with Juliet Stevenson and what their next project might be. I began the interview by asking Ben about his and Max’s background in music, their work with The Shunt Collective and getting that first theatre gig working on Nicolas Hytner’s National Theatre production of Henry Iv. Do visit the Donmar Warehouse website for more details about Blindness, links to reclaiming Blindness an audio interview between Simon Stephens and partially blind Production Consultant Professor Hannah Thompson unpacking the representations of blindness in theatre, literature and the Donmar’s production of Blindness plus links to the VocalEyes website to listen to and download the audio described introductory notes for Blindness.
One of Chippenham’s architectural landmarks is the old Victorian red brick secondary and technical School building built in 1900 which stands at the corner of Cocklebury Road and Saddlers Mead which may be lost forever unless the building is redeveloped and found a new lease of life. Sadly the building has been boarded up since Wiltshire College moved out and into their new modern purpose built campus buildings in 2015. There have been many attempts to save the building along with all it’s late Victorian external and internal architecture including the parquet flooring, staircases and design elements of the Arts and Crafts movement which still survive today. The Chippenham Civic Society and many people living in Chippenham hope that the building could be redeveloped to save this great example of Victorian social architecture before it disappears from the townscape of Chippenham. With the future of the old red brick building still in limbo, and before the building is lost for ever I was intrigued to find out a bit more about the history of the building and tell some of the stories of what life was like in the building’s heyday. Turning to social media to find local people who were pupils and students of the Secondary and Technical School I came across Peggy Burgess who was a pupil at the school during the mid 1950s. When I popped round and interviewed Peggy at her home in Chippenham we sat down and chatted about memories of life as a pupil in the old red brick Secondary School building, what school life was like back then for her, memories of being taught in the old wooden classrooms which surrounded the building, what some of her teachers were like and the type of teaching at the time. Peggy also shared her opinions on why the building should be saved and what it could be used for. Sadly at the time of putting this podcast together to my knowledge there have not been any updates or news about the future of the old secondary and technical School building. The building still remains boarded up and sadly it might be the case that the building will end up in such a state that it cannot be given a new lease of life or redeveloped to save this iconic architectural Chippenham landmark.
In this extended podcast interview you will hear me chatting with Mike Ingham, former BBC Football Correspondent about his autobiography After Extra Time and Penalties: Memories of a BBC Football Correspondent which has recently been released as an audiobook. From the age of seven Mike had always had a burning ambition to work at the BBC. He got his first break working at BBC Radio Derby before joining BBC Sport Radio at Broadcasting House in London. It was a trip with his Dad to the 1964 F. A. Cup final between Preston and West Ham, which was a life changing moment for Mike showing him the power of communication through commentary and how sports commentary could change people’s lives. While at Wembley watching that F. A. Cup final Mike noticed a Lancashire man looking up to the sky with a big smile on his face and enjoying the match through the description and commentary from his sighted friend. During his life as a sports broadcaster Mike received many letters from blind and visually impaired listeners, from his time working at BBC Radio Derby right through to a note when he retired from the BBC in 2014 from the Rt Hon David Blunkett thanking him for bringing football to life for him over the years. In Mike’s Broadcasting career he attended eight World Cups, commentated on twenty-eight F. A. Cup Finals, work with ten full-time England managers, and introduce Sports Report on Radio Five Live.
In this extended version of my interview via Zoom with Mike we chatted about his early life supporting his local football club Plymouth Argyle, his time at both BBC Radio Derby and at BBC Sport in Broadcasting House, what it was like working with some of the great Sport Broadcasters, that life changing moment at the 1964 F. A. Cup Final and Mike’s thoughts on the state of sport broadcasting and management of the England football team over his career.
“I just wanted to thank you for sending over a copy of our interview for me to hear. I really enjoyed our chat and I think that comes across in the broadcast. You made the interviewee feel very comfortable and have a really relaxing and gentle probing style. Thank you also for making it available via your Audioboom. I think it is a fantastic service that you are providing.” - Mike Ingham
After Extra Time and Penalties: Memories of a BBC Football Correspondent by Mike Ingham is published by Book Guild Publishing and is available as an audiobook, a Kindle download and in other formats.
