Cam Sight

‘Historic Duxford’ is an exciting new exhibition and historic site trail which tells the story of everyday life on the RAF airfield from 1918 to 1961.

Museum staff worked closely with blind and partially sighted people to ensure that they are able to enjoy a visit just as much as their sighted companions. An audio tour specifically designed for people with sight loss provides audio description and guidance.

A vivid picture emerges right at the start with Duxford’s veterans talking about the airfield and what it meant to them. ‘It was where I met my wife,’ says one. ‘I joined the RAF, truthfully, because the only alternative was going down a coal mine,’ says another.

There are hands-on activities to have a go at and on display are real and replica items to touch. Run your hands over a flying helmet or try on a replica of the jacket worn by Duxford’s most famous pilot, Douglas Bader, who lost his legs in a flying accident before the Second World War but became an outstanding fighter pilot during the conflict.  Pack a pilot’s brain with knowledge to find out what a First World War pilot said about flying, or explore a tactile model of the airfield with audio explaining all about how the site worked.

Complementing the ‘Historic Duxford’ exhibition is a heritage trail around the historic site itself with eight interactive posts. At each post you can hear an audio description of the location written by Vocaleyes, the leading organisation devoted to audio-description of the arts. You can also listen to audio memories from Duxford veterans as they share fascinating personal stories about what happened to them in those exact locations.

If you would like to find out more about Duxford’s  eventful past and fascinating people our staff will be pleased to help with your visit. Entry to the ‘Historic Duxford’ exhibition and trail is included in admission to IWM Duxford and there is no charge for the audio tour. Admission for a blind or partially sighted adult is £14.00 (£12.70 excluding voluntary contribution) and sighted companions are admitted free.

For a full list of admission prices, opening times and any additional information please telephone 01223 835000 or visit our website www.iwm.org.uk 

Kay Cooper

kcooper@iwm.org.uk

Cam Sight  is seeking a Community Support Worker to support visually impaired people in Fenland.  Part-time – 18 hours per week, £17,160 pro-rata.

Key responsibilities include managing a low vision equipment centre in Chatteris; leading two social support groups and supporting Cam Sight volunteers in the area.

The ideal candidate will have experience of working with visually impaired or vulnerable people, have good communication skills and be capable of working both independently and within a team. 

For job description and application form, please contact Becky Cawdry on 01223 420033 or becky@camsight.org.uk.

Application deadline is noon on Thursday 30 May and interviews will take place in Chatteris on Monday 10 June.

Steve Bingham, a renowned local violinist and conductor is celebrating his 50^th birthday by staging one of the most unusual charity concerts ever witnessed in Cambridge, for Cam Sight.

Steve Bingham’s Fire and Ice concert will combine full orchestra with electric and traditional violins in a programme featuring mythical glowing birds, icy wastes, JS Bach and a looping masterpiece, all in aid of Cam Sight.

West Road Concert Hall
Sunday 16 June 2013, 7.30pm

Steve, has played with some of the UK’s top orchestras as well as leading the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and conducting the Ely Sinfonia, is a champion of the idea that a training in classical music is just the start in making music of all types an adventure for everyone.  His concert, Fire and Ice, will feature modern classical, world music and film scores, as well as a full concerto for recorded birdsong and orchestra.

The concert will take place in West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge, and the programme will include Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus concerto for birdsong and orchestra, the suite from Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Bach’s Chaconne in D minor for solo violin, Keeling’s You Cut The String for electric violin and live looping, and Michael Nyman’s Suite of Film Music Pieces, including two brand new arrangements by Phil Toms.

The Firebird is one of the world’s best-loved orchestral scores, with its infernal dance and a blazing conclusion which sweeps all before it.  It is based on Russian folk tales and the stories provoked in the composer, Stravinsky, some of his most ardent and luscious writing.

Steve Bingham’s concert will feature other birds too, but this time they will be real – and recorded: birds from the Arctic Circle in Einojuhani Rautavaara’s extraordinary Cantus Articus, a concerto for birdsong and orchestra. The haunting calls of recorded shore larks and whooper swans ring through the swirl of flutes and the shimmer of strings in a work that is mysterious, deeply moving and life enhancing.

Michael Nyman’s Suite of Film Music Pieces includes items from two of his most memorable films scores: Drowning by numbers and A Zed and Two Noughts. Michael Nyman is one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary composers and Phil Toms’ arrangements of his music will demonstrate the talents of an orchestra especially assembled for this concert.

To complete the evening, Steve Bingham will play the Chaconne in D Minor for solo violin by JS Bach and a work specially written for him by composer Andrew Keeling.  You Cut the String combines live electric violin and recorded loops in a work of bright, transparent beauty and artistry.

Tickets for the concert are available from the ADC Theatre box office – 01223 300085, or online at http://www.adcticketing.com/whats-on/concert/fire-and-ice.aspx

The Friends of Cam Sight and Nigel Brown OBE  will once again be presenting their annual concert at West Road this summer.

On Monday 15^th July The Endellion Quartet with Clarinet Soloist Anna Hashimoto will be playing Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B Flat Major Op 34; Béla Kovács Hommage a C M von Weber and Brahms Clarinet Qunitet in B minor, Op 115. 

The Endellion Quartet are always very popular and are kindly giving their performance for free.  The concert is being sponsored by Cambridge Consultants and TTP Group. 

