Introducing Bridie
In our first short film, we meet Bridie, who has 5% of her vision. Bridie’s story is all about how building confidence opens up opportunities so that people can reach their employment goals and flourish in their lives. For Bridie, her loss of vision has awakened and enhanced her sense of smell, touch and taste, and the film explores what that means for her career. Bridie, who is in her 30s, suffered a stroke which left her with vision impairment, but Bridie hasn’t let her vision impairment stop her.
“I don’t see vision impairment as a disability” – Bridie
Bridie gains confidence
In March 2018, Bridie completed a 6-week training course through (CoAct Service Partner) VisAbility’s Employment program where she learned interview techniques and other vital employment skills. At the start of the course Bridie was shy and nervous, but six weeks on she had made friends, was chatting with classmates, and even gave them a demonstration of one of her biggest talents – cooking!
“You see this person blossom into something amazing” – Carol Williams, VisAbility Program Manager
Bridie heads out on her own
The program with VisAbility gave Bridie the confidence to go out and seek volunteer work. She currently volunteers two days a week at the Swan Library Community Lifespan Care Services for seniors, where she runs the kitchen and prepares morning tea on her own.
She also undertook further workplace training at VisAbility part-time and with the help of the team at VisAbility Employment Services Bridie has recently gained employment at a cafe – the perfect place for someone with such a strong passion for food and baking.
For Bridie baking is a way to explore smell, taste and texture and in this film, we aim to evoke the viewer’s senses as we follow Bridie’s story.
“When we change the story as a society we open a world of opportunity, not just in people’s lives but in the whole community”
– Matt Little, CoAct CEO.
View all our Change the Story videos here.