EILEEN - WALK PROGRAMME FOR NEXT YEAR (2021) Eileen is putting together her walk programme for 2021 year in the hope we will be back walking at some stage or other. She has a few spare places to fill so can you contact her if you would like to lead a walk for 2021 - EILEEN INGHAM 07952241775 or 01142814414.

UNFORTUNATELY TWO OF OUR ORIGINAL MEMBERS HAVE PASSED AWAY RECENTLY. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTO GALLERY PAGE TO SEE SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT JOHN AND BETSY WILSON ORGANISED AND TOOK PART IN.

Below are some of the many tributes to John Bater from other members of our walking group.

IN MEMORY OF JOHN
.... For many years - I don't remember when he joined but it was certainly in the early days of the group. He was a lovely man, always pleasant and unruffled. I'll miss him as will many others.... Mike Burgin

.... I'm absolutely gutted to hear of the death of John, what a lovely kind gentle man he was. He never had a cross word for anyone in my experience and would go out of his way to help whenever he could. He loved walking with the ladies and my partner Loraine has fond memories of him as the perfect gentleman as he politely "chatted her up" on her first outing with SVIWG. I will miss him terribly, like Betsy he was part of the bedrock of the group, always there, always smiling even in adversity. I hope he's now found the celestial hills to his liking as no doubt he's planning walks on them! God bless you John RIP... Steve Brown (note from Gail he liked tall ladies and Lorraine is tall!)...

.... As I am sure everyone knows that I took over from John as the walks co-ordinator. John did everything he could to help me and gave me lots of useful advice. I hope I can keep up the good work that John did, I will certainly try. He was a true gentleman.... Eileen Ingham

.... My friend John Bater - I first met John on my very first walk with S.V.I.W.G. It was the 12th of November 2008 and we went to Hathersage where Christine led the walk. I didn't know anyone except Sue Pearson, who I knew from the Lane Swimming. We set off, and shortly after I was looking after a Labrador called "Barley". We were having our lunch when a man came and sat beside me, it was John.

He introduced himself and shook my hand and from the warmth of that handshake I knew that this would be a man that not only would I like but a man who I would in time call my "Friend".

After six months I joined the Committee as Short Walks Programmer - a job that I am still doing. Shortly after joining the Committee John would call me up and invite me to go out walking with him, usually on a Sunday. John took me to some amazing places that I never knew existed, they were usually Wednesday or Sunday type walks and I suspect it was that now that I was a Team Leader, that John was guiding me towards taking on those walks.

We spent a lot of time together on those Sunday walks which I have to say were fantastic. John was the most kind and thoughtful gentleman you could wish to meet, and I felt proud and privileged to have known him.

John wasn't just my friend he was "our" friend and he will be sadly missed by everyone in our group. Although he is no longer with us we will remember him for all that he contributed to the S.V.I.W.G and I am sure that when the Committee re-convene we will do something to remember him... David Cadet

.... Finishing a walk one of our VI's was not very well and in quite a state. Little John volunteered to take him home on the tram, quite a challenge for him but he never turned down a challenge.

Another memory was when I took a number of members from our group gliding in Yorkshire. John was sitting in the Glider ready to set off and he looked petrified. I jokingly told him he was going to do a loop the loop which involved a vertical dive, and he said he would if I did. Well he did it and everyone in our group applauded him and then he turned on me and told me to do the same. Well done John. Eric Andrews

.... I would meet John at the Train Station where we would catch the 10.30 train to Doncaster and then the bus to Sprotborough to visit George. We made this journey many times. My first job when arriving at George's House was to put the kettle on - tea strong with not much milk for John, normal for myself and Apple juice for George. Afterwards we would go for a fairly long walk by the canal and then to the village for hot pork sandwiches from the Deli. Back to George's for lunch, afterwards the two of them would reminisce about old times. John and I would leave to catch the 3pm bus back to Sheffield station and home. Later when the travel became too much for John, his daughter Michele would take us. I miss our weekly chats so much RIP John Boy. Mary Collins

.... I think that I first met John about fourteen or fifteen years ago on a SVIWG ramble in Derbyshire. From the beginning he gave me the impression of being a very down to earth person and a classic example of a Sheffield Rambler. He had an extensive knowledge of Derbyshire footpaths and local footpaths around Sheffield. He would like to reminisce on occasions about being in Derbyshire when he was younger with relish and how enjoyable it was and there we shared common ground. Over the years I began to respect John for his solid reliability, his enthusiasm of the work he put into the groups walking programme year on year it was very stoic. He was also very good at reminding of group venues details of which I appreciated on a personal level.

