However, tragedy struck for the second time when glaucoma rendered her completely blind at the age of 24 on what should have been one of the happiest occasions of her life her wedding day. There can be few people for whom the old cliché of “triumph over adversity” is more appropriate than Jill Allen-King.

When she was about three, I started doing some radio recordings for the BBC about our life together but it was very limited because I couldn’t leave the house by myself. Clacton-based publisher Chris Cowlin is publishing the book on July 16, Mrs Allen-King added: “Chris said he’d really like me to double it in size, so I spent hours and hours adding more bits in. After chairing the European Blind Union Commission for 15 years, Jill still represents the EBU on various committees. Through this book, Jill will be able to share that with many other people who like her would benefit from the mobility and companionship that a guide dog brings.

Anna Firth, Tory MP for Southend West, has led a campaign to see the 82-year-old get a new guide dog and helped Mrs Allen-King be placed on the “priority list”. Despite the worthiness of her cause, Allen-King is determinedly down-to-earth and has a wicked sense of humour. The rights of blind people are continuing to not be considered, so I will keep working to fight that,” says Jill. But as the years have passed and I’ve met so many people with different disabilities, I’ve learned that this is God’s way of using me to help other people.

The coronavirus pandemic from 2020 meant that breeding the dogs had to be paused, and training was difficult due to the closure of restaurants and other public spaces. It was simple: the earlier doctors didn’t think that a blind person could or should bring up a child. Jill currently chairs the European Blind Union Commission on Mobility and Transport, a position she has held for the past 13 years, and the National Federation of the Blind's Environment Committee.Puppies need to learn to deal with a host of environments, particularly crowds, which just didn’t exist. A WOMAN who triumphed over adversity after going blind on her wedding day has relived her astonishing life in her autobiogaphy. July 2010 - An audio item about 'Just Jil'l has been included in this weeks edition of the 'Infosound Briefing'.

The Thatcher and Major Governments were sympathetic to her many suggestions; ministers such as Linda Chalker (transport) and Tony Newton (local government) provided the legislative platform for many of her proposals in the fields of transport and the built environment. Her autobiography charts Jill's triumph over adversity, which culminated with her being awarded the MBE for improving the safety of pedestrian crossings for the blind. She is particularly concerned about the growing trend for “shared streets”, which involve removing pavements, crossings, signs and signals, and which she argues from bitter experience – she was almost killed in a “shared space” in Rome – are a hazard for blind people. Jill’s book is a powerful and fascinating account of a life lived for the benefit of others – family, friends and the many thousands of blind people and others whose lives have been made easier because of her work.This book, following close on the heels of Jill s autobiography, Just Jill, is a heartfelt tribute to her trusted four-legged friends, who have given her companionship, instilled her with confidence and guided her safely in both her personal life and in her incredibly important voluntary work throughout the UK. As Jill grew in confidence she got involved with the National Federation of the Blind, and became their spokesperson on many issues . It wasn t until seven years later that Jill successfully completed a training course with her first guide dog and finally, after years of being virtually housebound, was able to begin rebuilding her confidence and reclaiming her independence. Health and Social Services failed her badly, providing nothing in the way of information or support. Jill said that she never tried to remember , she simply started by putting into one of her pockets a button for every road she needed to cross.

Peter Osborne, the charity's chief operating officer, said: "We have over 1,000 people waiting for a guide dog in the UK at the moment. She is active within the Liberal Democrat Party and has twice stood for the Council, narrowly missing being elected. Alison Hammond - Image; © Nicky JohnstonTo mark Black History Month we asked the fabulous Alison Hammond about the inspiration behind her children’s book, ‘Black in Time: the most awesome black Britons from. These and others concentrate on their authors’ achievements without dwelling on the every-day wherewithal of coping with the loss of sight.The briefings are heard by blind and partially-sighted people across the UK, the briefings are mainly downloaded and used by local talking newspapers and radio stations in their own audio publications and programmes. Imagine that you receive, each month, several bundles of around 600 very detailed appeal papers concerning claimants with a wide variety of disabilities. In spite of being partially sighted, she was able to enjoy a fairly normal childhood and, on achieving a catering qualification, worked as a cook. Above all she has been a leading member of the movement of the blind to defend the interests of blind people and secure their rights at local, national and international level. As a result, Jill found herself on her own, newly married and shortly with a young child but little in the way of help, unable to go out by herself and believing that the active life she had previously enjoyed was at an end.