“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” - Winston Churchill. Penny is brilliantly using her Baking Blind website as a medium to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. She is passionately using her YouTube channel where she demonstrates her baking and cooking skills proving limitations are only self- imposed. Penny has been actively involved in disability issues and has founded her company Disability Dynamics which focuses on helping people with disabilities to acquire jobs. Before the onset of visual impairment, Penny served in the British Royal Navy as a Commander and criminal barrister. She has been recognized for her efforts on many occasions including being awarded an OBE in 2009 for her service to the disabled and the 2017 Holman Prize for Blind.

What is the idea behind the Baking Blind website?P: The Baking Blind website (www.bakingblind.com) is the starting point for my ambition to use cooking as a vehicle to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. For years, I have been assisting disabled people to work so I know that, even with a great CV, training and experience, the final barrier to employment is often the perceptions of the potential employer. I wanted to show that ambition, ability and enthusiasm are not limited by having a disability – and that sharing such passion is a truly effective way of breaking down barriers of misunderstanding, prejudice and fear. I could have chosen other topics but food is central to all our lives, is familiar and achievable , is popular across the media, and I just love it too! So the website gives a little of my life story plus the recipes that go with the Youtube cooking videos from my prize-winning world cooking tour. The recipes are hopefully accessible for most people: Word documents that can be downloaded and adjusted to most needs.

Can you tell us about your experiences traveling to different continents? How do you find and collaborate with local chefs?P: In 2017, I was one of three prize-winners of the inaugural Holman prize run by San Francisco’s LightHouse for Blind and Visually Impaired people. The $25,000 prize contributed towards the cost of my videographer and me travelling across six continents. I’d already done lots of cooking videos in the UK and this project allowed me to spread my wings further. We went to America (San Francisco and Virginia beach, Costa Rica, China (Chongqing), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Perth) plus Malawi in Africa (Lilongwe). And I’d done more in the UK.
At all these locations, I wasn’t interested in just arranging cookery courses but wanted more authentic experiences with individuals: professional chefs and home-cooks, sighted or not. I simply sent e-mails and used social media to contact everyone I knew, asking them for help. In turn, they passed on my request to their own networks from which volunteers around the world offered to arrange the cooking sessions. I chose the most unusual and promising locations they offered and so the travel plans emerged. But, in each location, those volunteers then recruited local restaurants and hotels, friends and family to cook with me. The result was about a week in each location, cooking with at least one person each day and an amazing variety of experiences. We captured videos of each recipe and these are being posted weekly on to YouTube so that viewers can watch the whole adventure unfold.

What challenges did you face while serving in the Royal Navy when you started losing your sight? What motivated you to face those challenges?P: The biggest challenge was when the sight in my right eye first started to deteriorate. Serving in the Royal Navy, one has very little knowledge or understanding of any disability so the whole concept of sight loss and blindness was alien. I felt very depressed and it was difficult to see the way ahead when I might lose my job and income, lose my house and spend the rest of my life being poor and isolated – and I was very ill at the time due to extreme treatment trying to save that eye. But, when I was confronted with the option of losing sight in that eye or dying, there was no choice to make. I gave up on my right eye and went back to work in the Navy after a year’s illness - and it was a struggle as I could barely walk. But I wasn’t going to be beaten and started a new job that went well – I was even promoted. But my left eye was now deteriorating so that , after a couple of years, I was in uniform but using my white cane. There was no future career for me and so I was medically discharged.
Throughout, I’d been worried about losing my home – it was a big driver to keep me going, saving money when I could, investigating ways I could work after the Navy and preparing to do so. In fact, I was only out of uniform for two days before I started my next job.

