Tash Mead

When did you study at RNC?

I was at RNC for 3 years, starting in 2017, aged 22, and leaving in 2020.

What courses did you study?

Braille, English, IT, Massage and Complementary Therapies and Mathematics. I was also a member of the RNC Sports Academy.

Eye condition(s):

Retinopathy of Prematurity, Glaucoma

Did you do any sport before joining RNC?

Athletics

What sports did you do as part of the Sports Academy?

I played goalball and football and enjoyed tandem cycling. I was part of the GB women's talent squad for goalball and attended tournaments in The Netherlands and Barbados.

How did you get involved in blind football?

I was introduced to blind and partially sighted football whilst studying at RNC but there wasn't a women's team to join at that time. Since I left RNC, the FA have been looking for players with potential to develop as blind footballers and I've just returned from a B1 Women's Development Camp held at St George's Park. We are planning to take an England development squad to the IBSA Football Women's European Championships in Italy in June 2022.

The photo below shows the group of female blind footballers who went to the B1 Women's Development Camp in February 2022. They are standing (back row) and kneeling (front row) in goal for a team photo and are wearing black training kit and eye shades. Tash is on the front row on the right.

You left RNC in 2020 at the height of the pandemic and your plans to set up your own massage business were stymied. What did you do next?

When I was in Hereford I did some work experience with Aspire Living which is an organisation that supports people with learning disabilities to live their lives. This prompted me to apply for the post of Support Worker in my hometown of Plymouth, supporting adults with additional needs.

The job required quite a bit of travel and sometimes staying overnight in client homes, so after 6 months I applied for the post of Health Care Assistant (HCA) at Mount Gould Hospital. I work alongside registered nurses, physios and doctors and I support and encourage patients to get moving and I help wash and feed them as they may have dementia, an amputation, a brain injury, a stroke or Parkinson's.

I also do observations (checking respirations, saturations, blood pressure and temperature) on each patient between two and four times a day. It's very fulfilling work and no two days are the same.

Did careers and transition support help you prepare for the job application process?

The Transitions Team are brilliant, they gave me a lot of good tips and techniques for interviews and filling out application forms. They also helped me tweak my CV.

In your current role, do you use any adapted equipment, for example, to do the observations?

I did start the application process for the Access to Work scheme when I first joined the hospital but there was a management change over and the application never went in. But, it's fine, the machines are manageable - the documentation is trickier because it's all handwritten and a lot of it is in quite small print plus the observation charts are quite small. It can be a bit of a barrier but I manage, and I ask for assistance if I need it. I'm really familiar with the charts now so I work round it. I was given a magnifying device by the eye infirmary but I didn't get on with that.

Do you still plan to do anything with massage?

I probably will revisit massage at some point  but I've just bought my own flat and this job has given me the money and opportunity to do that. I'm settling in really well, it can be a bit lonely but my mum and dad are a 10 minute drive away.

Was it easy to get used to living at RNC?

Living at RNC really helped with my independence. I loved living at RNC and I loved the social side of the halls and I was on a corridor with some really good people and made some really good friends. I especially loved it when I had my independent flat in the halls because I could cook every day.

Being one of the older students, a lot of younger students did turn to me for help and advice and at one stage I did take on too much but the Residential Support Officers helped me through that difficult time. The RNC staff are amazing and I really can't thank everyone enough.

How do you feel about your overall experience at RNC?

It prepared me for real life and adulthood and I grew in confidence. If I took one thing from RNC it would be the independent life and social aspect because a lot of people that go to the College in the beginning aren't very sociable  or they don't really have any friends and then within a few weeks, they've come out of their shell and are enjoying life.

I'm using a lot of the tips I picked up in my ILS lessons - I've got Braille on my cooker and I've got bump-ons on my tumble dryer and washing machine and I've got a few gadgets like the liquid level indicator and a talking thermometer.

For me, RNC has lived up to its mission of 'Education, employment and empowerment'.


Tash Mead - February 2022