RealSam UK

14/08/2026

We have some very exciting news…

RealSAM BookClub is now available everywhere!

On your RealSAM Pocket. On your phone. On your Alexa speaker. In your browser.

BookClub brings together multiple talking book libraries, a range of UK broadsheet newspapers, radio, magazines, and a curated podcast library, all into a single, voice-first service.

Begin reading a book on your Alexa speaker at home, switch over to your phone once you leave; BookClub will remember where you left off.

BookClub also brings together people. Join our online community and connect with others in RealSAM BookClub to discuss our curated monthly read; no pressure to have finished the book!

£5.99 a month. Get started here: https://realsam.co.uk/bookclub/

29/07/2026

We have exciting news! 🎉

From today, O2 stores across the UK are running a two-week disability awareness training program for all staff.

And on the walls of every O2 store: a poster on how to support a blind or partially sighted person (with RealSAM listed as one of their top recommendations!)

We don't take this lightly. Walking into a phone shop when you have sight loss is its own kind of navigation challenge. Not knowing if the person behind the counter will understand what you need can make it impossible to get the help or information you need.

Two weeks of training across every store in the country won't fix everything, but it's a great start in increasing disability literacy across all fields.

Thank you to O2 Business and RNIB Library for making this happen 💙

29/07/2026

🌲🏞️🍂⛰️ July's BookClub Pick was Borrowed Land by Kapka Kassabova.

Let's get into the discussion...

Borrowed Land is built around a paradox: that the energy transition, sold as a story of environmental renewal, is destroying the very land and communities it claims to protect.

Did the book change how you think about what "green" actually means?

(and a bonus question) Kassabova calls the glen "her glen" despite being a Bulgarian-born migrant who arrived in the Highlands two decades ago. What did you make of that claim and the question of belonging it raises?

Keen to hear your thoughts. Jump into our BookClub forum via the link below and join in the conversation today!

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CwTdcvnid/

06/07/2026

The new RealSAM Pocket A17 Lifetime Phone is now available from the RNIB Shop.

To mark its arrival, RNIB Connect Radio has featured the RealSAM Pocket in its latest Shop Spotlight, where Charlee Jarvis introduces the phone and explains what makes it a great option for people looking for a simple, accessible way to stay connected.

If you've been wondering what the new RealSAM Pocket offers, this is a great opportunity to hear more about its features and who it is designed for.

Listen to the feature: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/new-realsam-and-ravencourt-products-now-available-in/id1171766536?i=1000775170983

Thank you to the RNIB Shop and RNIB Connect Radio for helping more people discover RealSAM Pocket.

RNIB Connect Radio RNIB

Podcast Episode · RNIB Connect · 2 July · 5min

03/07/2026

⭐ July is Disability Pride Month! This year's theme is...

🌎 The World Works Better With Us 🌍

We've been part of the blind and partially sighted community for ten years now. We've been a part of thousands of conversations: with people navigating new sight loss, with family members trying to help, with long-term users who've shaped what RealSAM has become.

We wanted to mark this month by sharing some of what we've learned from those conversations. Not what we think about disability. What the community has taught us about independence, dignity, and what technology should actually do.

Read the full piece via this link: https://realsam.co.uk/disability-pride-month-2026-realsam/

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

01/07/2026

We know that supporting someone with sight loss means navigating a lot at once: care assessments, meals, mobility, technology, finances, and everything in between. While we believe that RealSAM Pocket is a helpful part of that solution, we know it's not the whole picture.

So we put together a guide that is. Everything from care needs assessments and Meals on Wheels to sight loss charities by region and financial support that most families don't know they're entitled to.

So if you're up late at night researching, trying to figure out a system nobody prepared you for— We hope this helps.

Read the full guide via the link in our bio.

27/06/2026

Today is Helen Keller's birthday 🎁 🎉🎂

Born in Alabama in 1880, she lost both her sight and hearing at nineteen months old following an illness. She went on to become the first deafblind person to complete a Bachelor of Arts, become a published author, a political activist, and one of the most influential disability advocates the world has ever seen.

Her work helped establish services for deafblind people that still exist today. Deafblind Awareness Week is held at the end of June every year in her memory.

One of her most quoted lines: "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Happy birthday Helen Keller! 🥳🥳🥳🥳

24/06/2026

This week is Deafblind Awareness Week. And there's one thing most people don't realise about deafblindness:

- It doesn't mean someone can't see or hear anything at all.

- Around 450,000 people in the UK live with some combination of sight and hearing loss, the degree, causes, and symptoms of which vary widely. Each person's experience of deaf blindness is unique.

- When you can't rely on sight to make up for hearing loss, or hearing to make up for sight loss, the challenges compound in ways that are hard to fully appreciate from the outside.

- This year's campaign from Deafblind UK is : highlighting deafblind people's strengths and talents. Focusing on what they can do, rather than their limitations.

We've written more about what deafblindness actually looks like, the many ways that deafblind people communicate, and how to get involved this week.

Click the link for more: https://realsam.co.uk/what-is-deafblin…reness-week-2026/