Our Beginnings
In early 2000, two young BCA members, Mark Muscat and Sean Tyrell, felt that young blind people did not have a strong voice in their community. So Mark and Sean conceived the idea of a group for blind youth, focusing on advocacy, policy and peer support. The group was initially called Young Blind Citizens (YBC), but was later named Young Blind Citizens Victoria (YBCV) to reflect a focus within the State of Victoria.
It was also decided that the group would be a special interest branch of Blind Citizens Australia (BCA), and became so in 2000, with the assistance of Robert Mascitti (BCA finance officer) and Helen Freris (BCA Victorian Information and Advocacy Officer. So on July 1, 2000, YBC was born, and our first meeting was held over lunch at 12:00pm at Ginos Pizza Restaurant in Carlton Victoria. On that day, the first committee was formed, with Sean as the President, and Jordie Howell as Vice President.
Over the years, many BCA members will have become accustomed to hearing from YBCV in various forums, through reading our web site, various email lists, BCA news, and interviews with our members on Soundabout and Around the Institute, reading many Vision Australia (or RVIB) publications, or from listening to the Horizons program on 3RPH for announcements about our events. . But here is just a brief look at our history over the past seven years.
Establishing YBCV
In November 2000, YBCV was responsible for hosting a reception for delicates to the World Blind Union Assembly. This was a great opportunity for us to forge important links within the blindness community around the world. This event was said to be bigger than the WBU itself! It was the first real event that YBCV was responsible for and demonstrated that YBCV was going to be an active group in BCA.
YBCV also hosted a dinner for the recipients of scholarships to the World Blind Union Women's Forum, which was another opportunity to strengthen our national and international relationships. The function provided these young people with sumptuous Italian food, good company and perhaps one or two glasses of wine. Even the Australian National anthem featured prominently later on in the evening, performed flawlessly by one or two of our local members.
October 2001 saw the branch responsible for a very successful trivia night, thanks to the hard work of Louise Bugeja and the fundraising subcommittee. This event attracted a wide range of people and served as a major fundraiser for the group, with prizes, games and a raffle. This further established YBCV as a pro-active group in the community. With the money raised on the night, the branch was able to donate some Braille equipment to young people in the Seychelles and Samoa.
Also in early 2001, YBCV members Sean, Mat and Louise were interviewed on the ABC Stateline program (also known as the 7:30 Report). We talked about the new voice for young blind people that we established with the formation of YBCV, and how we were working in and outside the blindness community to give youth a presence. This was a great way to ensure that YBCV was known in the general community, not just within BCA.
YBCV Evolving
As our branch members learned more about themselves and the interests of young blind people, we realised that policy and advocacy was not always the main interest for youth, so the middle of 2001 saw a change in the committee for YBCV and also a change in its main focus for the coming years. Jordie Howell and Mat Mirabella were the leading forces over the next few years, followed by Michael Curran in 2004, and they put a lot of effort into making sure members were provided with current information on topical issues. some sessions provided by the branch were: education and the transition from school, access to work experience, employment and equal opportunity, blindness in popular culture, Moving out of home, Braille and literacy, overseas travel, the merger of blindness services, blindness in different cultures, social welfare reform, advocacy , BCA policy and even chiropractic care.
A further evolution of the branch occurred in 2004, when Michael Curran and the committee realised that to have the greatest positive impact on the lives of young blind people, they had to be more pro-active in reaching out to younger audiences. So a subcommittee worked on a short term mentoring program with younger blind students, and YBCV reached out to a number of communities such as attendees of the Residential Training Program (RTP), the Vision Australia Support Skills Program, the Higher Education Access and Transition program (HEAT or KickStart) and the Vision Australia study group sessions. YBCV also worked with our sister BCA youth branch, Young Blind Citizens Queensland (YBCQ), as we talked about how to deal with youth issues on a national level.
The branch continues to evolve, and after a slow period between late 2005 and 2007, the branch has a new generation of young blind people as a committee ready to move the branch forward with some new projects and new ways to look at youth issues. And now, along with recent changes to BCA membership, we welcome participation from those young people with low vision as well as those who are legally blind,.
Towards Leadership
YBCV has always been an avenue for young people to learn about working on committees, self advocacy, policy awareness and leadership in the community. Some YBCV members have moved into instrumental roles within BCA, such as positions on the National Policy Development Council (NPDC) and other BCA branch committees. Jordie Howell even had the opportunity to work with the World Blind Union (WBU) Asia-Pacific region, and got the chance to participate in the East Asia Pacific WBU Youth Leadership Seminar in Malaysia.
YBCV has been a strong contributor to BCA conventions, being part of organising committees, and presenting a number of sessions. Some of the sessions run by YBCV at conventions were: "Popular Imaginings of Blindness", "Advocating on Employment Issues", "Working within a Self Help Community Organisation", "Advocating on Local Government Issues", "Getting the Most out of Tertiary Education and Training", "Why study? Facets of Education for Blind and Vision Impaired People", and "Breaking Down the Communication Barriers: An Overview of the Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) and Braille User-Oriented Code (BUOC)".
Our 2003 convention sessions focusing on education resulted in YBCV setting up the education mailing list, vip-ed, which was a great avenue to maintain contact with people who attended convention, as well as creating new links between blind people and service providers in education.
We even ran a chocolate drive that extended throughout a BCA convention. Committee members ran around the convention room enthusiastically harassing attendees into making a purchase, all for the benefit of the youngest members of the organisation. It was a very successful fundraiser, allowing YBCV to provide some support to blind youth participating in the Southern Cross Games.
Over the years, the YBCV committee has also offered sponsorship for young blind people to attend BCA National and State conventions, with a number of young blind people taking up this offer. Increased YBCV member involvement may be one of the reasons why BCA has seen a greater number of new and young attendees at conventions in recent times.
Good Times and Great Experiences
YBCV has also offered a lot of fun and friendship for blind youth in Victoria. Some of YBCV’s fun activities included rock climbing, ten pin bowling, BBQs, an audio described video night, playing accessible board games, attending the Melbourne Comedy Festival with a blind guest from Canada, numerous dinners and lunches across Melbourne, and a Christmas function each year. We also later helped organise events in conjunction with other BCA branches, such as another Trivia night with Melbourne branch, and a number of welcome functions at BCA conventions.
But committee members would all agree that along with a good time, YBCV gave them experiences and opportunities to grow. Serving on the YBCV committee has been, for many YBCV members, a training ground for work and leadership situations. Skills in problem solving, minute writing, meeting chairing and event organising are best learnt in a practical setting. For many of the YBCV committee, this was their first time in a leadership role and these experiences put them in good stead for the working world ahead. We hope that young people continue to benefit from what YBCV has to offer as the group continues to evolve to suit the needs and interests of blind youth.