Interview Highlight: Sally Raphael - Party on the Plains

Peter Greco hears from Sally Raphael, from See Differently at the Royal Society for the Blind, about a free Party on the Plains. The event will be held at Blacks Road Gilles Plains, Wednesday 3rd December from 4 pm, for the International Day of People with Disability. Designed as a way to thank people who are part of our community, food trucks, music and entertainment will be available.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
Well, if you feel like a party on the plains
on December the 3rd, where you've come to the right place.
Let's chat about it with the San Rafael from See Differently.
Always great to catch up. Thanks for your time.

S2 (00:25):
Oh, pleasure. I love being on your show.

S1 (00:26):
Uh, this is great. Ted. December 3rd. A great day
to have a party and celebrate. I guess more than
just International Day for people with disabilities.

S2 (00:34):
Yeah, that's right. Peter. So last year, see differently with
the Royal Society for the blind, we turned 140. And
at the end of the year we had a what
we called party on the Plains, where we invited along
all of our clients, our staff, our volunteers and our donors.
And it was such a lovely, relaxed way to end

(00:54):
the year and really celebrate our community that, um, we've
brought it back by popular demand.

S1 (01:01):
Fantastic. Now, is it the same venue? Because it's a
nice venue for anyone that's been out there. It's a
great venue as well.

S2 (01:07):
Yeah, so it's at our Plains campus. So, um, where
we have our guide dog school and our manufacturing and
packaging and our low vision services. We're really lucky we
have a large oval here and yeah, we get some
food trucks in, we get some music. We've actually got, um,
the incredible Rachael Leahcar. Oh, and and doing some singing

(01:28):
for us, which we're really excited about. And yeah, it's
really just a nice way to, um, thank all of
the people who are part of our community and, and
have that little get together at the end of the year.

S1 (01:39):
What a mighty ambassador Rachel has made for to see differently,
and also just for people blind or low vision over
it must be getting on towards 15 years since Rachel
was on The Voice. I know time gets away. I
still think she's about 17, but she's probably a bit
older than that. She's married with children now, so she
definitely is.

S2 (01:56):
She is. She was in our, um, wonderful Adelaide Christmas
pageant a couple of weeks back, and, um. Yeah, she
she came and did party on the Plains last year,
and she's, um. Yeah, she's a great entertainer. And like
you said, an excellent ambassador as well.

S1 (02:09):
And a great role model too. Just a bit more
about the day then. Uh, so you talked about the
the food trucks and a few of the other activities.

S2 (02:16):
Yeah. So, look, we do it, um, in the sort
of a twilight session, say, for four till seven. Peter. Um,
so people can can come after work and and have
a drink and and some, some food and look, it's
a really relaxed environment. We'll have a marquee and some
picnic rugs. Um, we'll have the entertainment. We also sell
some of our merchandise. If anyone's after a last minute

(02:38):
Christmas gift. Um, um, and we also have a few
sort of local businesses come along and, and also do
a sort of like a mini Christmas market on the
night as well. So yeah, it's just a really, really
nice chilled out sort of vibe. And yeah, just a
just a casual way to, to end the year.

S1 (02:55):
It's a good time isn't it. Between 4 and 7
if it's been a bit warmish by, you know, sort
of five, 6:00, it tends to cool down by that
time of the day, even on a, on a warm day.

S2 (03:04):
Yeah. Last year we had a really, uh, really warm
evening for the event. Um, our Adelaide weather has been
all over the place, Peter. So who knows what what
we'll get. But, um, look, we've we've got the marquee. So,
you know, if rain, hail or shine, will, will will
be there for party on the Plains.

S1 (03:22):
I know that, you know, it's been so coolish that
I think people will be, you know, almost welcoming of
something a bit hot just to kind of warm up
the blood a little bit, because it's been a little
bit unseasonably cold, as they like to say.

S2 (03:33):
Yeah. We're all we're all looking forward to summer, I think.

S1 (03:36):
What about you? I'm sorry. Rachel. I've got Rachel on
the line. Sally, what about the year overall? How's it
been to see differently at the ISP? I was at
Tech Fest or where? About a month or so ago. Very,
very successful. Huge crowds there. Lots of interest. A good
vibe about that.

