Journalist Jenny White spoke to the formidable mother and daughter team – Charlotte Bowen (CEO of LOOK) and her mother Jennifer (founder of LOOK), who was one of Wales’ first female photojournalists.
This article is now available to read online here:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/real-life/shes-losing-sight-not-brain-26525893
(Thank you to Wales Online /Western Mail for making this article accessible to visually impaired readers.)
Here are some excerpts from the article:
[Jennifer’s] met her husband, the journalist Gareth Bowen, at a Christmas party at the Western Mail and they went on to have five children. Jennifer continued to work while raising them…
Her life changed after her youngest child, Charlotte, started to lose her sight due to a rare genetic disorder. Jennifer quickly found she had to advocate for her daughter and push for her to get the education she needed.
“When your daughter has a special need, you have to go through all these meetings and fight their corner,” she says. “The thing that got me was when someone said to me, ‘Well, Mrs Bowen, you wouldn’t expect for Charlotte’s future what you expect for the rest of your other children, would you?’ And I said, “Why not? She’s losing her sight not her brain!”
Looking back, Charlotte credits her mother with helping her to navigate the challenges of her failing eyesight…
“Without her I wouldn’t be the person I am today,” says Charlotte. “She advocated for me and challenged me, compassionately but consistently – by my side and supporting me whether I was learning to ride a bike, trying sailing, or simply getting through the school gates. She wouldn’t let me sit on the sidelines, she was committed wholly to inclusion – modestly and in a way that fully enabled me.”
We are hoping that the article will be available online this week so it will be accessible to all.
Read a message from our founder, Jennifer Bowen, to mothers and carers from a previous Mother’s Day:
https://www.look-uk.org/a-message-to-mums-and-carers-this-mothers-day-from-jennifer-bowen/
