Access To Work – Well Eye Never

January & February 2023 Favourites

Hey there, hope your year’s got off to a good start so far. Apologies that it’s taken a while for me to do another Favourites update, but I’ve had other things keeping me busy over the past couple of months, as I’ll mention during this roundup. However, I have also been out and about as well, and I’ve enjoyed watching various things as usual.

So, as you’ll see from the contents list, there’s plenty to mention in this latest post and video. And none of it’s sponsored or gifted, except for the panto interview post I briefly refer to. I hope you enjoy looking through it all!

Blind Leading The Blind – My New Job

Well, hello again. It’s been a while since I last posted about what I’ve been getting up to, and that’s because I took a step back at the start of the year to focus on other things for a couple of months.

But now I’m getting back into a normal routine again, I wanted to tell you about the big development – my new job!

As regular readers will recall, back in 2022 I was made redundant from Torbay Council, after nearly 18 years working in their Printing department, as the authority elected to outsource their print operations. So I left at the start of September, and took a well-earned career break for a few months.

During that time, however, I still did some research to lay the foundations for job-hunting in the new year. And as well as signing up to job alerts and bookmarking useful information online, I also tapped into some of the connections I had made since moving to London at the end of 2016. I knew that building a good social network would be essential, and I’m glad I managed to do so, because several friends and acquaintances did give me useful tips and leads that I could explore further, for which I’m very grateful.

But then, quite unexpectedly, one person in particular was able to offer something even more substantial than that…

Homeworking

I consider myself to be very fortunate to have retained a steady job for 12 years now. For many (far, far too many) disabled people, gaining employment is way more difficult that it needs to be, and attitudes still need to change in many areas. So I do count myself lucky, and I’ve worked hard to keep my position, by doing jobs promptly and to the best of my abilities, and earning the respect of the colleagues and customers that I interact with. And I do like the work, because of the people I share it with, the variety of tasks that I do each day, and the fact that I’ve learned a lot from it over my time there.

Moving to London, however, led me to assume that I would have to ditch that job and get a new one. Not necessarily easy, given that there are so many people in London also looking for work no doubt, coupled with the fact that I have a disability. But I would at least have a good deal of experience to build on and promote myself with. And maybe there would be better opportunities for training and a higher salary with a London-based job. So I was very prepared to go down that route. If it took a little while to find work, so be it. There would be no harm having a change, so it would be worth the effort. But as it turned out, that was one less thing to worry about.

Journal – December 2016 (Moving Preparations)

Welcome back. We’re literally on the home straight now with these journal posts, as Mum and I have been getting ready to make the move to London at long last, and arrangements are being made for me to start homeworking. So I hope you enjoy reading about our final preparations!

Getting A Job

As a follow-up to my School Days video last month, I thought I’d also write about how I got a job after graduating from university.

My degree was in accounting and finance (in which I got a 2:1), so naturally I was looking for work in that field. It was the area that interested me most, and my degree would allow me to skip some of the exams of the official accounting bodies, which would be a great help.

My graduation photo. I'm wearing a dark navy suit and tie, with light blue strap around the neck, and a mortar board on my head. I'm smiling while holding a rolled up certificate tied with a red ribbon.

But I was also open to other ideas and possibilities as well, if any came up. I knew that just having a degree in itself would be useful, even if it wasn’t directly related to the job I eventually went for. So I didn’t feel I wanted to restrict myself too much, just in case.

Driving Home For Easter

Because of my sight problem, I get taxis to and from work, the cost of which is subsidised by the Access To Work scheme (I still pay a chunk of each fare myself, and I’m happy doing that). Access To Work have also paid for the magnification software and CCTV video magnifier I use in the office. It’s such an important scheme, as it really helps disabled people in the workplace. It’s certainly helped me for about a decade now. I suspect not all employers are aware of its existence however, and there are probably some disabled people who don’t know about it either. So it’s worth noting that it’s there.

Journal – August 2006

Time for another batch of entries from my journal. It’s been a fairly quiet summer month, but I did spend a nice weekend with a friend, acquired a new CCTV to help me read things at work, bought some more DVDs and celebrated my birthday, plus there are various news stories that caught my attention. So I hope you enjoy!

Journal – April 2006

It’s time for another set of entries from my journal. We’ve now got broadband at home for the first time, I’ve got some equipment to help me do my job from Access To Work, and I’ve attended another printing trade show with my work colleagues. There have also been more DVD and music purchases, the return of Doctor Who for its second series, and various other bits and pieces as usual. So I hope you enjoy!

Journal – December 2005

Time to finish off another year from my journal, and there’s a lot packed into this latest collection of entries, including updates about my Access To Work support, meeting up with friends, our first look at digital TV, more DVD and music purchases, and news stories that have caught my eye. Plus of course there’s plenty of talk about Christmas. So I hope you enjoy!

Journal – November 2005

Here’s another month of entries from my journal. This time I’ve had a lot of fun visiting my best mate to celebrate his 21st birthday, plus I’ve been assessed for support I might be able to get for work because of my visual impairment. There have also been lots of DVDs coming out in the run up to Christmas that I’ve been keen to get, and we’ve had Children In Need and other delights on TV. So there’s a variety of things here as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

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