How is your company “Disability Dynamics Ltd.” helping people with disabilities find employment? What is the best way to promote an inclusive workforce?P: My company has used many methods trying to increase the employment prospects of disabled people. I’ve worked at government level to influence national strategies, policies and delivery of interventions – across the fields of employment, training, business development, justice, tax and social services, the military and more including the Olympic Games. I’ve delivered hours of training across all sectors: Government Departments and their agencies, to businesses large and small, to charities and the voluntary sector. I really enjoyed creating partnerships of organisations that could jointly improve our work prospects: many were committed but not yet prepared, others had great expertise that could be shared, Collectively we could make greater impact together. Perhaps most satisfying has been providing support direct to people with disabilities. This Has been primarily in the field of self-employment –assisting individuals to use their past work experiences, hobbies, ambitions and more from which to create a sustainable business. There are many success stories at www.disabilitydynamics.co.uk. Of course, not everyone succeeded but we were achieving positive results for more than 40% which is very good compared with most work programmes. And we found that even just taking part improved our clients’ physical and mental health, their self-confidence and social interactions.
The best way of promoting an inclusive work-force is through the “bottom line” – how such inclusivity can actually contribute financial benefit to the employer. Disabled people are recognised as having less unplanned sickness absences, fewer work-place accidents and are less likely to leave an employer – all cutting costs of recruitment and training. Equally important is the whole ethos of inclusivity in creating more staff loyalty and satisfaction across the workplace, building an organisation that actively benefits from the mix of employees that foster a richer mix of experience and expertise, promoting demonstrable diversity that attracts a more diverse range of customers. It is a win-win approach that is central to many new successful businesses. Organisations that resist diversity are at higher risk when they are less in touch with their customers. So there are positive benefits for inclusive employers – the “carrot” behind which is the “stick” of legislation.

What are your other hobbies?P: I read masses – probably nearly a book every two days. I swim and try to keep fit to offset all the cooking and continue my recovery from a major near-fatal accident. Now that I can no longer paint , embroider or sew, I’ve turned to ceramics, working in pewter (beating out bowls and modelling) and flower arranging. I love going to antique fairs and markets to find wonderfully tactile objects and furniture – but my house is getting too full! My favourite past time has been designing extensions to my house: I find that I can visualise in 3D right down to the detail of each electrical plug socket – and have a great architect who translates my vision in to reality - but I’m running out of space for more developments.

Who is your favorite chef? Which of his/her cooking techniques have you adapted for yourself?P: This is an impossible question! I’ve “ watched” lots of TV chefs and read their books, used their recipes and techniques. I’ve cooked alongside many professional chefs and learned from them – such as Luis in San Francisco who convinced me to keep dishes simple with just a few flavours. But my favourite is always the next person with whom I’m going to cook: they will give me new ideas, new techniques, new passion. Every one of them has something to share and their willingness to do so is endlessly generous.

What is your favorite place to visit? What do you love about that place?P: I’m not going to choose any specific place from around the world but rather the market places that exist anywhere. Of course, there are the smells, tastes and textures of the ingredients on sale; the sound of the whole busy environment ; the promise of the dishes to be created. But, most of all, the chance to talk to people who have grown the food, produced the meat and fish, are passionate and committed to their products – and the other customers with tips to share and stories to tell. There’s little to beat a few people joining together to celebrate the virtues and potential of something as humble as the local honey or hand-picked watercress!

What is your suggestion/tips for families of children with disabilities who want to get their kids ready for employment?P: Give them self-confidence. Lots of different experiences so that they discover activities they love and do well. Lots of interactions with different people so they learn social interaction, self-expression, courtesy and conviviality. Build their independence to be self-sufficient and self-motivated, to gain self-discipline and problem –solving. And help them recognise that having a disability can have its benefits, especially when we tackle life with positive attitudes and a smile.

What tips/advice do you have for those in our community who want to explore their creative side?P: Try everything and anything but don’t expect to be brilliant first time. Most types of creativity need understanding and practice of the basic building blocks of technique and materials – whether writing a book, cooking a dish, painting a picture, building a conservatory. Learn from others and your mistakes. The initial imagining and doing are as satisfying as the finished product – and often more so.

Any special message for our community?P: Having a disability isn’t the end of the world and doesn’t define us. We are all individuals with our own hopes and ambitions, skills and shortfalls, successes and failures. We just happen to have a physical or mental condition that is part of us but that needn’t determine our lives because we are so much more.