We had a really great turnout for the Working Age Forum (WAF) on Tuesday, and we want to thank everyone who participated in this exciting and engaging session. It was wonderful to hear from old friends and welcome some new voices into the discussion.
We welcome anyone interested in work, even those who are retired. Last night, we had someone who is retired attend, and it was incredibly valuable. Retired members can share their experiences and tips around employment with younger members, offering a wealth of knowledge and insight on visual impairment employment.
For those who haven’t attended, the best way to describe it is a little like a radio chat show. Seema is the host, bringing each person into the conversation where they can talk about their working experiences, the challenges they’ve faced, potential issues ahead, and the support they might not realise is available. By sharing our employment journeys, we all learn and grow. You might find someone is already working in an area you’re interested in or has encountered and overcome similar issues. It’s also comforting to know you’re not alone and have a space to share your experiences.
Key Discussion Points
Last night’s session covered a variety of topics, including:
- Employment Rights: Understanding your legal protections and entitlements.
- Technology: How to leverage tech tools to enhance your work performance.
- Access to Work: Navigating the support available to help you in your job.
- Training and Free Support: Identifying opportunities for skill development.
- Support Workers Recruitment: Best practices for hiring and working with support staff.
Seema also introduced a secondary topic for each person to think about, focusing on gym access. The gym can be a great way to boost both mental health resilience and physical strength.
Gym Accessibility Discussion
We explored questions like: What’s your local gym like for accessibility? Do they support you? Do you go? We learned that some gyms allow you to bring a sighted friend free of charge to help you around the machines, while others are less accommodating. Knowing that some gyms offer this can empower us to ask for it and potentially complain to head office if necessary. It’s in the gym’s interest to allow someone to accompany you because it means their staff don’t have to stay with you, and it reduces their legal liability if someone got hurt with all the moving machines.
About the Working Age Forum (WAF)
On the second Wednesday of every month, the Working Age Forum (WAF) offers a relaxed and sociable environment for people of working age who are blind or visually impaired. Whether you are working, job seeking, or running your own business, WAF provides a place for you to engage with others and discuss issues and interests while learning from and being inspired by your peers.
At our events, we invite guest speakers to talk about inspiring and relevant topics such as public speaking, networking as a VIP, tech tips, motivational talks, and much more.
At Blind Ambition, we aim to keep our members at the heart of everything we do, so we have designed our WAF content around ideas and suggestions made by our ever-growing community. Our regular Working Age Forums are currently taking place online, using the Zoom video conferencing platform.
Join Us Next Month
It was a great discussion, and we hope to see more new faces at the next WAF on 10th July from 6:30 pm-7:30 pm. Register here.
Check out our main page on the Working Age Forum.
Engagement Questions
- Did you attend? How did you find it?
- Was it useful? Would you recommend attending?
- What would you like to see discussed?
- Any ideas for a secondary discussion like we did with gyms this month?
- Any suggestions on how we could improve the format?
- Is WAF the right name for the webinars? Any alternative suggestions, such as VIP Working Forum?
Please comment in the box below. We value your feedback and look forward to hearing from you!
