North England news

The latest news for and from our blind veterans in the North of England including Lancashire, Yorkshire , Cumbria. and Northumberland. 

Love is in the air! 

February 2024

This Valentines Day we celebrated Blind Veterans UK style!  

The Liverpool/Manchester team collaborated with Bureau Veritas, our corporate partner, to put on a lunch. Bureau Veritas brought in Mezzo-Soprano Sian Davies to sing some beautiful, classic love songs.  

We called in a favour from blind veteran Gerry, who played us a few tunes on his ukulele (he was sensational!). 

We also surprised blind veteran Ken and his wife Christine with a live performance of a song that’s special to their 70-year love story. Ken and Christine first met 70 years ago, on a blind date at a music gig, and have been together ever since. 

Visit to RAF Conningsby

February 2024

Members from around Lincolnshire attended the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), at RAF Coningsby in February. This was one of two organised events at BBMF via the RAF BBMF Squadron Leader at RAF Coningsby. The first BBMF event was in January this year.

It was an excellent opportunity for Members to engage with one another and discover how each airframe (Dakota, Hurricane, Spitfire and Chipmunks) were used during the Second World War conflict, roles and interesting facts.

Two members of staff (Niel and Ben) from our corporate partner Sopra-Steria joined us at the event as volunteers and thoroughly enjoyed themselves! This gave them a great opportunity to engage with Members and staff and discuss how impactful Blind Veterans UK's offer to Members is.

This was a private tour booked via BBMF Squadron personnel and both tour-guides on the day were former RAF. Overall, the tour was a huge success filled with opportunity to really delve into the history of each airframe, their purpose and a full sensory experience with noise from onsite RAF mechanics working on the airframes.

Anniversary of our Victory over Blindness statue

October 2023

On Wednesday 18 October, we held a special event to mark the fifth anniversary of our ‘Victory over Blindness’ statue by taking over Manchester Piccadilly Station with a living version of the statue.

We held a ceremony, including a wreath laying and piper playing, outside the station to mark the anniversary. We were also joined by our ‘living statue’, made up of staff, volunteers and Members, who mirrored the sculpture, then marched through the station.