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TX:Ìý 03.12.2019Ìý 2040-2100

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PRESENTER:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý PETER WHITE

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PRODUCER:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý LEE KUMUTAT

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White

No shortage of political parties telling you what’s in their manifestos but how often, during this election campaign, have you heard the word – blind, visually impaired or partially sighted?Ìý Well we’re about to put that right, if we can.

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And meet a man whose always up for a fight.

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Clip

I’m going to your elbow and then the right hand chops your wrist…

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Ooh.

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…and can you feel that?

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Yeah, I could feel that Josh, yes.

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Why Josh Mcentee has been showing me a few Jiu-Jitsu moves.

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But first, a big response to our interview last week with Matt Stringer, the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s new CEO.Ìý The RNIB’s decision to sell its remaining residential care homes and colleges has left almost all of those who got in touch with us angry and disappointed and regarding this as another example of the organisation moving out of providing direct services.

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One of those who got in touch was a long-term employee at one of the care homes affected.Ìý Their account of how the news of the sale was delivered rather differs from the one we heard last week.Ìý Well, we’ve agreed to respect their anonymity but this is what they told us verbatim read by a Â鶹Éç producer.

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Care home employee (read)

So, a couple of weeks go we were sent a letter, I can’t remember the exact wording but it was basically a meeting scheduled for two weeks ago and to attend an important meeting.Ìý I did attend, after one or two people suggested I go.Ìý And in the meeting, anyhow, he read out a statement which is very jargony.Ìý And, basically, saying they’re transferring over the care to another organisation, which basically means sell, which I’ve subsequently worked out.Ìý That was challenged in the meeting by a few others, the sell word, but it was all about transferring care.Ìý There was absolutely no knowledge prior to that that the homes were going to be sold.

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White

And what were you told about the reasons for this?

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Care home employee (read)

[Sigh] again, very jargony.Ìý They did kind of admit, softly, that may be perhaps RNIB weren’t the best people to manage care homes and that they wanted to look at working in the community, as opposed to helping the few, help the many.

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White

And what was the reaction of the people there, the other people where you work?

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Care home employee (read)

Well, I guess when you’re not prepared for that information, that is again – I keep jargony – then you can’t really respond correctly.Ìý People were asking questions about safety of the job etc., what’s going to happen to residents but I guess it’s only till after the meeting we’ve been able to understand what transfer means – sell – that people have actually got it.Ìý And then there’s a sense of, well, not really surprise.Ìý I think it’s been coming a while with the RNIB and the care homes but disappointed.

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White

Were there opportunities then to talk to the people who’d come to explain to you what was happening?

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Care home employee (read)

Within that meeting there was opportunity to ask questions and talk, yes, but like I said, you know, if you’re not prepared and you’re given a statement in that moment you can’t process and digest and then respond.

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White

What’s your view about the situation at the care home where you work, the state of it, the relationship with the RNIB?

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Care home employee (read)

The place is pretty shoddy, it needs some love, care and attention, massively.Ìý I mean it might sound really shallow but you know the wallpaper, the carpets, some parts of that building have not been touched in, you know, a long, long time.Ìý Going forward, because the building, for example, has been left without much love, care and attention that whomever buys the care homes will have to invest heavily in it.Ìý So, therefore, it could actually be a positive.Ìý I don’t think you can run these care homes in the state that they are and make it work if you don’t invest initially.Ìý So, in that respect it’s a positive.Ìý I have no idea about the care of the residents, for example, in the specific care of their eyesight, I don’t know what’s going to happen there but there it is.

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White

Why have you agreed to talk to us, why did you contact us in the first place?

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Care home employee (read)

Umm, that’s a good question, because carers generally, I feel they’re not valued or overstretched [sic] and there isn’t really a voice.Ìý And I head about your programme and because of what your programme is about – people with sight loss – I thought this is a sort of direct line to let people know about a large organisation that really, you know, sells itself ironically on being the chieftain of expertise with people with sight loss.Ìý And so, this is an opportunity for me to address some of those issues.

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White

Do you feel you’re taking a risk?

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Care home employee (read)

Well, there’s plenty of care work out there.Ìý When you care so much and you feel, you know, you’re not being heard then it has an opportunity to be heard without putting yourself at too much risk then you know it could be worthwhile.