S2 (03:51):
Yeah. It's been a it's been a fantastic year with
some some big achievements for us. We're really proud of
our peer support program, which is, um, providing peer support
for people who've particularly had a new low vision diagnosis. Um, that's,
that's working really well and it's a free service, but
for people as well. Peter, um, we also held our second, um,

(04:13):
ever Braille challenge for um, primary and secondary students in
Adelaide earlier in the year. You mentioned Techfest. We've just
recently been appointed to offer employment programs under the new government,
Inclusive Employment Australia. And we're ending the year on a
real high with an increase in our manufacturing and packaging

(04:34):
workforce as well. So, um, we're about to start manufacturing
Carmen's fruit straps from Gillies Plains, and we've just welcomed
35 new staff into our packaging division. So gosh, it's
been a busy year, Peter. And I think we all
we all need a couple of weeks off. But um,
some really some really great things to support. Um, the

(04:55):
low vision, um, and blind community as well as well
as our veterans who we also support through our assistance
dog program.

S1 (05:03):
See that the employment thing is so important, isn't it? So,
I mean, you know, anyone listening in would obviously know
about that and agree with that. But, you know, that's
a great opportunity for more people blind or low vision
to be gainfully employed. And I guess, you know, help
with their self esteem, help with their income and just help,
I guess, spread the message of abilities of people who
might be blind or have low vision.

S2 (05:22):
That's right. And it's a really individual program. So, you know,
everyone in life has different employment opportunities and and hopes
and dreams, and we're there to really support people on
a practical level to work out, um, what sort of
what sort of job or career that they would like
to help them find the right, right place to, to
do that and then help out with the really practical
elements like, like the technology and the, um, you know, just,

(05:47):
just those little changes that can make a big difference for,
for someone with low vision to, to find and then keep,
keep the job that they, that they're after.

S1 (05:55):
Well, tech first kind of shows us what's happening and
how quickly it's changing. And you're at the coalface of that.
So you know, often people think, oh, I'm not sure
if someone might be able to do that sort of job,
but if they know the sort of technology that's out
there and you guys obviously do not really well, it's
kind of your raison d'etre if you like, you know,
that can make a huge difference. Oh, I didn't know

(06:15):
that was available. But now now that we know about it,
we can do something quite positive from it.

S2 (06:20):
Yeah. The technology is is a great leveler and it's
really making workforces and communication and everything far more accessible
for for everyone, particularly people with disabilities. So every year
the technology gets faster and smarter. And it's it's been
incredible just to watch over the last couple of years

(06:40):
how much more affordable and how much, um, how much
more helpful the technology and easy to use as well.
I think that's the other thing we always try and
get across. Peter, a lot of people are particularly some of, say,
our older generation, are sometimes a bit hesitant or sceptical about, um,
how tech can work for them. But, um, they often
come with, um, you know, their partner or one of

(07:02):
their adult kids, and they're often surprised at how easy
it is to use and how much of a difference
it can make in your life.

S1 (07:08):
Well, it's a great way to maybe connect with kids
and grandkids, you say, particularly if they're, you know, quite
a bit younger than you. You kind of might be
a bit of a cool, cool pop or a cool Nana.

S2 (07:18):
Absolutely. It's worth a try, isn't it?

S1 (07:21):
Ah, yes. Sally, what about the throws? The third ghost?
It's it's free. There's no charge for the day.

S2 (07:25):
No, it's a it's a free event. Um, the only
thing we charge for on the night is if if
anyone wants to buy some merchandise or, um, we do
have to charge for our alcoholic drinks, but, um, free
food and softies and all the entertainment are free.

S1 (07:39):
And that's a very great idea about, uh, last minute
Christmas gifts. I mean, by December 3rd, we're probably all
starting to get a little bit panicky as to what
we can buy for, you know, who. So, uh, you know,
you might be able to have a bit of fun,
a bit of entertainment, a bit of food, and also, uh,
a bit of Christmas shopping.

S2 (07:54):
Yep. Help out. Help out a good cause along the way.

S1 (07:58):
Now, do people need to book or can they just
turn up?

S2 (08:00):
We do have a registration available through our website, which
is see differently. Um, so yeah, it's great for us
to know if people can come so we can make
sure we've we've got enough for everyone.

S1 (08:12):
All right. We'll put those details up on our show notes.
So you and all those to see differently, we've had
great support from you. Well, not just this year for many,
many years, so I'm sure it'll continue for many, many
years to come. Have a great day December 3rd. Congratulations
on the year and thanks for speaking to us.

S2 (08:27):
Have a lovely Christmas too, Peter.

S1 (08:28):
Okay Sally over there from see definitely the RSP. We'll
put those details up on our show notes.