In this podcast interview you will hear me chatting with Mike Ingham, former BBC Football Correspondent about his autobiography After Extra Time and Penalties: Memories of a BBC Football Correspondent which has recently been released as an audiobook. From the age of seven Mike had always had a burning ambition to work at the BBC. He got his first break working at BBC Radio Derby before joining BBC Sport Radio at Broadcasting House in London. It was a trip with his Dad to the 1964 F. A. Cup final between Preston and West Ham, which was a life changing moment for Mike showing him the power of communication through commentary and how sports commentary could change people’s lives. While at Wembley watching that F. A. Cup final Mike noticed a Lancashire man looking up to the sky with a big smile on his face and enjoying the match through the description and commentary from his sighted friend. During his life as a sports broadcaster Mike received many letters from blind and visually impaired listeners, from his time working at BBC Radio Derby right through to a note when he retired from the BBC in 2014 from the Rt Hon David Blunkett thanking him for bringing football to life for him over the years. In Mike’s Broadcasting career he attended eight World Cups, commentated on twenty-eight F. A. Cup Finals, work with ten full-time England managers, and introduce Sports Report on Radio Five Live. In my interview via Zoom with Mike we chatted about his early life supporting his local football club Plymouth Argyle, his time at both BBC Radio Derby and at BBC Sport in Broadcasting House, what it was like working with some of the great Sport Broadcasters and of course not forgetting that life changing moment at the 1964 F. A. Cup Final.
“I just wanted to thank you for sending over a copy of our interview for me to hear. I really enjoyed our chat and I think that comes across in the broadcast. You made the interviewee feel very comfortable and have a really relaxing and gentle probing style. Thank you also for making it available via your Audioboom. I think it is a fantastic service that you are providing.” - Mike Ingham
After Extra Time and Penalties: Memories of a BBC Football Correspondent by Mike Ingham is published by Book Guild Publishing and is available as an audiobook, a Kindle download and in other formats¨.
In this podcast you will hear me catching up and having a chat with visually impaired chef Jo Parsons who lives in the beautiful South Hams area of Devon with husband Bret and their lovely dogs. Jo has worked in the catering industry for a number of years providing delicious and tasty meals all cooked with love for everyone to enjoy. If you are a keen listener to BBC Radio 4’s In Touch programme you may have heard me interview Jo a couple of times before for the programme. The last time was in spring last year when I visited Jo to experience one of her legendary Pudding Club lunches which help to fund her Cooking with Confidence classes which provide cooking lessons for visually impaired people to boost their confidence in the kitchen and help to improve their cooking skills. In my Zoom interview with Jo, I managed to catch her just after a lemon drizzle cake had been put into the oven which Jo had made for an elderly lady in Salcombe. While we waited for the cake to finish baking and with Bret tidying up in the background We chatted about how life in lockdown had affected her catering business Jo’s Kitchen. What made Jo want to start up the Gourmet Meals on Wheels service — providing fabulous meals to vulnerable, elderly and isolated people around her home and to neighbouring villages. And also how Jo and Bret had been coping generally so far in lockdown.
In this podcast you will hear me catching up and having a chat with visually impaired opera singer, Joanne Roughton-Arnold who is also a music teacher and the co-founder of FormidAbility, Britain’s first fully accessible opera company.
If you caught my interview with Joanne on Radio 4’s In Touch programme last summer, you will have heard Joanne talk about why she traveled halfway around the world from New Zealand to the UK to study the violin, her move to opera singing and what it is like performing on stage as a visually impaired singer and why Joanne set up FormidAbility. In this interview I did with Joanne via Zoom we chatted about what life is like for her during lockdown as a visually impaired singer performer and musician. How easy it might be or not trying to link up with other singers and musicians via video platforms such as Zoom. What it is like for Joanne teaching singing and the violin via video and any specific issues or problems for her teaching in this way as a visually impaired person. And you will hear joanne talk about two very exciting projects that she is currently working on in lockdown, one for the Paraorchastra and hints on a very exciting project for FormidAbility.
Do have a listen to this podcast of my chat with Allan Russell from RNIB Connect Radio all about life in lockdown as a visually impaired person for the Daily Connect programme which was broadcast on Wednesday 6 May 2020. You will here how Sara and I have been coping with life in lockdown including; fun with supermarket online shopping, how easy it was for us to sign up for priority online deliveries as Sara has an underlying health condition and is one of the 1.5 million people who have been advised to shield themselves for 3 months and maybe more, what I have been doing to ensure that Willow my Guide Dog does not forget her guiding skills during lockdown and a couple of my top tips for other visually impaired people during these strange times we are in at the moment.
