Talk Direct's Mark Skelton visits the O2 Store of The Future in London
Talk Direct's Mark Skelton was recently invited to visit the O2 Store of The Future in London, to tell the staff there about our Project iCare and to mirror the training we gave to the Manchester branch. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to spread the iCare message of helping the visually impaired to use digital technology to help in their everyday lives. Up until recently our success had only been based in Yorkshire but it is now getting national attention.
Travelling to London was going to be a task for Mark, as you all will know it is one of the world’s busiest cities and trying to navigate around it with a white stick was tough. The tube was the biggest challenge for Mark due to sheer volume of people and stairs. It was Marks was my first visit to London since losing his sight and his journey was interesting.
The store was based in the Westway Cross Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush, and Mark was very keen to get started. He got to speak to the staff in groups and spoke to the team about sight loss and the work we had been doing with the community to combat this. Mark also spoke about accessibility options available on a smartphone and what a huge difference some apps can make. The team was fantastic and really bought into what was being talking about.
The team has been given 6 weeks to come up with a project to help visually impaired people both in and out of store. Mark is very keen to return and see the work they have done. To know that the work Talk Direct started 2 years ago is being used and recognised within O2 retail stores is a wonderful feeling. We are all very excited about collaborating with more stores and make iCare a national success.
