Encounter, fellowship and the human touch

PUBLISHED - 5th April 2025

Emma Dakin has known about Torch for quite some time: ‘I heard about Torch over forty years ago when I was at Chorleywood College; a school for blind and partially sighted girls.’ We’re very happy to say that Emma really enjoys the services that she accesses from us: ‘Mainly, I borrow audio Bible daily reading notes, occasionally also borrowing braille or audio books. Reading the scriptures daily is a fundamental part of my Christian life so having access to daily notes feels liberating. I’ve also accessed a few of the telephone services that Torch has run previously, but mostly and most recently, I’ve been to the coffee mornings in person every month.’

As one of our more local clients, Emma loves that she can rely on Torch for a warm welcome at these regular sessions: ‘I have greatly valued and very much enjoyed the coffee mornings. These have been warm hearted times of fellowship and have offered me a level of Christian connection and understanding greater than I’ve had in my local church. I feel I have begun to make some valued friendships through these.’ It’s human connections like these, whether in person, over the phone, online or through the use of books, that really mean a lot to Torch as an organisation. Bringing Christian love, and a very tangible sense of connection to the Lord, to blind and partially sighted people, in ways that really work for them, is our ‘raison d’être’! This is why it means so much when clients like Emma tell us they are happy with what we do: ‘Torch seems to have a good grasp of the challenges that blind and partially sighted people face which helps me feel validated and understood. Bringing people together remotely enables people to meet without travel, and human connection helps people’s mental health. So I guess I’m saying providing accessible forums, or in-person gatherings where people with sight loss can encounter one another, I have found emotionally supportive.’

As Emma says, people with sight loss often face challenges that sighted people may not understand or even realise could be an issue. We at Torch know that it’s important to listen to and take on board our clients’ experiences to help us provide the best services we can for them. For Emma, she says it’s hard to explain how sight loss affects her faith: ‘When I think of my faith journey, I do not think of sight loss, just who God has been to me and how he has revealed himself. However, I guess one difference is I pray often regarding daily practical needs and challenges, for example, “Lord, please show me where I dropped my hair brush, put my handbag,” or “I need to get to a certain location or appointment”, things like that.’

Equally, Emma explains: ‘I don’t generally separate out people with or without sight loss. However, a common theme of my faith is that I’ve always had a strong sense of being valuable and that I matter just as much as anyone else. My faith has given me the confidence to not allow others to define my abilities or disabilities and to not let them take control purely on the basis that I’m blind. I think my faith has caused me to feel more determined to challenge breaches in the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act [Equality Act]) and departures from the Care Act. I guess in short, I believe God created me the way he wanted to and if that’s inconvenient to other people I’m not going to let it bring me down!’ Amen to that, Emma!