On a lighter note I remember those holidays in the Lake District at Windermere Manor. After a days good walking and in those days excellent evening meals and chatting about the days events or whatever, into the early hours of the morning, around the bar area of the hotel.

Farewell old friend it has been a privilege to know you.... Nigel Robb

Please note Minutes of this years AGM can be found on the meetings page or click this link Meetings

GROUP NEWS AND INFORMATION

Please send any photos for this website to chriswhittaker586@yahoo.co.uk
Please send articles for the SVIWG Newsletter to Gail Fagan 0114 2667764 or email gail.fagan@guidemail.co.uk

LATEST RNIB NEWS for sighted guidance The Government gives sighted guidance in England the go ahead. For more ingormation visit www.rnib.org.uk/news/campaigning/sighted-guiding-england-guidance

PLEASE NOTE - From time to time we take group photographs to update our web site and also SRSB's web site. Any members who do not wish their photos to be on the web site please contact Gail - details above.

FUNDRAISING SRSB...
The Weather Lottery support SRSB/RSS by taking part in our Weather Lottery from just £1 per week you have the chance to win a weekly cash prize of £25,000. For further information give us a call on 0114 272 2757 or email fundraising@srsb.org.uk find out more our website www.srsb.org.uk


COVID APPEAL
We also have a COVID Appeal running which you can support online at www.justgiving.com/campaign/SRSB-RSS give us a call on 0114 272 2757 to pay by card or just send us a cheque payable to SRSB.

SRSB's youngest client is just a few months old and is already benefiting from the support of SRSB. SRSB like many other charities is suffering during this time as their store collections have stopped and all other fundraising events have now been cancelled including their 160 year anniversary which was due to take part in September - this will take part next year.

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SVIWG'S 2019 GROUP FUND RAISING CHALLENGE WAS ON 11th MAY
This year's challenge was a 12 1/2 mile circular walk from Lower Bradfield around several reservoirs.
Below is a photograph of the group taking a well earned breather, in front of some the beautiful scenery that they passed during the walk.
Thank you to all those members who took part in this years Fundraising Challenge. I am just sorry that I couldn't Lead you all the way round because of my knee injury Well done to everyone and good luck with the sponsorship. I am very proud of you all.
FOOTNOTE: Thanks to Mike Wilson who took over leading the walk for us whilst David returned to Bradfield with members who were only doing the short walk.

ST20 FINALS DAY AND MARTIN WILSON SCORES!
On the 5th May 2019 I took part in the T20 finals day at Wolverhampton. This was called off the previous September due to bad weather conditions. There were four teams: Yorkshire VI, Somerset VI, Northamptonshire VI and Lancashire VI. Yorkshire VI was chosen to play Somerset VI in the semi-final which Yorkshire VI lost. Yorkshire took third place after winning the third playoff against Lancashire. At the end of the day after all matches were played, Somerset placed first and Northamptonshire placed second. Trophies were presented in the evening, and to my surprise I was awarded the Low sighted player of finals day for my bowling figures. My bowling figures against Somerset were 4 overs, 24 runs, no extras and 1 wicket. Against Lancashire my bowling figures were, 4 overs, 24 runs and no wickets. Martin Wilson.

ERIC'S WHERNSIDE CHALLENGE - 5th MAY 2019

Eric's fund raising challenge this year was to climb Whernside (with the assistance of his son Fraser, and SVIWG members Christine and Steve).
At 736 metres, Whernside is the highest mountain of Yorkshire's Three Peaks, and as much of the route is quite rough underfoot, it was not easy for any of us. Luckily the weather was very kind.

Below are some of the photos from the day.

