Reflections from Torch Trust

With the Olympics getting underway very soon, we’re this week thinking about the Christian Missionary Eric Liddell, the famous Scottish athlete and devout Christian who during the 1924 Olympic games in Paris dropped out of the 100-metres run —his strongest event—because the qualifying heats were scheduled for a Sunday. Joining us to chat about Eric Liddell is John MacMillan, the CEO of the Eric Liddell Community in Edinburgh, a care charity and community hub founded in 1980 in memory of the inspirational Olympic gold medallist.

This week on Reflections we’re hearing from another sporting voice - in fact, in the United States he’s got a notable standing as a national champion blind bowler, securing a top-10 national ranking! He’s also a drummer, and a marriage minister that seeks to help couples bring God into the centre of their marriages. His name is John Helton and is the man behind the Blind Fury ministries.

On Reflections this week we’re turning our attention to the tennis fortnight that’s now underway at Wimbledon and hearing from Carolyn Skinner of Third Space Ministries, a charity that supports the fans trying to get into the ground with a friendly smile, eye masks, and the love of God!

This week on Reflections is the second part of our inspiring special with Penny Melville-Brown OBE, a former Royal Navy Commander who lost her sight during her time serving in the Navy. But after losing her sight, she didn’t give up on life - she turned her hand to helping those with disabilities get back into work, has worked for the government and even ended up going around the globe talking about her other passion, baking!

This week on Reflections is the first of a 2 part inspiring special chatting with Penny Melville-Brown OBE, a former Royal Navy Commander who lost her sight during her time serving in the Navy. But after losing her sight, she didn’t give up on life - she turned her hand to helping those with disabilities get back into work, has worked for the government and even ended up going around the globe talking about her other passion, baking! In part one Penny is chatting with Torch Trust’s Sheila Armstrong about her life in the Royal Navy and sight loss.

Sunday 16th of June, marks Father's Day in the UK– a day where we pay tribute to dads and the roles they play in shaping our lives. The day however also brings with it hurt for some and we’ll be looking at the highs and lows of what Father's Day is about with the singer turned broadcaster, Reverend Cindy Kent, who helps us to think about not just the role of our earthly fathers, but finding love and hope in God the father too.

Monday 10th of June, marks the start of National Carer’s Week. It’s a time to reflect on and appreciate the people across the UK who do such amazing work caring for others. Here on Reflections we’ve spoken to lots of people about the different forms caring takes and what it involves so today’s show is a little bit of a showcase of some of our favourite caring-related interviews from previous years.

Today we’re talking about loneliness – something that everyone has most likely felt at one time or another. To mark the upcoming Loneliness Awareness Week, we're chatting with Lucy from Marmalade Trust and exploring some wonderful resources that might be able to help.

At the start of this year, Torch Trust had a change in leadership and we were joined by a brand new CEO. Her name is Sarah Dawkins and now that she’s nearly six months in to the role, we wanted to hear how she was finding it. Our producer Grace caught up with Sarah to learn all about her life, her faith and her vision for Torch…

On today's show we're observing and exploring Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and the Apostles, with some lovely reflective pieces...

Torch's accessible lending library is one of our most popular and long-running services and we recently discovered that one person has borrowed nearly 1000 braille and audio books from us! We caught up with Patricia to find out more about her life, experience of sight loss, faith and love of reading…

Global prayer movement, Thy Kingdom Come, invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. It starts on the 9th of May and runs until the 19th and we spoke to organiser Jean Kerr to find out more, and to learn how their resources are being made accessible...

Scripture Union have been running Christian holidays for many years and this year they’re launching a new holiday called Families Inc which is aimed at younger children with additional needs. We thought it sounded marvellous so we spoke with Helen Vinter to learn more...

More and more places are starting to offer tactile tours so that blind or partially sighted people can really get a feel for a building or venue. We think these tours can be such a great way to get to know somewhere without needing to see it, so we joined Kate Risdon for a tactile tour of Peterborough Cathedral...

Today's episode is all about the joys of holidays and we're exploring some of the lovely Christian holidays that Torch runs for blind and partially sighted people!

On this week's episode, we're shaking off the cobwebs and focusing on fitness for spring. How can people with disabilities best find ways to get fit that work for them? Join us as we explore this topic!

Join us on this very special day as we celebrate the Resurrection with an uplifting show featuring a brand new retelling of the Easter story from the points of view of some characters we don't usually hear very much about...

Join us for the start of Holy Week as we explore the events of Palm Sunday and the traditions of Maundy Thursday, all in advance of our special extra long Easter Sunday show coming soon!

We're halfway through March and Spring is well and truly in the air so join us on the Reflections podcast for a lovely spiritually uplifting episode celebrating new life and all that that entails...

This week on the Reflections podcast, we're celebrating Mother’s Day by taking a special look at some of the mothers in the Bible!