BWBF - Talkabout Page 9



Gordon McNeil from Falkirk was one of the very first visually impaired people in the country to benefit from our revolutionary new set, Concerto. Gordon, aged 49, is partially sighted and he uses his set to tune into his favourite radio stations and to listen to audio books. “I’m really pleased with it,” he says, “I was able to pre-set my radio and use the CD player without any difficulty at all. It has an easy-to-read display that you can zoom in on and has high visibility yellow controls which is a really useful feature if you’re partially sighted.” However the real star feature for Gordon is the set’s unique Bookmark function which has transformed the way he’s able to listen to audio books. “Now when I’m listening to a book I can stop the CD and return later to exactly the same point in the story instead of starting again at the beginning.” When he’s not listening to his new Concerto, Gordon can usually be found on the green as he is a keen member of the Forth Valley Visually Impaired Bowling Club and plays at indoor tournaments all over Scotland.

Gordon McNeil from Falkirk was one of the very first visually impaired people in the country to benefit from our revolutionary new set, Concerto.

Gordon, aged 49, is partially sighted and he uses his set to tune into his favourite radio stations and to listen to audio books. “I’m really pleased with it,” he says, “I was able to pre-set my radio and use the CD player without any difficulty at all. It has an easy-to-read display that you can zoom in on and has high visibility yellow controls which is a really useful feature if you’re partially sighted.”

However the real star feature for Gordon is the set’s unique Bookmark function which has
transformed the way he’s able to listen to audio books. “Now when I’m listening to a book I can
stop the CD and return later to exactly the same point in the story instead of starting again at the beginning.”

When he’s not listening to his new Concerto, Gordon can usually be found on the green as he is a keen member of the Forth Valley Visually Impaired Bowling Club and plays at indoor tournaments all over Scotland.


When Felix Gweru lost his sight because of an eye disease, the thing he missed more than most was reading his bible. The 68-year-old retired teacher from Zimbabwe found he was becoming increasingly lonely without reading the gospels or being able to use the radio to listen to his beloved scripture music.
As you can imagine he was absolutely delighted to be given a new Concerto – courtesy of the British Wireless for the Blind Fund. Now Felix can listen to his favourite music to his heart’s content. Plus, with Concerto’s special ‘bookmark’ feature, he can stop a piece of music or a spoken word CD and start listening again at another time from exactly the same point where he left off. Felix, who moved to Leigh Park in 2006, says: “I can no longer see my children, just their outline so they all look alike to me now. I wanted to listen to my music and I felt so lonely without being able to read the scriptures. When I got the radio I was overjoyed.”	Felix - and his Concerto
“It's a great comfort to me because my wife is in hospital and I feel very alone without her. The scripture music touches my heart and I feel I'm not alone. Sometimes I stay up all night and listen to it and it makes me incredibly happy.” We at the Fund send Mr Gweru and his wife our very best wishes.