Last week I invited my brilliant blind campaigner Jill Allen-King to meet with the Disability Minister Tom Pursglove, CEO and Chief Operations of Guide Dogs. I have been determined on Jill Allen-King’s case since I met my incredible blind campaigning constituent last year. Since learning that her guide dog, Jagger will be retired on the 1st of June with no confirmation of when her next will be given, I have been so struck by her desire to help everyone else and assured her she was not going to be left without.
Jill had the enormous challenge since the age of 24, on her wedding day, where she completely lost her sight due to glaucoma. For the following seven years blindness rendered Jill virtually housebound. Until 1972 when she was given her first guide top, Topsy and she joined the National Federation of the Blind. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to campaign for improving the lives of blind and partially sighted people. Appalled by the lack of guide dog acceptance into buildings and both public and private spaces, she began her life-long campaign to improve access and facilitates for those also affected by sight loss.
Today, due to her commitment guide dogs are allowed in virtually every space. But her efforts were not constrained to politics, she also initiated tactile paving at pedestrian crossings, something we have seen every day for years on our journeys to school or work; for this she was bestowed at MBE in 1983. Even then, her guide dog at the time was not allowed to accompany her. She was then awarded an OBE in 2011 and the Pride of Britain award in 2022 by a great supporter of hers, Paul O’Grady.
At the age of 83, I don’t believe she plans on stopping her activism. The meeting was in aid of putting forward the concerns of Jill as she will enormously lose her independence in June when her current guide dog Jagger is retired at the age of 10. Both the Minister and I asked Guide Dogs if they would extend Jagger’s working life for a few months to decrease her waiting time as she has still not received a confirmed date. However, Guide Dogs have been forcibly unable to provide any assurance that a replacement guide dog can be provided in time, with the waiting list averaging 15 months, but many waiting years. During the Covid pandemic, Guide Dogs’ breeding and training programme was paused for 5 months, and 3 years later the true impacts of this break are now being felt by vulnerable people such as Jill.
Guide Dogs assured Jill that breeding and training numbers were on the increase, this rise will probably only be felt in a year’s time. Guide Dogs were also unmoveable on the suggestion by the Minister to extend Jagger’s working life for a couple of months to soften the potentially 18-month waiting time before Jagger will be replaced. I was ‘incredibly disappointed’ by this block and have called for greater communication to be made between the charity and the blind or partially sighted community to provide estimated guarantees for replacement guide dogs. This not only provides Jill and other blind or partially sighted people with hope and mental health support, but also creates a partnership between the charity and its consumers.
Following the meeting Anna said: ‘I welcome confirmation that Jill is at the top of the category of need, she has been such a dedicated flag-bearer for the blind community. We must not let her down in her hour of need. When I took Jill to meet the Prime Minister, he assured us both he would help, he was shocked to hear that 1,000 blind/partially sighted people are awaiting new or replacement guide dogs for extended periods of time’.
Prior to the pandemic, Jill was visited frequently by Guided Sight Volunteers however post-Covid-19, the number of volunteers have plummeted. In Westminster Firth and Pursglove will be working to integrate more volunteering strategies into the Government’s Disability Plan. The Minister was excellent and assured Jill that we would continue to push for volunteers to help to create support adjustments to soften the impending difficulties of life without a guide dog.
Above is a report from Anglia News’ and I thank them for their fantastic coverage of Jill, Guide Dogs, and the Minister. It is great to see national news reports of the issue to support Jill and fellow partially sighted or blind people.