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White

Have you raised it with the RNIB?

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Care home employee (read)

Yes, I don’t think at this late stage, you know, like I said, I know that they’re trying to wrap things up nicely but what can they do, because they’re selling, so it’s done.

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White

And what assurances have the staff had about jobs, for example, and security?

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Care home employee (read)

So, those on contract, whether that’s a zero contract, full time, part time contract will transfer over to the – whoever the new organisation will be.Ìý And so, thereafter, once it’s in the hands of another organisation, you know, a year from now, who knows?

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White

Well this is what the RNIB told us in a statement:

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RNIB Statement

Staff at all the affected care homes, schools and colleges have known the services have been under review since 2017.Ìý As soon as our board of trustees made a decision to transfer the services to new specialist providers, we started planning how we would communicate the news.Ìý Staff were invited to a meeting and were then sent a follow-up letter, explaining the decision and how it would affect them.Ìý We have dedicated HR support in place and HR drop-in sessions have already been held at each service, with more still to come.Ìý We’ve also set up a dedicated email address for staff to send their questions, concerns and feedback.Ìý We’re committed to keeping everyone updated and to answering any questions they have.

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Now we’ve heard about many blind people taking up martial arts over the years but not many who’ve taken up teaching it, both to visually impaired and sighted people.Ìý Well I joined Josh Mcentee, he’s doing just that, I joined him very early one morning at a gym in Stockport in Greater Manchester.

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Mcentee

In Jiu-Jitsu we do joint manipulation.Ìý If, at any time, you feel any amount of pain, if you don’t have the use of your hands, you can say tap but if you had use of your hands you just tap on me like that, yeah?

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White

Yeah.

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Mcentee

And I’ll just stop the move there and then, okay?

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White

Okay.

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Josh, first of all, just explain about what you want to do at this gym with visually impaired people.

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Mcentee

I’m basically looking to get visually impaired people in and other disabilities to teach them Jiu-Jitsu as a self-defence.Ìý One of the main reasons was when I lost my sight I remember feeling how vulnerable when I came out of hospital I felt, you know, from going from fully sighted to almost like being blindfolded, so I remember feeling, very, very vulnerable and thinking I need something to help me, basically give me the confidence to get out into the world and take some of that vulnerability away.Ìý And that’s when I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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White

So, why Jiu-Jitsu?

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Mcentee

Jiu-Jitsu’s all about feel and the correct way to actually learn Jiu-Jitsu, whether you’ve got vision or no vision, is to do it by feel and touch.Ìý I could go to a sighted class and be at the same level as the other guys in there.Ìý We’ve got more of an advantage, to be honest, than someone with sight has doing Jiu-Jitsu.

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So, what I would like you to do Peter, is with your hand if you could grab me like this on my T-shirt, yeah…

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White

I’m not going to fight you when you’re a foot bigger than me, I’m going to run away.

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Mcentee

If you grab me and turn like your palm towards the ceiling…

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White

Yeah.

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Mcentee

…that’s it, like that, yeah.Ìý Left hand goes to your elbow and then the right hand chops your wrist…

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White

Ooh.

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Mcentee

Can you feel that?

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White

Yeah, I could feel that, Josh, yes.

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Mcentee

Yeah, yeah.Ìý So…

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White

Yeah, let me have a go.

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Mcentee

So, I’m going to grab you here…

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White

Yeah and I’m going to do that…

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Mcentee

…yeah, that’s it, that’s it…

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White

How’s that?

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Mcentee

And you can see there, if you feel my wrist now, how you had it…

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White

Bet you’re scared, aren’t you?

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[Laughter]

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Now, let’s just find out a bit more about your situation because you lost your sight only three years ago, can you just explain what happened?

Mcentee

Three years ago, myself, my brother and my cousin went and bought a classic car in Derby, we brought the car back and I’d had the car four hours when the car had a mechanical failure and sent my car into oncoming traffic.Ìý Unfortunately, I had a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle which resulted in multiple life-changing injuries and it nearly cost me my life as well, I was very lucky to survive the accident.Ìý I severely broke both legs in two, pretty much everything above my mouth had to be rebuilt including my eye sockets, my nose, my forehead.Ìý I had a bleed on the brain and brain damage from the accident.Ìý Oh yeah, I broke my little finger but other than that I was fine!

