Dyffryn School Interact Club donate to UCAN Productions

On Thursday 23 February 2012 Jane and Bernie Latham were invited to Dyffryn Upper School Neath Port Talbot by Mrs Christine Harries and the schools Interact Club to receive a very generous donation of £600.   The donation came about when Interact and UCAN member Rhianna nominated UCAN Productions as a worthy cause to receive money kindly donated by students of the School.  On behalf of everyone at UCAN Productions Jane and Bernie would like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all involved.

Students at The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University receive Millennium Volunteer Certificates for Volunteering with UCAN Productions

UCAN Productions, which stands for Unique Creative Arts Network, a performance arts based organisation working with blind and visually impaired children and young people have been working with the Students at The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences providing Visual Awareness and Guiding Training via RNIB Cymru.

This partnership between UCAN Productions and The School works well because it gives the Students valuable information and hands on training on how to guide a blind or visually impaired person.  Over 130 students have attended the training to date which only commenced last year.  Many of the students then came forward as Performance Support Volunteers and met the young people of UCAN – who are also future clients as Optometrists.

UCAN’s members enjoy meeting new people, many of them are isolated because of their visual impairment.  Five students in particular attended regular UCAN workshops held on Friday evenings at The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, although they had no drama or theatre experience they all got involved.  Friendships were forged, the students gained a better understanding of the challenges facing young people with a visual impairment.

Professor Tim Wess said “I’m delighted that UCAN have given the students here the opportunity to explore their creative sides with a fantastic group of young performers.  It has been a pleasure to see the friendships develop and the students gaining a real understanding of what it’s like to live with a visual impairment.”

The students have been involved in a body percussion workshop which Sara Cox and Rufus Hound took part in when UCAN won the National Lottery’s Good Causes Tour.  Over 30 students volunteered at ‘The Only Way is Up’ event in October where over 200 children with Down’s Syndrome along with their families came to The School  for a day packed with drama, circus, tactile art workshops and a dinosaur grotto topped off with Alex Winter from CBeebies reading all the children a Northwick story.  Northwick was there on the day too, Northwick is a life like teddy bear who suffers with Nystagmus and his stories are all about how he deals with his eye condition day to day.

Pictured below are some of the students who have volunteered over 50 hours with UCAN Productions.  From Left Emma Bussey, Amit Dhalla, Dr Christine Purslow (Senior Lecturer), Tanya Connor, Helen Peregrine and Professor Tim Wess (Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of School).  Missing from this photo is Robin Clayton but he has also received a certificate for his valuable contribution to UCAN and its members.

UCAN Productions Development Director, Jane Latham said “We are extremely grateful to Professor Wess and Dr Purslow for helping us make this partnership a great success.  So many wonderful, positive stories have come out of it, the UCAN members have made new friends and the students have had the opportunity to understand about the challenges facing young people with visual impairments.  We look forward to continuing our work with The School of Optometry and look forward to welcoming many more new volunteers.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/real-life/2012/01/27/jane-transforms-lives-of-blind-children-91466-30206886/

Sara Cox and Rufus Hound Visit UCAN Productions on the National Lottery’s Good Causes Tour

RADIO 1 DJ Sara Cox and comedian Rufus Hound took to the airwaves for a special radio production performed by visually impaired young people in Cardiff, as part of a celebration of National Lottery Good Causes.

The UCAN Productions project won the most public votes in Wales after people were asked to vote for their favourite Good Causes project to win a visit from the celebrity duo.

The vote was held as part of a Facebook campaign dubbed Cox & Hound Hit the Road, intended to celebrate the £30 million raised each week by lottery players for Good Causes up and down the country.

Working with RNIB Cymru, UCAN Productions aims to increase opportunities for visually impaired children to participate in the arts. The lottery-funded project was set up by actor and director Bernard Latham and his wife Jane, to boost the confidence and self-esteem of often isolated young people.

The duo are spending five days this week driving from Scotland to the South coast to explore the work of projects that have benefited from National Lottery funding.

Where they are going and what they do is being determined by public vote through a specially-designed app on the National Lottery Facebook page facebook.com/TheNationalLotteryUK

Sara and Rufus visited UCAN Productions at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences at Cardiff University, where they took part in the Christmas Special of a radio soap series written and performed by the young people at UCAN.

Mared Jarman, 17, an A Level student at Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr has had vision problems since suffering with a virus age 10, said: “We’ve been working on lots of ideas and improvisation for the radio soap for a few weeks and we’re really enjoying the chance to perform with Sara and Rufus.”

Joe Wait, 12, a pupil at Croesyceiliog Comprehensive School, has been attending the UCAN group since he was 7.  He said “I love acting and performing, and it’s great to come to a group where we are all the same.  I’ve had my picture taken with Sara and Rufus and I led a warm-up routine at the beginning of the night.”

Ten projects, including two in Wales –UCAN Productions and the Tenovus Sing for Life Choir – had made the shortlist from more than 365,000 projects to have received funding since The National Lottery began in 1994.

Sara said she thought the roadtrip was a great idea and a chance to show the people of Wales who had played The National Lottery a glimpse of what their money meant to local communities.

Rufus said: “I’ve bought a few National Lottery Scratchcards in my time, and I’ve even won a few quid over the years!

“For those times I didn’t get lucky, it would be good to see the impact of that cash and how other people have benefited.”

Over 70% of the 365,000+ lottery grants made to date have been £10,000 or under, benefitting local communities the length and breadth of the UK.

Click here to see the video: Sara Cox and Rufus Hound visit UCAN Productions

UCAN go to Barry

A week long series of workshops held in Maes Dyfan special School in Barry.  UCAN members joined the workshops which were led by Bernie Latham and Alys Jenkins.  The aim of the week was to increase the young people’s physical and vocal confidence.  The project culminated in a very successful performance for fellow pupils, teachers, family and friends.  Bernie said ’It was an absolute privilege and pleasure to work with the young people of Maes Dyfan School.’

Reach The Heights Promotion Day

Reach The Heights Promotion Day at Beyond Vision Event, 4 November 2011

As part of Reach The Heights project UCAN Members created a show to celebrate the Beyond Vision day at Neath Port Talbot College.  The event was attended by teachers, low vision project workers and numerous professionals working in the visual impairment sector.  Special thanks to Jake Sawyer who coordinated all the performances and gave up his 17th birthday to promote the successes of visually impaired young people.  THANKS JAKE!