Founder and Director
Dee Jones
Sense Adventures was created by Dee to provide the holidays that she had been looking for herself but could not find.
Dee was brought up in London and trained and worked as a Chartered Accountant and Financial Analyst. She moved to the Malvern Hills area thirty years ago with her young family and immediately fell in love with the hills, exploring them with her three young children.
She was diagnosed with Rod and Cone Dystrophy 18 years ago and her sight is continuing to deteriorate. She is constantly learning an awareness that what she sees is changing and how to live differently.
Dee attended The Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford and found it a life changing experience. She was always inspired by role models of blind people doing both normal and extraordinary things but did not understand how they were able to do those things. The college and the students that she met showed her how and it is an ongoing learning process. She learned the amazing ways that, for example, a smart phone can enable the reading of e-mails and texts and how to use the electronic pen friend to label food.
She also began to learn to use the speaking software ‘Jaws’ enabling her to run a business. Dee trained as a Massage Therapist at the college and has a successful business working from home offering a range of therapies, and at The Clover Mill Retreat.
Dee still has some useful sight and was matched with her first guide dog, Jax, eight years ago. Jax joins the Sense Adventures walks leading the guide dogs in crashing through long grass and seeking out the best puddles.
Patron
Lora Fachie MBE, OBE
Sense Adventures is thrilled and honoured that Lora Fachie has agreed to be our Patron.
Lora says...
"I’m supporting Sense Adventures for several reasons. Personally I am a very active and independent visually impaired person and I love that Sense Adventures enable other visually impaired people to get more active.
Wellbeing, mental and physical health is very important to me.
Born into a family where everyone is visually impaired, I have grown up believing that my blindness is not a barrier to hold me back. Instead I see it as a characteristic that sets me apart from the crowd. I have always participated in sport, initially athletics, switching to cycling in 2009, where I compete on a tandem with a fully sighted athlete on the front. My cycling career has been plagued with highs and lows. The lowest point being the London 2012 Paralympic Games. I failed to fulfil my dream of becoming Paralympic Champion in front of a home crowd after my tandem suffered a mechanical failure in the road time trial.
The high, breaking the world record on the way to defending my Paralympic title at the Tokyo Games, 16 minutes after my husband, Neil, also won gold. The three things that have kept me going throughout this time are my resilience, determination and the amazing support of my friends and family. Without these qualities I strongly believe I would not have achieved what I have to date."
Career Highlights
2 x Paralympic Champion
4 x World Champion
2 x World Cup Winner
World Record Holder
Testimonial from Altea Sellers
"As a blind person it’s not always easy to go for a walk in somewhere like this for fear of getting lost or disoriented or being uncertain of the terrain. With the support of the Sense Adventures guides it is possible to experience the freedom and excitement of the Malvern Hills landscape. We are all a friendly and sociable bunch and each walk is a different but enjoyable experience."
Click here to read more testimonials.