Yorkshire teenagers star in Channel 4 documentary

Two teenagers from Yorkshire have featured in a television documentary which followed a group of young people (funded by the LSC) studying at the UK's leading college of further education for people with sight loss. The programme was shown on Channel 4 on 30 April, as part of the Cutting Edge series for a documentary called 'Blind Young Things' on living with visual impairment.

The show focused three students including partially sighted Selina who is blind in one eye and currently experiencing deteriorating vision in her other eye. She is a very bright 18 year old from Leicester with 10 GCSEs and 3 A Levels. She joined the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) to improve her independence before moving into the world of work and finding a job in accountancy.

Steve also 18 from Rotherham has been totally blind since birth. A keen sportsman and talented musician, Steve is studying Performing Arts at RNC with the aim of moving on to university so he can eventually teach drama and music.

Budding song writer and singer Daniel from Bradford has no sight at all and hopes his time at RNC will improve his confidence, mobility and daily living skills in preparation for a career in the music industry.

Pictured from left to right: Steve Markham
(student), Selina Litt (student), Zac Beattie
(Producer/Director), Daniel Angus (student),
Darren Hercher (Camera man)

The show followed the journey of the group as they gained new skills and confidence that allowed them to lead more independent adult lives. It charted the ups and downs for Selina, Steve and Dan as they coped with living away from home, making new friends, facing their anxieties about their future.

Zac Beattie, Producer/Director with North One Television Ltd who were commissioned to make the film on behalf of Channel 4, commented, "I have worked in specialist educational environments before, but I had almost no experience of people with a visual impairment or blindness," he continued "I wanted to make a documentary with some of the students to explore with them their daily lives. It is interesting to see what is different for them and what is the same; their experiences of daily life can be fundamentally altered by their visual impairment yet that doesn't stop them from having the same hope and fears as a sighted person."

"Having a camera crew follow you around has been an interesting experience and I have learnt a lot about myself", said Selina. "It has made me think about sight loss and although I just get on with things, it has given me an understanding of how my visual impairment affects others around me. The film has captured the real me, the ups and downs, good days and times when I have been in a mood. I am sure there are some cringe worthy moments in there, but the film is real life, what I have to go through each day.'