If you heard my previous podcast Just Walking the Dog, you will have heard the sounds of birds in the background as I took my Guide Dog Willow for her early morning walk. In this podcast I wanted to share with you the dawn chorus here in Chippenham which I recorded last Saturday when I stepped out into our garden with my trusty microphone. You will also hear me talk about some of the sounds of life in Chippenham that I am missing at the moment while we are all in lockdown and my answer to that question most visually impaired people are asked — ‘You must have fantastic hearing because you are visually impaired?’… Do have a listen and see if you can spot all the different birds that took part in the Chippenham dawn chorus.
Like everyone else my wife Sara and I are self isolating at home in chippenham along with my Guide Dog Willow. As Sara has a number of underlying health conditions we are in lockdown for the next 12 weeks or so. Once a day I have been taking Willow out for a quick spin round the block in her harness just to give her a walk and to make sure she does not forget her guiding skills! We have been going out at about 7am each morning when no one is around so that there is no chance of us bumping in to anyone whether they are 2 metres away or not! Hope you enjoy listening to this podcast of one of our early morning walks around our local area in Chippenham. Do keep and eye out as I will be posting more podcasts in the coming weeks about life in isolation here in Chippenham.
Melissa Reid is a very successful visually impaired Triathlete and surfer. It was at the age of seven when Mellisa had her first surfing lesson while on holiday in Cornwall with her Dad Allan. After moving down to Cornwall permanently Mellisa took any opportunity she could to get to the beach and surf. In 2017 a back injury took Melissa out of triathlon training for a while giving her more time to spend at the beach surfing. Melissa’s sporting achievements not only include a Bronze Triathlon medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics but in 2018 she was the first visually impaired woman to win the ISA Adaptive World Surfing Championships held in San Diego. Listen to my interview with Melissa recorded on the beach in Falmouth to find out more about surfing as a visually impaired person.
Joanne Roughton Arnold is a visually impaired opera singer from New Zealand who is also the co-founder of ForemidAbility a new opera company which is breaking ground in accessibility and inclusion both on and off stage. For Radio 4’s In Touch programme I caught up with Joanne in North London as she was rehearsing for the recent ForemidAbility very successful double bill of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Gillian Whitehead’s Hotspur for the 2019 Grimborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre in London. Listen to my interview with Joanne to find out what made her fly halfway across the world to study, why she moved from the violin to opera singer, how easy a career as a professional opera singer is for someone who is visually impaired and why she set up ForemidAbility.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey took a walk through the bustling streets of central London to visit the home of two great musicians who were only separated by 200 years and a wall. The house at No. 25 Brook Street was home to the great composer George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) while a flat in No. 23 was home for a couple of years in the late ’60s to the great rock legend Jimmy Hendrix. At Handel and Hendrix in London Toby met with Claire Davies, Curator, and Head of Learning and Interpretation, and Sean Doherty, Head of Communications, to find out more about Handel and Hendrix, the projects and events they have been running, linked with the RNIB and the recent training in audio description and visual awareness that VocalEyes ran for their staff. In this audio feature Claire Davies describes Handel’s bedroom and his bed, while the psychedelic and colourful Hendrix flat is described by Sean. They also discuss what links these two great musicians, and tell us what will be on offer in the near future for blind and partially sighted visitors to Handel and Hendrix.
VocalEyes deputy director Toby Davey interviewed Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, artistic director of New Adventures, backstage at Sadler’s Wells to find out more about his new critically acclaimed dance production of The Red Shoes based on the Powell and Pressburger film.
In Toby’s interview with Matthew Bourne you will also hear about what inspired Matthew to take The Red Shoes on to the dance stage; the relevance of the story of the main character Vicky Page to culture today; how Matthew works with his designer and music arranger on the developments of his productions and why he likes to sit in with the audience and watch his productions from their point of view.
Toby also asked Matthew whether he has ever observed one of the touch tours that happen before an audio-described performance and whether he had ever listened to the live audio description of any of his productions.
The Rationale Method is a New way of describing physical movements for theatre performances using beatboxing and other sounds to describe what is happening on stage.
