Tomb with a view

Egyptian Handling session for VIPs at the Ashmolean

A visit to the museum was always interesting and enjoyable, writes David Thompson, but I always felt distanced from the artefacts, not just by the separation in time, but also the fact that the objects were always just out of reach and frequently just out of range of my vision. So it was with great joy I received this article from Clare Coleman the Education Officer at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford telling us about an opportunity to get “up close and personal” with some Egyptian artefacts. The free session on December 16th from 10:30am - 12:00 noon, meeting in the Randolph Sculpture Gallery, will include a visit to the new Egyptian Galleries which will open on November 26th.

Participants will be able to get a close look at a few large pieces on display in the galleries that form a touch tour - a sarcophagus lid, a sculpture of Amon Ra as a ram and so on, as well as some smaller handling objects, for example amulets and statuettes, that we will handle in the Education Studio.

Finally, we shall have some refreshments. The numbers of places are limited so please phone ahead to let Clare know you are interested. For more information and to book your place please contact Clare on 01865 288 077 or Email:clare.coleman@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

We want to meet you at Wantage library!

As many of you will be aware, this year, Oxfordshire Association for the Blind has been linking up with the Oxfordshire Library Service to set up an information desk at a different library in the county for a day. At each venue we have had OAB staff, a range of special equipment for visually impaired people and a selection of info books, newsletters and leaflets.

Even though we are near the end of a very successful programme we are still going to squeeze another date into our busy schedule! This will be the 7th December at Wantage Library.

We plan to be there from 10am to 3pm and that you will be able to come along to one of these events.

Please do let us know if you are intending to come along and if there is anything in particular that you would like to talk about or to have a look at and we will do our best to make sure we can help. Just call us on 01865 725595.

Another Door opens for VIPs

“The Door" - the newspaper of the Diocese of Oxford, will soon be available to blind and partially sighted listeners on memory sticks, as are many other talking newspapers. The Door is produced monthly and includes news particularly from the churches in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire - the three counties which make up the large Diocese of Oxford.

Although the news and features relate largely to church life, there is much of interest to the non-churchgoer too - a service to remember 9/11 held in Reading, a tweeting nun and chocolate Christmas tree decorations with pictures from the Christmas story, which are being produced for the first time this year. If you would like to subscribe to The Door, when the new system for recording is in place, or if you would like to know more details, please contact:

Wendy Bryant, Disability Adviser, on telephone number 01275 848934, or by e-mail: wendy.bryant@oxford.anglican.org