Our Journey, every challenge is an oppertunity for boundless possiblity, purpose and pride.

Our Journey

Journey of independence is led by one person; however, it is constructed from the parts of hundreds of people. You are about to read Andy’s story from a young child to a rockstar and through a difficult time in his life. Andy is now back to being a rockstar and wants to change your life. please read on and i hope this inspires you to become a rockstar.

Born in 1971 in Sheffield South Yorkshire, Andy went to a primary school in Dinnington near Rotherham. I gained lifelong friends including teachers.
at the age of six, Andy was diagnosed with a rare eye condition called cone dystrophy. He was rushed all over the country, London, Manchester, and Coventry and of course the Royal Hallamshire hospital.
this is a challenging time, oh how he will struggle. Life will never be the same for him and of course what a shame!!!
do not mind me people, hello if anyone is interested, I am super happy and not interested in you and your perceived problems. This is true to this day. Sight loss charities bare this in mind when creating services. To this day when Andy is walking down the street, I am not struggling and I do not need to be stopped to ask or reminded about issues, just get out the way and let me get the bus.

Andy moved on to live a full comprehensive education in a standard school in Wath upon Dearne. I am still in contact with many lifelong friends 36 years later. I came across many challenges there, I was fire fighting much of it. This gave me an unbelievable ability to deal with anything thrown at me in life. I was so lucky to know exactly what I wanted to do after school and plotted a plan to stick too.

In 1992 I was riding my bike with a friend and came across a field with a for sale sign. This prompted me to go to a land auction, stick my hand up and purchase twenty acres of land. All that was required now simply put is how do I pay twenty-eight thousand pounds in 7 days. I achieved this and Thorpe Salvin Nurseries was born. I owe so much to my parents for their time, my friends, customers, and the local community. This is my proudest moment in my differing career.

I have already figured out in life I will have to be twice as good as a sighted person to even be considered. Something sighted bosses might need to understand is simple. You will not find more loyal, diligent, conscientious, committed, and resolute employees. Andy forged on irrespective knowing he was the absolute best he could be. A lesson to many sighted people out there.

In 2001 Andy became a singer with a colleague, soon learning how to overcome his nerves and becoming a rockstar. This is how he lives his life to this day. Andy performed these duties until 2013.

It was 2014 when Andy realised something, it is not doing the same thing for too long that kills you, it is stopping doing the same thing for too long. In 2015 Andy was missing work, having made an enormous amount of money.
I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. This was the hardest thing Andy had to do. I received counselling and over 12 months I got back on my feet. I wondered how other people living with vision loss dealt with it and started volunteering for a local sight loss charity. I did not want to leave the house or partake in anything. Andy found as much as charities are well meaning, they do not know what they are saying. The way volunteers are programmed, and the way services are devised, simply put they do not understand how the two-way communication is working. I am sure the charity goes away feeling pleased with themselves however the person living with vision loss, well it might not be so clear. I even saw people living with sight loss helping other people living with sight loss. The thing is the information for both people should have been quite different. This was often, simply not the case. They simply did not understand connections.

Andy started gaining his qualifications for training both people with vision loss and people with sight. This was back in 2018 and Andy has never stopped learning.

Andy has been working for the national sight loss charity and loves how it all works. Andy is now training students on DSA for a consultancy firm in London. Most of my time is spent teaching the Way Finding Wizardry course and the results I am seeing make me feel like a rockstar.

I hope you can see from all this what makes Andy tick and I hope you understand from Andy Blackburn to anyone on the journey of independence. I know what you are going through, and I understand. When I say I am going to change your life, you must understand I will
the way I work at is simple, all the best training courses are designed around people’s problems. My training courses are designed around problems people living with sight loss encounter. Everything we do at Journey of Independence is tailored to you.

I do know what you are going through, and I am going to change your life.

Our fusion learning will not just change the lives of yourself but your partners, friends, or colleagues.

Two things I ask of you.

1. write down over the course of a few days in order the issues you come across and we can help you sort them out. For example, I can not set an alarm to get me up. Followed by me cannot put toothpaste on my brush. You may want to know if your bus is running on time or if you have anything to do at work. You cannot login to your pc.
   most of the above is not what we charge for which brings me on to…
2. Two   simply give us a call or email us. You can click on the images at the top of each page to email us or click the links.
3. To call us simply dial 07729 709541 or click the phone number.
4. Please reach out and let us help you. You may be feeling like I did in 2016, this is the hardest thing you will have to do, let us turn you into a rockstar again.