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The campaigner, who won the lifetime achievement award at last year’s Pride of Britain Awards, has helped bring in major changes for the blind and visually-impaired community, such as braille on bus buttons and textured paving at pedestrian crossings and train stations.
Next came Quella, “a stately dog and so calm”, who was at the altar with her when she married Alvin; then Lady – the “perfect” guide dog. September 2010 - Jill Allen-King MBE signed copies of her book 'Just Jill' at Waterstone's, Bury St Edmunds.
By means of an innate talent for public relations and public speaking, she had started to interest the written and spoken media in matters of concern to blind people.
Keith Valentine, development director at the RNIB, said: “The government has got to include blind people in the definition of those who need extra help. Her passion and motivation is extraordinary, and Jill’s humble outlook has kept her grounded despite her successes. On the morning of the wedding, I caught the bus to the hairdressers and got dressed back at home, in my mum and dad’s house.According to the charity Guide Dogs, dogs usually retire when they are between nine and 11 years of age. It wasn t until seven years later that Jill successfully completed a training course with her first guide dog and finally, after years of being virtually housebound, was able to begin rebuilding her confidence and reclaiming her independence.
She rose to face an enormous challenge and set out determinedly to make sure that, for the rest of her life, she would fight to help others similarly afflicted. She has been particularly associated with campaigns for access to transport and the built environment, to make our streets and pavements safe for pedestrians to walk in and to have household goods manufactured according to design for all principles so that everyone can use them. Her autobiography charts Jill's triumph over adversity, which culminated with her being awarded the MBE for improving the safety of pedestrian crossings for the blind. A WOMAN who triumphed over adversity after going blind on her wedding day has relived her astonishing life in her autobiogaphy. My husband can come for short walks each day, but he is restricted due to having dementia and heart problems.Shortly after that, we were shaking hands with all our guests when a terrible pain started above my eye. A Pride of Britain award-winner who has spent her life campaigning for the rights of blind people fears she will be left housebound due to a shortage of guide dogs. She was never overawed by distinguished people and her forthright method of questioning often succeeded when more deferential interviewees would have failed. In this moving autobiography, Jill explains how she went blind in one eye when she was a toddler – as a result of contracting measles – and then lost the sight in her other eye as an adult.
At the age of 70, Jill continues to fight for the cause, and hopefully her story will inspire others to take up the baton.Reporters, then radio and television, began to take an interest, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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