RNIB Connect

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for another audio described theatre review.
This week Vidar and Toby chat about the 10th anniversary of Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes as the 20226 tour visited the Birmingham Hippodrome with description by Professional Audio Describer Caroline Burn.
About Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes 
The double Olivier Award-winning smash hit returns
A timeless fairytale and Academy Award-winning movie, The Red Shoes has captivated audiences and inspired generations of dancers with its powerful tale of obsession, possession and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. 
Victoria Page lives to dance but her ambitions become a fierce struggle between the two men who inspire her passion.
Matthew Bourne’s magical double Olivier Award-winning production of the legendary Powell and Pressburger film is set to a score orchestrated by Terry Davies, featuring the mesmerising music of golden-age Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann, with sumptuous designs by Lez Brotherston (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting) and Paul Groothuis (sound).
An intoxicating drama where life imitates art with fateful consequences, The Red Shoes will dazzle your senses and break your heart.
For more about Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes and the 2026 tour do visit the following pages of his company website - https://www.new-adventures.net/the-red-shoes#overview 
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Each week, on RNIB Connect Radio we sit down with Simon Antrobus, CEO of RNIB, to look at some of the big stories coming from the UK sight loss charity.
This week Simon talks about attending the Anthropy conference in Cornwall which brings CEOs from across the charitable, social justice and social care sectors together to discuss ways of creating a more united society plus the cane walk and handing in of the Life on Pause petition to Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which happened on Tuesday calling for action to be taken on Vision Rehabilitation Services so that blind and partially sighted people’s lives are not put on pause.  
If you, or someone you know, would like information on the support and services available from RNIB, go to www.rnib.org.uk
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Each month, RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell is joined by some of RNIB Northern Ireland’s Campaigns Team to discuss some of the big projects they’re working on.
This month’s topics include a recent Stormont event and work on a Disability Strategy.
If you’d like to find out more, or get involved in campaigning, email [email protected]

#RNIBConnect
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Each month, RNIB Connect Radio speak to some of the RNIB Campaigns Team to discuss some of the big projects they’re working on at the moment. Hywel Davies has been finding out more.
If you’d like more information on campaigns or want to get involved , email [email protected]

You can visit rnib.org.uk/news 
or call our Helpline on 0303 123 9999
Follow @RNIB_Campaigns on your socials or search for RNIB Campaigns

Take your family on a magical adventure through the interactive Fairytales exhibition at the British Library until 23 August 2026 which has been made accessible to young blind and partially sighted people and their families too.  
Explore enchanted lands, magical creatures, iconic characters and timeless tales, brought to life through books, theatre costumes, puppets, pop-ups, artwork and illustrations.   
RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey caught up with Rebecca Campbell-Gay, one of the Curators of the Fairytales exhibition to find out how the stories of many of those classic fairytales have been brought to life within the exhibition and how the British Library have been working with the RNIB to make the exhibition as accessible as possible to young blind and partially sighted people. 
For more about the Fairytales exhibition at the British Library which is on until 23 August 2026 do visit - https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/fairy-tales 
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