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In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Evans who grew up in apartheid South Africa. On leaving school, Dave became increasingly aware of the injustices caused by the South African government's racist policies. Dave now lives in Wallasey, Merseyside,  with his partner jenny, where he continues to write and champion the cause of social justice.

In this podcast, I talk to a visually impaired storyteller, teacher and voice-coach about the challenges his disability presents him with during his working life.

This is an interview with Graham Trust from the Liverpool band The Vow, which was originally broadcast on Mandy Woodman's All things Rock and Indie show on Ultimate Radio in February 2022. Very sadly, Graham passed away earlier this week so I'm issuing this as a podcast in tribute to him. Rest in peace old boy! You left us with loads of marvellous memories and a stash of great music to listen back to.

In this podcast, tom Walker talks to Geoff Cope who, after a successful career playing cricket for Yorkshire and England, was diagnosed at the age of 37 with the eye condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa. Geoff shared dressing rooms with some giants of the game including Geoffrey Boycott and Freddie Trueman and has a wealth of stories to share.  

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lose your eyesight?  The American author and writer, Jon Gingerich has retinitis pigmentosa. RP is a  progressive condition which means that a person’s sight will continue to get worse over the years. Often, after the vision has been stable for a while, it can get worse suddenly over a short period of time. This is Jon's story.

From a victim of the Omagh bombing to a winner of The Voice, Tom Walker talked to some extraordinary visually impaired people while recording an edition of the In Touch Programme for BBC Radio 4 some years ago. 

As you will hear in the Christmas edition of my That'll be the Day podcast, there's so much more to Penny Melville-Brown from Fareham, than losing her sight or being the first female naval barrister.  Throughout her life, Penny has known success and disaster in equal measure, but what becomes patently clear, is that resilience is conspicuous by its presence. By any standards, Penny is a remarkable person and recording the podcast with her  was a pleasure. 

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Deborah Fairclough, a visually impaired woman from Sheffield, whose recent experience of travelling by train was quite traumatic. When the assistance Deborah booked didn’t turn up to help her to get off the train, she had no option other than to try to do that independently. It very nearly didn’t end well. Thankfully, Deborah is still here and able to tell the tale.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Alan McCoomb from Liverpool who, at the age of 34, had a stroke which resulted in him losing his sight and in considerable cognitive deficit. The doctors said Alan was lucky to survive. Since then, Alan has taken advantage of the opportunities that have come his way, including studying for a degree in History and continuing with his love of cricket.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to a visually impaired man whose graduation ceremony was ruined by disability discrimination and thoughtlessness. But as you will hear, there’s much more to Connor Scott-Gardner than this. In addition to campaigning and raising awareness of the challenges visually impaired people face, Connor has spent a year living in Colombia and is trans-gender.

In this podcast, Martin Conway who’s totally blind, tells Tom Walker about his experiences of waiting for a very long time for help to get off and on aeroplanes. Martin regularly flies between Manchester and Ireland to attend GAA and other sports fixtures. Martin isn’t alone … the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner who uses a wheelchair, has also recently been forced to wait for way too long for assistance at Gatwick Airport.

In this podcast, Margaret Ord tells Tom Walker about how she coped with her visual impairment. At school, university and in her working life, virtually no adjustments were made for Margaret, with the exception of in her Biology O Level. It’s a story of determination - with a bit of blag thrown in!