On Monday 7th February taxi drivers and their Managers from the County Council who organise transport for learners with disabilities came to the College for an awareness session on blindness, partial sight and other disabilities.

Throughout the afternoon they were taught about the impact of living with a disability and how this effects learning and processing information. They watched the RNIB DVD, 'Understanding Sight Loss', which proved very useful and advice was also provided on guiding and escorting as well as important information about safeguarding.

In addition to all the great work that is carried out at the RNIB College Loughborough it is also important to recognise the external environment and how this can affect learners in and around the local community. One aspect of community life involves the use of taxis in order for learners to get around safely.

The initial feedback from the event has been very positive with attendees admitting that before the event they thought they knew quite a bit about disability but now realise how little they actually knew about sight conditions.

As part of an ongoing plan managers responsible for organising transport county-wide suggested that the session be repeated at the start of each year for all taxi drivers. They are even considering making the training a condition of awarding the contract.

The College offers this training as part of its positive contribution to the local community and also offers training to employers who offer work placements to learners.