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White

It almost sounds as if you almost regarded the loss of sight as one of the more minor things that happened to you, I don’t know if I’m reading that in?

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Mcentee

No, that’s right, yeah, no, you’re bang on there.Ìý I felt so fortunate to survive the accident and to walk away that the result that I had no sight, that I went from 20/20 vision to complete darkness, it almost made it easier to come to terms with because I felt so fortunate to be alive anyway, so if I had no sight then so be it.

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White

You seem to have got yourself back on your feet very, very quickly.Ìý Why do you think that is?

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Mcentee

There’s no like guideline that I can give you but from my experience, I woke up in the hospital and I told myself with utter conviction that I’d turn this into a positive and I’d make sure that this wasn’t sort of the end for me.Ìý I sort of told myself that I’ve got a new start to a new kind of life with having no sight and that I’d make the most of it.

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White

Just to go back to the accident, which you say was a mechanical fault that you inherited with the car, have you had contact with the person who caused your accident?

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Mcentee

Yeah, I’ve spoke to the man, just to let him know that I’ve recovered and that I’m doing well, just to hopefully put his mind at ease a bit because I mean it’s one of them things where it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just the way it is.

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White

But you could have sued, couldn’t you?

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Mcentee

That’s right, yeah, I could have done.

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White

Why didn’t you?

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Mcentee

I didn’t want to affect somebody else’s life by suing them and taking the assets they have, I’d rather let the guy know that I’m okay, I don’t blame him at all and move on with my life.

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White

Now we’ve been talking to you about the Jiu-Jitsu classes and your martial arts but what about work?

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Mcentee

I’ve been working since I was aged 18, so, I lost my sight when I was 23 and I had got savings up till that point and I carried on saving after I lost my sight.Ìý So, I’ve just bought my first property to renovate and sale actually.Ìý So, my idea is, for the long term, is to do a property and build up the money for the long run and my security that way.Ìý When I got into the Jiu-Jitsu, the teaching, I found a great passion for teaching and it all comes down to me being able to help people through Jiu-Jitsu and that’s, you know, what I’m really aiming to do.Ìý If I can make the world a better place than what I found it, by helping others, I’ll die a happy man.

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White

So, long-term ambitions?

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Mcentee

The long-term ambitions for me really are to get my registered charity number for my charity – Inner Strength Sports – and then the main goal is to set up my own fully accessible Jiu-Jitsu gym where I can teach a full array of different disabilities including wheelchair users and have the correct equipment for that.

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White

Josh Mcentee.Ìý And you can find out more about his plans on our website.

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Now, since the general election was announced In Touch has already looked at the problems of voting secretly and independently if you’re visually impaired.Ìý But what if you want to actually read the party manifestos in detail without relying on 60 second soundbites?Ìý And what will we find specifically affecting us if we do?

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Well, we’ve asked two politics watchers to do the heavy lifting for us.Ìý Sean Dilley is Â鶹Éç reporter; Bethany Dawson is a freelance journalist focusing on politics and disability who’s just been researching manifesto accessibility for an article in the Independent.

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So, Bethany, if I can start with you.Ìý What were your overall conclusions about accessibility?

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Dawson

The overall conclusion is that there is no continuity between the parties as to the amount that people are doing.Ìý There is such a varied degree of who is doing what for which people.Ìý When it comes to the manifestos, some are much more accessible and cater for many more needs than others.Ìý At the time of writing the article for the Independent, Labour had not published any accessible formats.Ìý However, now they have published their audio manifesto, a braille manifesto, an easy read manifesto and a BSL video of their manifesto.Ìý The Conservatives have now, online, got an audio and a BSL manifesto on their website…

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White

BSL of course is British Sign Language.

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Dawson

They also say on their website, that there is an easy read, large print and braille manifesto available if you call or email.Ìý When I called the number listed, I was informed that I had to email.Ìý I emailed a week ago and I am indeed still waiting for my easy read manifesto.

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White

And what about the Lib Dems?