The feature included interviews with Nathan Geering from Rationale Method talking about this new way of describing, Wayne Witney from UnScene Suffolk who has been trained by Nathan to providing some of the description as well as sound affects during UnScene Suffolk’s recent production ‘Tree of Dreams’ at the New Wolsey Studio Theatre in Ipswich plus three visually impaired theatre goers on their experience of the Rationale Method of description for ‘Three of Dreams’.
Inspiring interview for BBC Radio 4’s In Touch programme with visually impaired professional Chef Jo Parsons about her ‘Cooking with Confidence’ classes helping to get visually impaired people into the kitchen, cooking and building their confidence. The interview was recorded in Jo’s kitchen, South Hams in Devon with clips from Jo in Sherford Village Hall kitchen preparing one of her legendary ‘Pudding Club’ lunches which help to fund the ‘Cooking with Confidence’ classes.
In the lead up to Opera Holland Park’s second audio described performance with their production of Verdi’s Aida on Sunday 19 July 2015 at 2pm. VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey met up with Mike volpe, General Manager and James Clutton, Producer at opera Holland Park to find out why they wanted to continue working with VocalEyes to provide access to their opera productions for blind and partially sighted people. You will also find out what is so unique about Opera Holland Park and why their production of Aida has been described as 'A Night at the Museum meets Lord of the Flies'.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey highlights London audio described theatre performances for January 2015 for the Infosound London Project.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey highlights London audio described theatre performances for may 2015 for the Infosound London Project.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey highlights London audio described theatre performances for April 2015 for the Infosound London Project.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey highlights London audio described theatre performances for January 2015 for the Infosound London project.
VocalEyes Deputy Director Toby Davey highlights London audio described theatre performances for December 2014 for the Infosound London project.
In this podcast Toby Davey talks to a number of students on the REHab course at the University of Central England. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4's In Touch program.
In this podcast Toby Davey met up with partially sighted Chef Jo Miller. Broadcast on BBC Radio4's In Touch programme.
VocalEyes Deputy Director, Toby Davey met up with Jonathan Huxley, partially sighted British Contemporary Artist in his studio in South East London to talk about his career as an artist, being the first partially sighted student from his school to go to Art College, his time at the Royal Academy , talking about some of his commissioned work and recently being elected as an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society.
VocalEyes Deputy Director, Toby Davey met up with Janee Hall, partially sighted dancer to find out what inspired Janee to study dance and go on to perform on stage with dance companies such as Touch Down Dance and London based Amici Theatre Dance Company.
Toby Davey, VocalEyes Deputy Director met up with Maria Oshodi Guide Dog owner and Artistic Director and CEO of Extant Britain's only professional performing arts company of blind and partially sighted people to talk about her work as a writer,, director, her first play, 'The S Bend', which was produced as part of the royal Court Theatre’s young Writers Festival in 1984 and the work of Extant. VocalEyes audio podcast produced by Toby Davey
Toby Davey, VocalEyes Deputy Director met with Kirin Saeed and Sandy Easton two blind theatre goers in the auditorium of the Almeida Theatre in north London to find out why they have selected the Almeida as their favorite art venue and Toby also met up with Miranda Yates, Access Officer at the Almeida to find out why they put on audio-described performances. VocalEyes audio podcast produced by Toby Davey
Toby Davey, VocalEyes Deputy Director visited the National Gallery in London with Audio Describer Louise Fryer to hear a description of the nation’s favorite painting ‘JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire’. Louise first began by describing the room at the national Gallery where the painting hangs before describing The Fighting Temeraire in detail. VocalEyes audio podcast produced by Toby Davey
In this VocalEyes Audio Podcast we take a look at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London focusing on the audio-described performances and other services that they offer for blind and partially sighted visitors.
Our Deputy Director Toby Davey met with David Bellwood, Communications Assistant at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre who looks after access at the Globe, to find out why they work with VocalEyes to provide access to their productions through audio-description. Toby also met with Debbie Olley a partially sighted theatre and drama enthusiast to find out what it is like going to an audio-described performance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
The Podcast starts with a description of the Globe by the Musician Alison Balsom who chose Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre as her London beyond Sight landmark. VocalEyes audio podcast produced by Toby Davey