About us

member benefitsWho are we?

VIEW is a registered charity, which represents the interests and needs of children and young people with visual impairment across the United Kingdom. VIEW is a membership association open to professionals and others with an interest in the field of visual impairment. Read the questions we get asked a lot.

VIEW is the representative group of staff working across the Education sector for VI Children and Young People so is in a good position to gauge concerns across the UK.

Our Mission

The mission of VIEW is to support professionals who provide support to children and young people with vision impairment.

Our Vision

The vision of VIEW is to be recognised as the leading UK authority in providing the necessary services to help QTVIs and other professionals support children and young people with vision impairment.

VIEW Executive Committee:

The VIEW Committee is comprised of professionals with particular expertise within the field of visual impairment and education provision. These individuals provide leadership in moving VIEW forward to constantly improve benefits and services to the professionals who work and support the education and welfare of children with a vision impairment.

VIEW works to safeguard standards of provision, and raise the profile of the field. Representation is made to the Government on issues regarding the education of children with a vision impairment. The association also provides funds for research and acts as a partner for relevant teacher training courses.

John Milligan

Chair

John.Milligan@norfolk.gov.uk

Born just outside Sunderland and suffer the pain of being a lifelong Sunderland supporter along with the rest of my family. I am Team Leader for the VI MSI element of the Virtual School Sensory Support in Norfolk, trustee and Chair of the Selection Panel for the Snowdon Trust supporting disabled learners across the UK, and I coach the Norfolk and Norwich Goalball Team and Governor for the Short Stay Schools in Norfolk.
Only one more thing, I think VIEW is a vital and supportive organisation for the entire workforce and am committed to ensuring this continues.

Katharina Walls

Vice Chair

Katharina.Walls@lancashire.gov.uk

My name is Katharina and I am a QTVI in Lancashire. My path into this
profession is different from most other QTVIs, as I studied Special Needs
Education in Germany. I then did my PGCE in a School for blind and visually impaired children in Halle, Germany, teaching English and German. After a break for bringing up my own 3 children I started to work for Oxfordshire County Council, where I worked for nearly 5 years before moving to Lancaster and starting work here. I love the work as a QTVI, and enjoy the challenge of having to find creative solutions and teaching resources for each individual student I support. I have been a member of VIEW for many years, enjoying hearing about new research and developments at the conference as well as being challenged to think outside my immediate work and help creating a voice for blind and visually impaired students.

Rory Cobb

Trustee

RoryCobb.view@gmail.com

I am a qualified teacher of children and young people with vision impairment. I was Chair of VIEW from 2015 and ran the annual VIEW conference from 2003 until 2018. I retired in 2017 after a 35-year career with RNIB where I developed resources and policy advice on educational provision for blind and partially sighted children. During my career I had a special interest in access to the curriculum and examinations, working closely with awarding bodies and government agencies to improve provision for learners with vision impairment in public exams. I have a long-standing involvement in training and led on the development and delivery of RNIB and VIEW’s online courses for education professionals working with children and young people with vision impairment. I’m also a regional tutor on the University of Birmingham course leading to the mandatory QTVI qualification.

Sue Keil

Trustee and research lead

SueKeil.view@gmail.com

From 1998 until my retirement in 2017 I was employed by RNIB as children’s research officer where I carried out, and externally commissioned, a wide range of research studies and literature reviews. The aim of these studies has been to get a better understanding of: the size and characteristics of the population of blind and partially sighted children and young people in Britain, the experiences and support needs of children and their families, and policies and practices underpinning their educational provision.

Since retiring, I’ve been helping to develop the VIEW research webpages. I have continued to maintain links with the wider VI research field as honorary research fellow at the Vision Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research (VICTAR) at the university of Birmingham and as VIEW representative at the twice-yearly Mary Kitzinger Trust workshops.

Sarah Raisanen

VIEW Project Manager/Communications Consultant

SarahRaisanen.view@gmail.com

After completing an MSc in Social Research (University of Bath), I worked as a researcher on  projects focusing on the educational provision of children with special educational needs. I then joined Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) where I held a variety of positions to support, reach, and engage children, young people, families and professionals through the provision of information, communications, publications and digital services. I have over 25 years’ experience of delivering projects in the disability sector, including the planning and implementation of communications campaigns to drive awareness, engagement and understanding.