\n Dave Steele, known as The Blind Poet, was a surprise guest at the event held in Didsbury in the grounds of Francis House Children\u2019s Hospice.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The hospice, which supports families from across Greater Manchester.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Steele read from his new children\u2019s book, The Unstoppable Duo, during a family fun day for children aged 13 and under.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dave Steele reading the Unstoppable Duo to the audience (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n The Unstoppable Duo is about a young boy, Austin, who is gradually losing his sight.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “Francis House means a lot to us as a family and this book pays tribute to my nephew Josh, who sadly passed away from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy just after his 18th birthday.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Josh used to come here for respite care for many years.\n<\/p>\n
\n “To be invited here today and pay tribute to the work Francis House has done for our family and so many other families over the years is a real honour.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The event was part of a two-day festival called Francis Fest, which transformed the hospice grounds into a vibrant music festival complete with a large tent, food stalls, live bands and entertainment.\n<\/p>\n
\n The event was part of a two-day festival called Francis Fest (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Steele was joined by his wife Amy and their 12-year-old son Austin, who inspired the book series.\n<\/p>\n
\n The story introduces Josh, a new classmate who uses a wheelchair.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Steele said: “My hope is that this book will not only provide much-needed representation for children with disabilities but also serve as a valuable tool for schools and families to teach inclusion and spark conversations around difference, empathy, and strength.”\n<\/p>\n
\n He also read a poem for the occasion titled A Place Called Francis House.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rachel Ellis, a member of the Francis House homecare team, said: “So often our families\u2019 days are filled with hospital visits, treatments and worries.\n<\/p>\n
\n READ MORE:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n She added: “We felt it was important to provide a safe and accessible space where they could simply enjoy being a family, have fun and make magical memories.”\n<\/p>\n \n The Unstoppable Duo will be released on September 19 and will be available in large print, braille, audio and PenFriend-compatible formats.\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Steele\u00a0worked\u00a0as a singer before being diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) 11 years ago,\u00a0a genetic eye disease with no treatment or cure, which left him “severely sight impaired.”\n<\/p>\n \n He\u00a0turned to spoken word poetry to help articulate his feelings and experiences as both a therapeutic outlet and to\u00a0inspire others. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n More information can be found here: www.theblindpoet.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Steele, known as The Blind Poet, was a surprise guest at the event held in Didsbury in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-422936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115201061990043264","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}