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Dawson

It does not say on their website that anything additional is coming but that, of course, doesn’t mean that it isn’t.Ìý They currently have an audio manifesto, an easy read manifesto and a British Sign Language manifesto…

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White

And just explain what you mean by an easy read manifesto.

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Dawson

So, an easy read manifesto is a much shorter version of their complete manifesto, it has policy points condensed down to single sentences using very simplistic language and they have imagery supporting the policy to explain to people of all different abilities what they are pledging to do for the electorate should they come into power.

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White

So, if you can actually find a manifesto that you can read, what are you actually going to find in it that’s relevant to visually impaired people?Ìý Let’s go to you Sean.Ìý Can we start with benefits, because obviously that is something that people who are on them are concerned about?

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Dilley

Yes, I think both the Conservative and Labour Party seem to recognise that some people have found PIP assessments, particularly re-assessments…

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White

That’s Personal Independence Payments, yeah.

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Dilley

…quite distressing.Ìý Of course, having to prove and re-prove disabilities.Ìý The Conservative Party have said that they would be looking to reduce the number of re-assessments for anybody who’s in a position where their condition is unlikely to change, such as people with congenital blindness who have no sight whatever or very low sight.Ìý Labour, in contrast, say that what they would like to do is to get rid of the existing current system. ÌýPerhaps the most radical reform of the first three would be the Liberal Democrats, they not only would like to see reversals of cuts to the employment and support allowance, which is received by many people who are blind and visually impaired, but they want to scrap the existing work capability assessments and replace them with what they call real world tests and these would be administered by local authorities.

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Also, just to point out, although universal credit doesn’t specifically apply to people who are blind and visually impaired or with disabilities many people in categories of having a disability or visual impairment would receive universal credit and again there’s a stark contrast between the Conservatives, who wish to continue to roll out the six in one benefit, including sort of housing benefit and what not.Ìý And the Labour Party who say that they would scrap out.Ìý And there are cost implications to both of course.

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White

And what about the SNP on this issue?

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Dilley

Well the SNP also wants to scrap universal credit and stop the benefits freeze in Scotland.Ìý And the Brexit Party says only in its manifesto that it wants to reform universal credit, in whatever that may be, after a 12-month review and implement the changes in two years.

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White

Can I move on to employment for visually impaired people?Ìý What are the parties saying about that?

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Dilley

So, we’re going to kick off with Labour on this occasion because they want to introduce a publication scheme for employers who have more than 250 employees and they would like a mandatory publication showing the gap between what they pay their disabled workers and those without disabilities.Ìý They also want to passport scheme, as they call it, for reasonable adjustments.Ìý So, for instance, if somebody has a rota pattern change, that they can take those reasonable adjustments with them.Ìý They want to pay disability leave, as well, which is interesting.Ìý So, if you need some time off for a reason related to a disability or a visual impairment, that would be not recorded, as far as we can tell from their manifesto, as sick leave but a very special category called disability leave.

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White

One more.Ìý The other hot potato – social care – anyone offering anything on that?

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Dilley

Let’s kick off with the Conservatives because they say that they would invest £1 billion in adult and children’s social care.Ìý Now one imagines that that would very much touch on the care that people may get in terms of younger adolescence rehabilitation, which often falls to the charity sector.Ìý Boris Johnson says that he wants to make sure that no one has to sell their home and there’s no detail, unfortunately, in how they would achieve that.Ìý Plaid Cymru in Wales say they would like a new health and social care service for Wales and they say that all social care for elderly people and those who are more vulnerable, such as people who are blind and visually impaired of course, should be paid for by the state.Ìý Liberal Democrats, they plan to raise income tax by one penny in the pound.Ìý Now, believe it or not, and it’s a staggering figure, they say that would raise £7 billion and some of that they would invest in social care, including reintroducing the living fund to support people with disabilities in the community who do not wish to go into any form of social care or residential setting.

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White

Bethany Dawson, Sean Dilley – thank you both very much.

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And that’s it for today.Ìý You can call and leave a voice message on 0161 836 1338.Ìý You can email intouch@bbc.co.uk or you can go to our website, that’s bbc.co.uk/intouch from where you can download tonight’s and previous editions of the programme.

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From me, Peter White, producer Lee Kumutat and the team, goodbye.

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