A guide dog is superb at coping with the familiar, but what if the journey faces the unexpected? Mandy recounts her disrupted journey to work. If you shudder at the words "Rail Replacement Bus Service" read on...
As I have previously mentioned, I
travel to work here at CLARITY, from Braintree assisted by Vesper my guide
dog. The journey itself, is fairly
straightforward. We take a train from
Braintree to London Liverpool Street and then catch the underground to Kings
Cross then bus to CLARITY.
As a rule, the trains run fairly
efficiently; however, this morning was an exception. If, as I do on some occasions, decide to take
an early train from Braintree, I catch the 5.40 am train and change at
Witham. After that, there is a straight
through train from Witham to Liverpool street; Vesper manages this extremely
well considering ...
Recently, I went to
Edinburgh. I took my guide dog Luke for
the first time by plane. I am used to
using trains, tubes and buses and even when I went to Blackpool, the Tram, on a
plane with a guide dog was an interesting and new experience.
We had arranged to
go to Gatwick Airport and come back via City airport; so on a Friday morning,
my sister Caroline and I, went to Gatwick Airport. When we arrived, we took the
escalator up to the Gatwick Express. I
should explain here, that it is not standard practice to take a guide dog on an
escalator but due to reductions in staff recently, and other issues, I found it
necessary to train him to do so. It’s
quite straightforward, you guide him on very carefully with somebody with you,
...
Joanna Lumley Praises ‘Inspirational’ Charity that Employs Blind
and Disabled Staff to Make and Sell Toiletries and other High Quality Beauty
Products
Joanna Lumley has praised
the charity CLARITYthat makes and sells toiletries and beauty products as a means of giving
employment to its blind and disabled staff. CLARITY employs over
75 staff in its main manufacturing plant in London and its telesales centres
across the UK. Most of the staff are blind, disabled or both. Joanna has made and released a short
video in which she asks ‘Why would anyone buy from anywhere else –
it’s just inspirational!’
Jeremy Robinson, Chief Executive of CLARITY said, ‘We are thrilled that
Joanna has taken the time to hear about the work we do here. We explained
to her that many of our staff have struggled to find jobs in the open job
market. Before ...
Following the article
in my local press (The Braintree and Witham Times), I was asked by the Essex
Blind Charity who had read it with interest, to give a talk at their AGM
on the 26th October.
I had never done
anything like this before, but felt very privileged to be asked. I had not heard about the charity before, but
they do good work in providing advice and access to visually-impaired people in
Essex by running the Resource Centres and telephone helplines.
I began my speech by
talking briefly about my life history and then explaining how difficult it was
to find employment and how soul-destroying it is when turned down for jobs;
that is, of course, until I discovered CLARITY who provided me with a wonderful
opportunity as they do to others, to feel worthwhile and have ...
My name is Mandy
Woodman (Amanda really but prefer Mandy).I’m 44 and live in Braintree, Essex.I am a mum of three boys; Oliver 22, Jamie 19 and Matt 15. I have been a full-time mum for the last 22
years and have longed for a career as opposed to a job with little
satisfaction. I had heard about CLARITY through
a friend and had purchased some of the products. I was impressed of course, especially with
the shower gel; but wanted to find out if there were any opportunities of work
for me.
I have always had an
interest in counselling and communicating with people and was fortunate to be
offered a position using all these skills in admin, reception and training and
development. I am very happy here, and
look forward to coming to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Overall, CLARITY (formerly as "The Incorporated Association for The General Welfare of the Blind"!) has been providing blind and disabled people with meaningful employment since 1854. However, in 1936 a generous grant by trustee and Victoria Cross recipient, Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, and fellow trustee Lord Nuffield meant that we branched out into soap manufacture. Some of the original fragrances included Carbolic, Coal Tar and Eau de Cologne and single 3oz tablets cost 6d each.
CLARITY has moved with the times and today our commemorative soaps have been developed in conjunction with speciality fragrance house Ungerer to create contemporary, environmentally friendly soaps for you to enjoy yourself or buy as an ideal gift ...
Our very own Mandy Woodman has helped to promote CLARITY following the success of Stephen Fry's tweet about us. She will take up tweeting for CLARITY and has really enjoyed her first venture into the twittersphere. Her local paper, the Braintree and Witham Times interviewed her (see below) with the intention that larger companies would hear about CLARITY and consider the possibility of taking on someone who is blind or has multiple disabilities for a full time job.
