A BLIND-folded Kirsty Williams was given a tour of Brecon recently with the help of a four-legged “seeing” guide.
The Liberal Democrat AM was helped to walk from her office in The Watergate to The Bulwark by five-year-old golden labrador Natalie.
The Welsh government education minister was finding out what it might be like to be blind or partially-sighted with just a guide dog for company.
Nervously hanging off the arm of Andrew Guiel, an instructor with Guide Dogs Cymru, Ms Williams took her first tentative steps walking through a landscape she would normally find familiar but without the benefit of being able to see.
The event was intended to highlight the obstacles that blind and visually impaired people face every day.
Mr Guiel initially held Natalie’s lead as he and the Assembly Member made their way to a chosen starting point at the bottom of Ship Street.
Mr Guiel travels the country with Natalie, one of the charity’s demonstration dogs, to allow people to experience what it is like to be guided by a guide dog – people ranging from politicians to potential users. He said: “This is Natalie, and she’s different because she can guide anyone – I could be using her with a blind two-year-old, an elderly person or somebody like Kirsty. She is a universal guide dog whereas the others are all trained to one person.
“Normally you can’t switch a guide dog between different people because they are trained specifically
for their owner who may have unique commands for them.”
The guide dog demonstrator handed control of Natalie to the Welsh cabinet secretary but still walked close by.
Taking tentative baby steps at first, Ms Williams appeared to be concentrating hard, wary that at any minute she might walk into a sign or trip over a kerb.
While slowly walking up the hill past the library, Ms Williams said: “I feel incredibly vulnerable right now, it’s very stressful but also absolutely amazing that she (the dog) can make such a difference and knows the difference between the edge of the kerb and a drop kerb and the road. It’s quite a frightening experience.
“The purpose of today was so that I could get a real idea of what it’s like to be blind or visually impaired in Brecon and to live as an active citizen. I just want to tell people behind me to be quiet – I’m trying to concentrate and visualise the area but it is a real struggle. It’s very humbling and scary, it’s certainly something I will always remember. The difference the dog makes is massive.”
Accompanying them on the walk were Brecon based guide-dog owner Nick Lancaster and Guide Dog Cymru staff member Andrea Gordon.
Ms Gordon, the charity’s engagement manager, was accompanied by her nine-year-old guide dog Kayley. She said: “We had a long chat with Kirsty before the walk about different obstacles for visually impaired people
as well as about things that can help. We were talking about things like talking buses which announce what the next stop is, and about issues like when cars are parked on the pavement which can be very difficult for visually impaired people.”
Peter Jones, Guide Dog Cymru’s Wales policy officer, said that it had been Nick who had linked the charity with the assembly member.
Nick, 40, said: “My dog Lloyd is five years old and has given me my independence back. He’s my first guide dog. I’ve always been visually impaired, but I started to lose what sight I had and I wasn’t going out any more, and my wife just said that I had got to do something about it. Lloyd can be quite playful, especially when I take the harness off him but is very well behaved when he is working.”
The instructor explained the difficulties blind or partially sighted people experience simply walking down a road with a cane. Mr Guiel said: “This isn’t too bad because it’s a traffic light junction, but without traffic lights it’s a lot more difficult. If I use a cane (for a demonstration), the only information it gives me is that there’s an obstacle. If there are other conditions, it may not necessarily pick up the differences such as between the pavement and the road.”
After steadily making her way to The Bulwark, Ms Williams said she would use her experience to highlight the accessibility issues blind people face.
She said: “It’s shown me how very important it is for Brecon and Radnorshire to be accessible to everyone, not just with things like road crossings, but things like how the high street and new buildings are designed. I think we should be active in making it better for everybody.
“It was absolutely amazing with the dog. I’m very grateful to Guide Dogs Cymru, not just for providing the dog today, but for providing dogs to the blind and partially sighted.
“Some people who use guide dogs struggle to get around because things like public transport may refuse the guide dogs to have entry – it’s very important we thank about that with all forms of transport across Powys. It’s not acceptable to refuse.
“When you look deeper, what it can mean is that guide dog users can go out on their own and be independent.”