Vision for Equality: Working together for an inclusive society

The words ‘excited’ and ‘conference’ are not usually found in the same sentence, but there is a real buzz at Guide Dogs about hosting the Vision for Equality Conference this week (Wednesday 19 January).

Vision for Equality has been organised to contribute to and move forward the work of the UK Vision Strategy.  It represents a great opportunity to shape the services provided to blind and partially sighted people, especially with regard to transport, planning, education and employment.  Of course, there have been significant improvements in these areas in the last few years.  But, there is still so much more that needs to be done to ensure that in future blind and partially sighted people have the same opportunities as others to live life as they want to live it.

The Big Society and what it actually means has been part of the national discourse for some months now. I’m looking forward to hearing from Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society, about where Guide Dogs and our colleagues in the third sector fit in, particularly given the widely held view that 2011 will be the year when “austerity bites”.

Transport and accessibility will be high on the agenda with Ann Frye, a highly respected consultant in transport and disability, talking about the urgent improvements that need to be made. The conference is also the perfect opportunity to discuss our ongoing work in this area, such as our Talking Buses and Say No To Shared Streets campaigns.

We also really need to reach out to younger blind and partially sighted people to help them achieve their full potential as confident, mobile and independent adults. So it will be interesting to hear from my former colleague and now CEO at the Royal London Society for the Blind, Tom Pey, about the work they’ve been doing on the challenges facing children with sight loss.

It’s going to be really exciting to have around 200 people who care about these issues as much as we at Guide Dogs do under one roof. I know many people think conferences are just a lot of people in a room talking, but talking generates ideas - ideas that could literally transform lives. The biggest challenge lies in translating those ideas into action. Let’s get started.