Press Release
Embargoed until 00.01 3 March 2009
Background
RNIB Cymru is today celebrating World Book Day with a story competition for young Braille users in Wales. For blind people across the world, 2009 is the celebration of 200 years of the far-reaching legacy of Louis Braille, who created the 'dotty' Braille system - allowing blind people access to the printed world.
The competition is open to Braille users in Wales aged 5-19. Entrants have been invited to write a short story (maximum 500 words) with a Welsh theme. The stories may be written in either Welsh or English Braille and will be judged on creativity and accuracy by a panel of judges convened by RNIB Cymru.
All entrants will receive a Braille pocket notebook set and there will be prizes of £20 vouchers for the winners of each age-group, presented at an award ceremony. All stories will be made available in both English and Welsh languages and will be produced in a book celebrating the Braille bicentenary.
Age groups for the competition are: 5-7 years, 8-12 years, 13-19 years, Braille learners (grade one Braille). The competition deadline for entries to be received is the 17th July 2009. Winners will be announced on 2nd September 2009. For more information please contact Andy Williams: Andrew.Williams@rnib.org.uk; 029 2044 9593.
Comment
Sarah Rochira, Director of RNIB Cymru, said: "This is a really exciting opportunity for users of both Welsh and English Braille to show off their skills. Braille is a vital communication tool for many people who have severe sight problems, and this is their chance to get creative."
The Rt. Hon. David Blunkett MP, who is Braille user himself, says: "Braille is a choice. For some it means a lifeline to independence, for others, access to literature or information. Braille can be high tech, or can be produced using old fashioned means just about anywhere in the world. Braille opens up so many opportunities for equality, for independence, and for freedom and privacy: from a simple label on a tin or packet, through to the development of notes for speaking or delivering a statement to the House of Commons."
Further Information
Louis Braille, who was born just outside Paris on 4 January 1809, became blind as a result of an accident in his father's workshop. His school taught pupils to read by letters raised above the surface of the page, but these letters were difficult to tell apart, and blind children were not taught to write at all.
His invention was inspired by the visit of a Napoleonic soldier, Charles Barbier, to his school, who told his audience of the writing system he had invented called 'night writing', which was intended to pass information silently in the trenches.
The system had proved too difficult for soldiers to master, but the industrious Braille set out to simplify the system, to create braille, much as it is today.
When Louis Braille died in 1852, however, it looked as though his revolutionary system would die with him. But his mantle was taken up in 1868 by Dr Thomas Armitage and his group of four blind men who founded the British and Foreign Society for Improving Embossed Literature for the Blind. This small band of friends would later become RNIB.
There are two Grades of braille. Grade 1 braille mostly represents each print character as one braille cell, but many experienced braille users read and write Grade 2 braille, which is a form of shorthand where groups of letters may be combined into a single cell.