West Yorkshire local peer support group
This Local Peer Support Group provides a welcoming, safe and friendly opportunity for people to meet up to share experiences, tips and information.
We are pleased to invite you to join group facilitator Damian Maccallum and the West Yorkshire group for their next meeting where we are delighted to welcome guest speaker Dave Steele, The Blind Poet.
Come along and join us for this great opportunity to meet and hear from Dave Steele, an award-winning poet, author, speaker, singer and advocate for the blind who was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) in 2014.
Together with his wife Amy, the family grappled with the difficult diagnosis as RP quickly left him an unemployed father of four. Feeling the stressors of financial debt and the loss of his independence, Dave turned to social media for support with his RP journey. He was also struck by the numerous misconceptions and stories of injustice being experienced by so many blind/visually impaired people all over the world.
Dave’s first book, Stand By Me RP Volume 1, was released in February 2016. That same day, he received the call that he had been matched with a guide dog. During its first week, Stand By Me RP Volume 1, went on to become the number 1 poetic release in both America and Australia.
His advocacy work continues to be recognised both locally and internationally. In 2018 Dave was honoured by Henshaw’s with the “Impact Award” and was the recipient of the Pride of Bury “Community Hero Award.”
Dave’s legion of followers greatly identifies with his poetic realism. With over 700 poems and songs dealing with the fears and struggles associated with sight loss, Dave’s work is helping diminish many of the misconceptions associated with the blindness. His mission through his poetic verse is “to help those who are being isolated by a condition that strips us of our independence, let them know that they aren’t alone, and help educate loved ones on how we feel.”
We look forward to seeing you there!
Venue
This meeting will be held online via Zoom.
Please note that this meeting will be recorded and the audio only uploaded to our You Tube channel so please do not share any personal contact information. However, please feel free to share your experiences living with sight loss but only if you feel comfortable in doing so and remember that others outside of this meeting will be able to hear it on this public platform.