“Being filmed by The One Show crew was awesome”

We were delighted that a short film about Living Paintings was recently featured on The One Show, the popular BBC One evening show.

The broadcast included Lucas, 7 years old and visually impaired, enjoying our Touch to See books at home along with his mum, Claire, who also talk about what Living Paintings means to their family.

Claire told us how important it’s been for Lucas’ educational and social development, to be able to access our tactile and audio books. And here, she shares their story –

“When he was just a few months old, Lucas was diagnosed with Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) and Nystagmus. Now almost seven, he is a happy, healthy, curious and very determined child who loves music – particularly playing his keyboard – and absolutely anything space-related.

We started getting Living Paintings books when Lucas was four, it opened up a whole new world to him.

Lucas says that he absolutely loves the feely pictures and the sound effects that are added to the audio picture descriptions for each page. He has become really good at following the instructions to navigate the tactile images.

The books have helped Lucas’ confidence grow in reading braille, and during lockdown have helped him to continue practicing his skills. It is fantastic that we are able to have access to such a brilliant resource for Lucas, especially during this strange time.”

Lucas is one of the thousands of blind and partially sighted library members who need our unique Touch to See books now more than ever.

Our unique Touch to See books bring reading to life for blind children. Despite Covid-19 they can explore our amazing, colourful, informative world through fantastic stories. We need to ensure our free service continues from now until Christmas.

A donation of £20 could provide an isolated blind person with Touch to See books for the next four months.

Please visit our Just Giving page, donate if you can, and share with your friends, family and wider networks.