FROM THE CHAIR... When we come to the end of a walk some of our lovely VIP's may need assistance getting back to the bus/tram/train. If that assistance is required then please lend a hand even if it means extending your day a little. We are responsible to all of our members for keeping them safe please do what you can to help them.
. . . .
On a recent Sunday walk one of our sighted guides had to leave the walk for a comfort break, when trying to re-join the walk that member was involved in a road traffic accident, fortunately it was not serious. If any member leaves the walk for any reason please let the leader or back marker know, as we do not want this to happen again. Thank you David.
. . . .
Tuesday 19th March we visited Sherwood Forest courtesy of Sarah Bell who has been out walking with us on a few occasions as part of her research into Sensing Nature with a visual impairment. The Forest is now an RSPB reserve and they also have a new Visitors Centre. We were met by three delightful guides Jack, Gary and Indi, (we all loved Indi who was only 13). First we were shown around the Forest and also climbed into the Minor Oak I think about nine of us were in there. We then was shown a very old tree with a very large circumference and about 20 of us all stood around it touching each otherÕs hands to get a feel of the size. Much to everyone's delight we were allowed to touch and feel very carefully the Major Oak as Jack opened the barriers and we all stood around the Oak. Indi whose Sherwood Forest is his playground had never done this before. One of our members said she could remember sitting in the Oak when she was young. After Lunch we all marched off to Budby as the Guides said they had seen and heard Woodlarks singing that morning this bird is very rare and I have never heard one only on a CD or phone app. We marched over Heath and Scrubland where they nest but we were disappointed as they did not show or sing. This would have been the icing on the cake for me but in the Forest we was greeted by Song thrush which sang all the time we were there, Wrens, Green finch, Great Tits, Cold Tits, Blue Tits and Robins, Indi was excited to show us a Nut Hatch which was scrambling down a tree trunk gathering insects. The new visitors centre is remarkable very modern and disabled friendly also very good coffee. I heard one of our memberÕs say this was a perfect day as the weather was quite warm and still. Please visit Sarah's web site just search sensing nature Dr Sarah Bell as there are lots of interesting information about her work over the last three years, meeting various other groups including the Milton Mountaineers who have a visual impairment and climb mountains. On behalf of the SVIWG I would like to thanks Sarah for providing us with this opportunity to visit this lovely ancient Forest. Gail

Please note Minutes of this years AGM can be found on the meetings page or click this link Meetings

GROUP NEWS AND INFORMATION

Please send any photos for this website to chriswhittaker586@yahoo.co.uk
Please send articles for the SVIWG Newsletter to Gail Fagan 0114 2667764 or email gail.fagan@guidemail.co.uk

LATEST RNIB NEWS for sighted guidance The Government gives sighted guidance in England the go ahead. For more ingormation visit www.rnib.org.uk/news/campaigning/sighted-guiding-england-guidance

PLEASE NOTE - From time to time we take group photographs to update our web site and also SRSB's web site. Any members who do not wish their photos to be on the web site please contact Gail - details above.

EARLIER NEWS

NEW APP FOR IPHONE.... If you have an iPhone, you can download the free Google Maps app and then set up a simple widget to get that app to detect your next nearby bus! Step by step instructions for voice over users are to be found by tapping on the link: https://www.blindios.uk/google-public-transport-widget-iphone

SENSING NATURE...
Some of you may remember the delightful young lady Dr Sarah Bell who came out walking with us - she has sent us this link.
sensing-nature.com/news/nature-adventures-podcast.
Sarah ran an event in Bristol in September around promoting more inclusive opportunities for adventure nature activities with sight impairment. We've uploaded a short edited podcast of some of the main discussions from the event to the Sensing Nature news page in case it's of interest at all!

WALKING HOLIDAY IN WALES 2019 .....
Monday 9th to Saturday 14th September. There are rooms available for members of the walking group. We are staying at the St Tudno Hotel on the Promenade, Llandudno. Cost will be £300, 5 nights Dinner bed and breakfast, Coach transport during your stay, Driver & Waitress tips are included, Coach transport to & from Llandudno will be provided free to all members by SVIWG. There will be guided walks arranged for at least three of the 4 days. To reserve a place or for more information please contact Hilary on 01142306604. e-mail hilarymyers16@gmail.com