Tickets priced at £20/ £18 concessions/ £10 students will be on sale at the Cambridge Corn Exchange Box Office on 01223 357851

On Saturday 23^rd March an intrepid group of gastronomes braved the driving snow to attend the Friends of Cam Sight Dining in the Black at The Black Bull Balsham.

Owned and recently refurbished by the owners of The Red Lion Hinxton, The Black Bull proved to be the perfect venue, and once again Alex Clarke’s staff, led by award-winning Manager Mike Champion, made it an evening to remember.  We all enjoyed a number of blind tasting starters and desserts including Scallop Tatar with cauliflower puree and white chocolate & Rose Petal Panna Cotta with popping candy and mango caramel.  The food was superb with great imagination given to the mystery dishes.  Sponsorship by The Stickleback Fish Company, Adnams, Fisher and Woods and Andrew Northrop Butchers together with Alex Clarke’s great generosity enabled Cam Sight to raise £784.50 for our funds.

During our Centenary Year, Peter Jackson of the Cambridge District Lodge of Oddfellows adopted two local charities for the duration of his year of office.  Cam Sight shared the honours with the Teenage Cancer Trust and throughout 2012 Peter undertook a number of fundraising events including a highly successful plant sale and sponsored ‘plough’.  He raised the magnificent sum of £2,060 which was divided equally between both charities.  Sally, Joy and Becky, joined by Mick Scadden, Warren Wilson and Charlotte Hewer attended the presentation tea on 17^th April.  We are all extremely grateful to Peter for his magnificent support of Cam Sight last year. The money raised will be going towards our Centenary Appeal.

The Sampson Orchestra, who have kindly supported Cam Sight in the past, entertained a packed audience at West Road Concert Hall on Sunday 17^th March with a percentage of the takings and a bucket collection going to Cam Sight.

Their programme of Viennese Classics comprised Schubert’s Symphony No 8 – The Unfinished Symphony; Mozart’s Horn Concerto with Soloist Guy Llewellyn and Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 – The Lyric was a perfect mix and once again the Sampson Orchestra proved what a fine group of musicians they are.

The audience were very generous with the bucket collection at the end of the evening which, together with the proceeds from the Sampson Orchestra, came to £1,000.31.  We should like to thank the Sampson Orchestra, conducted by Darrell Davison, and in particular John Scott for their kind and generous support of Cam Sight.

Low Vision Exhibition at Cam Sight

Tuesday 26 March, 10am – 3pm

Optelec will be demonstrating a range of magnifiers to help with reading and writing. Displaying and enlarging magazines, newspapers and photographs at a more comfortable size for you.

Dolphin will be demonstrating software packages to magnify screens and talking computing for people with sight loss.

Please contact Gail at Cam Sight on 01223 420033 or gail@camsight.org.uk for more information.

The sun shone brightly and there was a decided touch of Spring and warmth in the air when a team from Cam Sight visited the Cambridgeshire Freemason Hall on 5^th March to receive a cheque from The Festival of Carols at Ely Cathedral.  The weather was in stark contrast to the bitter winter evening at Ely Cathderal just three months before when we sang our hearts out under the most stunning Christmas tree. 

Rodney Wolverson, Grand Master of the Cambridgeshire Freemasons, presenting Cam Sight’s Patron, Dame Mary Archer with a cheque for £17,417.00 – a tremendous sum raised from the Ely Cathedral Carol Concert.  The money will be put towards our Centenary Appeal which has now reached the £200,000 mark. Cam Sight would like to express its very grateful thanks to both the Cambridgeshire Freemasons and all the Staff at Ely Cathedral, particularly Lesley Ann Thompson for their support throughout our Centenary year and for such a memorable and enjoyable evening.

A team from Cam Sight visited the Cambridgeshire Freemason Hall yesterday to receive a cheque for £17,417.00 from The Festival of Carols at Ely Cathedral.  A tremendous sum which will be put towards our Centenary Appeal, which has now reached the £200,000 mark.

Cam Sight’s Glasses Group has been set up to help establish whether people with learning disabilities also have a visual impairment, and then to develop the best way of overcoming or adapting to this.

The Glasses Group is being held every Monday over a six week period at Horizon Day Centre, Coldhams Lane, Cambridge.  It is run by Cam Sight’s Rehabilitation workers Paula Bird and Helen Shepherd-Wilson, two Optometry students from Anglia Ruskin University and two support workers.

Each week is a different theme.  The group started with an explanation of who everyone was and an introduction of what the group was hoping to achieve. The first game was a bit of an ice-breaker; the memory game.  Different articles were placed on a tray with an explanation about each object.  The tray was then covered up and the group was asked to recall what was there.  This was a great way to start interacting with the group.

The next activity served as an introduction to visual impairment; an array of glasses were passed around the group and tried on.  This caused some amusement and led to a discussion on why people wear glasses, sunglasses, safety goggles and onion glasses.

The next game continued the ‘eye’ theme; titled ‘Build an eye’ the participants took turns throwing a specially designed dice which showed a picture of each part of the eye of each side.  This way an eye was gradually built up in the centre of the table.  The students then explained what each part of the eye was for.

At the beginning of the session the group had informed staff that they loved to colour.  When the ipads were introduced, the group was fascinated with different colouring Apps and the participants were truly amazed about how they could colour something without using a crayon.  Whilst doing this, the Optometry students and Cam Sight staff were able to work out how well the participants could identify colour and also observe their hand eye dexterity. 

The sessions have been a great success and have demonstrated there is a real need for this type of group.