John Beesley

I grew up in a military family in the 1960s, posted around the world. Radio was how we stayed connected to life back home – to news, programmes and the sound of somewhere familiar. It was through a forces radio broadcast that I first heard about Visably's annual fundraiser. I was born with low vision, so even as a child I understood, in a way, what the charity was for.

Later, at a school for people living with sight loss in the UK, I became friends with someone whose father had received an adapted radio from Visably. He was an avid listener, and we had many lively conversations about what he'd heard on that set. Those early encounters – radio as connection, as independence, as a way in – planted something that never quite left me.

I studied social and political sciences at Cambridge, where I also began contributing to a newly launched independent local radio station. After graduating I joined it full-time, training as a journalist before becoming a producer and presenter. That was the start of four decades in broadcasting — in commercial radio and at the BBC, including the World Service and Radio 4's Westminster Hour. Since retiring in 2019 I've stayed close to the audio world, volunteering with local radio and podcasting projects.

Outside of work I sing with amateur choirs and barbershop quartets, and I've recently taken up piano. Whether that counts as a hobby or an act of optimism, I'm not yet sure.