Our stories - Blind Foundation

Lydia Charteris's profie photo, she wears a gudie dog T-shirt

Meet Lydia Charteris, Guide Dog colony Health Manager

We have a new team member at Blind Foundation Guide Dogs – Lydia Charteris who will be our Guide Dog...

97-year-old says Alexa smart speaker ‘enables me to read again’

Daphne French and her Alexa smart speaker One thing Daphne French, 97, misses most is reading the printed page. The...

Close up of hands touching a tactile bird picture

Jonathan Mosen awarded Queen’s Birthday Honour

Congratulations to Jonathan Mosen, who was named a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 Queen’s...

Dean sitting with the talking book on desk

Imagine if you could no longer see, to read.

Dean, now 78, realised he was losing his sight back in 2002 when he was driving with the window of...

Adjusting to sight loss with humour: Josephine, 82

Josephine Harte, 82, says the way she is coping with sight loss is through humour. The Nelson resident has macular...

Judy sit with her guide dog and hold the book ‘Bright sunlight, dark shadow’

Bright sunlight, dark shadow and a love of life.

Not so long ago, Judy Hale was often seen walking around Cambridge with a guide dog at her side. Now...

Confidence gained from public speaking ‘second to none’

Right now more than 100 Toastmasters from around New Zealand are attempting to break the Guinness World Record for continuously...

A man walking along the foot path with a white cane

A dream of a career in music becomes a reality

Ese Aulmalesulu always dreamt of a career in music but he never dreamt of the obstacles that would get in...

Stella’s story

You help New Zealanders like nine year old Stella have the opportunity to live their life without limits. Stella’s parents...

International Women’s Day 2019: Gender imbalance for blind and partially sighted women deserves attention

On International Women’s Day 2019, the Blind Foundation recognises work within the blindness community in New Zealand and internationally, advocating...

Dan Shepherd holds his white cane on Elliot Street, Auckland.

Using the white cane as a tool for advocacy

Dan Shepherd, National Manager at Blind Sport New Zealand, not only values the white cane for supporting him in his...

Asima Leone and his wife ride a tandem bike along the lake bank

Community spirit enabled tandem biking couple to complete a ‘journey of a lifetime’

Asima Leone, from Wellington, completed a 130km West Coast Widerness cycle trail on the back of a tandem bike driven...