"A blind mum is inspiring other visually impaired people to find work and boost their confidence.
Mandy Woodman, 44, works for CLARITY in London, which employs blind and disabled people to make beauty and cleaning products.
It is her first job after 21 years as a full-time mum and her job includes staff training and development, helping staff run the reception and switchboard, and helping ...
Meet Vesper, who plays an important role helping Mandy to get to work. Not just any work, Mandy creates beauty products for the CLARITY factory in King's Cross which employs people with a visual impairment to create soaps and hand and body lotions.
"It can be isolating being blind – you can very easily fall into the cycle of just living at home and being reliant on the NHS,” says Mandy, who has been unable to see since birth. "CLARITY offers independence, gives us the ability to earn money, and you meet people from such different backgrounds.” She doesn't like the word "blind”. "But I can't use the words "visually impaired” because I have no vision. So if I'm talking about myself I say "unsighted” - it really is a question of preference.”
This is the story of CLARITY employee, Alex (pictured)
I joined CLARITY six years
ago, following unsuccessful attempts to secure open employment for nearly two
years. I lost my previous paid employment because of my sightlessness. All
attempts to secure open employment proved futile, until my Disability
Employment Advisor informed me of CLARITY - Employment for Blind People.
When I joined CLARITY, I realised that adding to my skills and
qualifications could improve the likelihood of finding long term employment.
Although, I had some customer services skills, I underwent further customer
services training and then became a relief receptionist. In order to upgrade my
computer skills, I enrolled on CLARITY’s touch typing course, under the tutelage
of City and Islington College. Next, I held discussions with the Personal
Development Manager, with the view of studying for external qualification.
The Inspirational Story of former CLARITY employee, Mohammed Shaikh, who gained the confidence from CLARITY to do just what he had always wanted to - start his own business. Courtesy of Jessica Thompson, Hounslow Chronicle:
Inspirational blind man sets up Feltham car repair business
A NEW car repair garage has been set up in Feltham by a blind man, inspired to follow his dreams by a specialist charity.
Mr Shaikh, worked at a factory on York Way, Kings Cross, run by blind employment charity 'Clarity', for five years. Mohammed Shaikh, 39, of Northcote Avenue in Isleworth, has officially opened F.D Motors in Fern Grove. During his time there, he made beauty and cleaning products with other employees who suffer from visual impairment.
Mr Shaikh, who only has 25 per cent vision, left at the end of 2010, feeling ready to go after his ambition to set up his own business. His ...
Press Release: Clarity is re-launching its famous Dog Shampoo on 1st June 2011. David Sore, marketing manager of Clarity said, ‘Dogs are part of our life here at Clarity. On any day, there are usually 6 or 7 guide dogs around. We know that people love buying our products because they know that every penny they spend not only buys a great product, but it helps some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We turn ‘buying' into ‘giving'. So many people buy our products because as well as being high quality in their own right, it makes them feel better as they know they have helped others'.
CLARITY, a long established disability charity hosted the launch of a major UK wide initiative at an event on Tuesday 24th May. The north London based charity doesn't ask for donations – it relies on selling its products to provide employment for blind, partially sighted and disabled people. They make quality beauty and cleaning products. Today, it joined forces with over 180 other charities and groups that make and sell products to fund their good works in launching JustBuy. www.JustBuy.org.uk is a directory of all these so called ‘social firms'. The 180 firms are from all across the UK and make and sell everything from cup cakes to road signs.
David Sore, Marketing Manager of CLARITY said, ‘What we do turns ‘buying' into ‘giving'. People can buy products and services from ourselves and the other JustBuy companies knowing that the money they spend ...
Quentin Willson the Sunday Mirror's Motoring Correspondent wrote in todays paper a small article pushing CLARITY's car cleaning kit. 3 million readers will hopefully take a look at our site and make a purchase.
CLARITY has been in existence for over 150 years. Their aim is to maintain and increase meaningful job opportunities for the blind, visually impaired and disabled. Funding to make this happen is achieved by selling the quality products they make from their London Factory. Please support and buy CLARITY Products.
Stephen Fry tweets to his 2.8 million followers on Twitter about the Inspirational UK Charity: CLARITY
