December 7, 2023 • 6 mins
Vision Australia CEO Ron Hooton drops by the Vision Australia Radio studios to speak to Talking Vision's Sam Colley, to preview this year's Vision Australia Carols by Candlelight and to share his experiences from years gone by.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:04):
Ron, thank you very much for your time today. And
welcome back to Talking Vision. Thanks, Sam.
S2 (00:09):
It's great to be here.
S1 (00:10):
This time of the year. We're all about the carols.
So why is this event so important to the blind
and low vision community and specifically our clients?
S2 (00:19):
We have nearly 2000 clients who are blind or low
vision who are children. Uh, right across Australia, the Carols
by Candlelight program is absolutely vital from the point of
view of providing funds for those services. While there's lots
of government funding around the difference between services being good
and services being great, is that generosity that so many
(00:42):
Australians show around Christmas time in giving to Carols by Candlelight?
S1 (00:45):
And one. What does it mean to you to see
these young people achieving their goals and benefiting from the
Vision Australia services?
S2 (00:55):
I've seen some wonderful children come through. Uh, I've been
with the organization a decade now. Sam and some of
the children that I saw as very young children and
are now teenagers, and you can see the difference in
their capacity and their capability, their confidence, their energy through
the services that we have provided. You know, there was
a young fellow that I was chatting to just the
(01:17):
other day who is looking for a job at McDonald's,
and he's been struggling along getting that job at McDonald's.
But he presented so darn well when we talk to
the McDonald's headquarters crew, he presented so well that they're
helping us now see how we can get jobs for many,
many more kids at places like McDonald's. So it's not
just the therapy services we do, it's how we create
(01:39):
opportunities for these children and support those children to get
out there and get a job and, and have a
have a normal life and have huge energy for life.
S1 (01:47):
And Ron, we'll come to you now. And you know,
the enjoyment that you've had no doubt over the past
few years as, as CEO, how many carols have you
headed along to now?
S2 (01:59):
Well, this will be my 11th Carols by Candlelight.
S1 (02:02):
Oh, okay. Wow.
S2 (02:03):
And I've seen both great innovation in the show, but
also a really, really strong focus on keeping it very
much about Christmas. Uh, we have a lot to do
with the people at nine. There's a wonderful crew there.
Melinda Zahara is the executive producer, and her focus for
the organization is to give people in Australia that traditional Christmas.
(02:24):
But just with a little bit of new every single year,
and it's it's got to be really exciting this year
as well, for sure.
S1 (02:30):
And speaking of exciting moments, what's been your favorite carols
moment thus far? Oh, it's a tricky one. It's a
bit of a tricky.
S2 (02:38):
One, but but it's really one that comes around every
single year. And perhaps it's a little bit topical this year.
But David Hobson every year sings Holy City and it's
one of the the, the last pieces of the Carols
by Candlelight. It's a big finale. He does that so well,
and I know that there are so many people around
the country, including a particular friend of mine who lives
in Geelong, that that's special for her, and it's special
(03:01):
for me because it's special for her, because she used
to watch it with her grandfather and her grandfather has
since left us, and she watched it with her father.
And I'm not sure about whether the father's still with
us or not, but it's her thing. It's her way
of connecting with family. Every year when when David comes on,
just before he's coming on, every year I text her
(03:21):
and we exchanged text messages about, uh, about Christmas. And
it's just a lovely connection to have people so invested
and so connected with this show that we've been putting
on for more than 80 years. It's a wonderful time
of the year and a wonderful thing. I think that
nine and Amy, our presenting partner, bring to all of Australia,
because it's such a big tradition and.
S1 (03:42):
It's got so many absolute stalwarts of the carols, um, performance,
you know, such as David Hobson. But, you know, you've
also got the favourites like Dennis Wolter, Sylvie Paladino, Marina Prior,
people who go back decades in the industry and it's
always wonderful to see them all together celebrating the spirit
(04:03):
of Christmas. What do you think Virgin Australia Radio's audio
describe simulcast means to the blind and low vision community.
