Adventurer urges others to follow dreams

A SIGHT loss ambassador and adventurer was the guest speaker at this month’s Henley Female Network meeting.

Nicky Button spoke to about 40 women at the River & Rowing Museum on Friday last week about her career and of losing her sight in 2013.

The meeting marked two years since the group was first founded. The group meets on the fourth Friday of the month and is a chance for women to build personal and professional connections.

Ms Button, who is registered blind, said her first job was as a foster mother which she took up after having her daughter aged 24. This led to her first career as a children’s eat, sleep and behaviour issues consultant.

In her late 30s, she fell in love with kayaking after spotting a group training on her local canal in Surrey and soon found herself travelling around the country paddling on white water rapids.

Her hobby led to an unexpected opportunity to appear as a stunt kayaker on the set of Midsomer Murders. This experience prompted a career change and began working in the TV industry, specialising in rigging and stunt safety.

After several successful years Ms Button came home from a skiing trip in 2013 and found herself unable to see her daughter from across the room. Four months later she had her driving licence removed and she subsequently lost her job.

Ms Button said: “My life suddenly changed, I couldn't tell the difference between a log in the river or a person. I had been booked to work on Dr Who and suddenly my life was again taken in a completely different direction.”

After her diagnosis, Ms Button moved in with her father in South Devon and set up a walking group for people with visual impairments. In the past few years, she has completed a number of big hikes including Ben Nevis and a 50km Ultra challenge over Exmoor.

Ms Button has now decided to undertake a new challenge she had named “Nicky’s most marvellous ridiculous adventure” which will entail her walking from the Orkney Islands to the Scilly Isles. Reflecting on her journey she said: “You never know what life is going to throw at us. We just never know what’s going to happen, so if there is something that you want to do, or you want to set up, or you have a dream. Go there. Take that step. Make that path because, if you don't like it, there is another one.”

The Henley Female Network was founded by Henley resident and life coach Harriet Barcella to create a space where women could support women and build connections and community.

The network supports the Chiltern Centre in Henley, which provides support for young people with disabilities and £5 from each ticket sale goes towards the charity.

In September, in aid of the centre, Mrs Barcella along with other members of the network will be taking on the Thousand Lakes challenge which entails a six-day trek through the Pyrenees.

The next event will be held on Friday, February 28 and will feature a talk from Dr Shilpa McQuillan who leads Berkshire Menopause Clinic. For tickets, visit www.tickettailor.com/
events/thehenleyfemalenetwork1/
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