S2 (04:12):
It brings the show alive. You've got the audio stream,
but to to have audio description overlaid that describes what
is an absolutely magical set that that the channel nine
people put on every single year, it just brings it
to life for people who who have low or no
vision and makes the show very real for them.
S1 (04:33):
Just finally one. What is 2024 looking like for Virgin Australia?
What are some things you're really excited about going into
the New year?
S2 (04:42):
Oh gee, it's um, it's going to be a really,
really big year for us. Every year is this year.
We celebrated some really, really exceptional services that we've developed.
And a couple of just mentioned, well, no. Three are
mentioned very, very briefly. We started services for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in Broome. And I'm very, very
proud of that. We're we're increasing our services to that
part of the community that has an enormous need. We?
(05:05):
We also launched a program Checking and Chat, which is
for our senior Australians, and that's a service that helps
people adjust to blindness and low vision in later life,
because that can be an emotional journey, it can be
filled with anxiety and it can cause people to become
somewhat depressed at times. So we've got a service to
(05:25):
support that, that very, very important need. But the really
big one that we, we launched, um, this year that
we will scale and make bigger and bigger next year
is the Life Ready program. Now. The Life Ready program
is our program for children who are blind to have
low vision. And it's a program that's supported directly by
the Carols by Candlelight program for next year. Scaling up
Life Ready program. We're going to get really serious also
(05:49):
about how we can support more people who are blind
or low vision, uh, get jobs, uh, in their adult years.
There are some people who, um, get blindness or low vision, uh,
during their working years, and it affects their career. But
there are also people who come through the school system
who struggle to get a job. So we'll be doing
some great work around how we can help people. More
(06:10):
people into jobs run.
S1 (06:12):
Thank you very much. I've been speaking today with Vision
Australia CEO Ron Horton all about the upcoming Carols by
Candlelight taking place on Christmas Eve to raise vital funds
for Virgin Australia. Ron, thank you very much for your
time today. It was a pleasure to catch up with you.
As always.
S2 (06:31):
Thanks very much, Sam, and Merry Christmas to all of
our listeners.
Ron, thank you very much for your time today. And
welcome back to Talking Vision. Thanks, Sam.
S2 (00:09):
It's great to be here.
S1 (00:10):
This time of the year. We're all about the carols.
So why is this event so important to the blind
and low vision community and specifically our clients?
S2 (00:19):
We have nearly 2000 clients who are blind or low
vision who are children. Uh, right across Australia, the Carols
by Candlelight program is absolutely vital from the point of
view of providing funds for those services. While there's lots
of government funding around the difference between services being good
and services being great, is that generosity that so many
(00:42):
Australians show around Christmas time in giving to Carols by Candlelight?
S1 (00:45):
And one. What does it mean to you to see
these young people achieving their goals and benefiting from the
Vision Australia services?
S2 (00:55):
I've seen some wonderful children come through. Uh, I've been
with the organization a decade now. Sam and some of
the children that I saw as very young children and
are now teenagers, and you can see the difference in
their capacity and their capability, their confidence, their energy through
the services that we have provided. You know, there was
a young fellow that I was chatting to just the
(01:17):
other day who is looking for a job at McDonald's,
and he's been struggling along getting that job at McDonald's.
But he presented so darn well when we talk to
the McDonald's headquarters crew, he presented so well that they're
helping us now see how we can get jobs for many,
many more kids at places like McDonald's. So it's not
just the therapy services we do, it's how we create
(01:39):
opportunities for these children and support those children to get
out there and get a job and, and have a
have a normal life and have huge energy for life.
S1 (01:47):
And Ron, we'll come to you now. And you know,
the enjoyment that you've had no doubt over the past
few years as, as CEO, how many carols have you
headed along to now?
S2 (01:59):
Well, this will be my 11th Carols by Candlelight.
S1 (02:02):
Oh, okay. Wow.
S2 (02:03):
And I've seen both great innovation in the show, but
also a really, really strong focus on keeping it very
much about Christmas. Uh, we have a lot to do
with the people at nine. There's a wonderful crew there.
Melinda Zahara is the executive producer, and her focus for
the organization is to give people in Australia that traditional Christmas.
(02:24):
But just with a little bit of new every single year,
and it's it's got to be really exciting this year
as well, for sure.
S1 (02:30):
And speaking of exciting moments, what's been your favorite carols
moment thus far? Oh, it's a tricky one. It's a
bit of a tricky.
S2 (02:38):
One, but but it's really one that comes around every
single year. And perhaps it's a little bit topical this year.
But David Hobson every year sings Holy City and it's
one of the the, the last pieces of the Carols
by Candlelight. It's a big finale. He does that so well,
and I know that there are so many people around
the country, including a particular friend of mine who lives
in Geelong, that that's special for her, and it's special
(03:01):
for me because it's special for her, because she used
to watch it with her grandfather and her grandfather has
since left us, and she watched it with her father.
And I'm not sure about whether the father's still with
us or not, but it's her thing. It's her way
of connecting with family. Every year when when David comes on,
just before he's coming on, every year I text her
(03:21):
and we exchanged text messages about, uh, about Christmas. And
it's just a lovely connection to have people so invested
and so connected with this show that we've been putting
on for more than 80 years. It's a wonderful time
of the year and a wonderful thing. I think that
nine and Amy, our presenting partner, bring to all of Australia,
because it's such a big tradition and.
S1 (03:42):
It's got so many absolute stalwarts of the carols, um, performance,
you know, such as David Hobson. But, you know, you've
also got the favourites like Dennis Wolter, Sylvie Paladino, Marina Prior,
people who go back decades in the industry and it's
always wonderful to see them all together celebrating the spirit
(04:03):
of Christmas. What do you think Virgin Australia Radio's audio
describe simulcast means to the blind and low vision community.
S2 (04:12):
It brings the show alive. You've got the audio stream,
but to to have audio description overlaid that describes what
is an absolutely magical set that that the channel nine
people put on every single year, it just brings it
to life for people who who have low or no
vision and makes the show very real for them.
S1 (04:33):
Just finally one. What is 2024 looking like for Virgin Australia?
What are some things you're really excited about going into
the New year?
S2 (04:42):
Oh gee, it's um, it's going to be a really,
really big year for us. Every year is this year.
We celebrated some really, really exceptional services that we've developed.
And a couple of just mentioned, well, no. Three are
mentioned very, very briefly. We started services for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in Broome. And I'm very, very
proud of that. We're we're increasing our services to that
part of the community that has an enormous need. We?
(05:05):
We also launched a program Checking and Chat, which is
for our senior Australians, and that's a service that helps
people adjust to blindness and low vision in later life,
because that can be an emotional journey, it can be
filled with anxiety and it can cause people to become
somewhat depressed at times. So we've got a service to
(05:25):
support that, that very, very important need. But the really
big one that we, we launched, um, this year that
we will scale and make bigger and bigger next year
is the Life Ready program. Now. The Life Ready program
is our program for children who are blind to have
low vision. And it's a program that's supported directly by
the Carols by Candlelight program for next year. Scaling up
Life Ready program. We're going to get really serious also
(05:49):
about how we can support more people who are blind
or low vision, uh, get jobs, uh, in their adult years.
There are some people who, um, get blindness or low vision, uh,
during their working years, and it affects their career. But
there are also people who come through the school system
who struggle to get a job. So we'll be doing
some great work around how we can help people. More
(06:10):
people into jobs run.
S1 (06:12):
Thank you very much. I've been speaking today with Vision
Australia CEO Ron Horton all about the upcoming Carols by
Candlelight taking place on Christmas Eve to raise vital funds
for Virgin Australia. Ron, thank you very much for your
time today. It was a pleasure to catch up with you.
As always.
S2 (06:31):
Thanks very much, Sam, and Merry Christmas to all of
our listeners.
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