His Grace the Duke of Rutland
Lifetime Patron
The relationship with the Manners family goes back to a donation of £20 in 1860 from the Marquis of Granby, who would go on to be the 6th Duke of Rutland. The current Duke is the 11th Duke of Rutland.
Ambassadors
Alec Crombie MBE
Honorary Vice President
Alec has been blind since the age of 10. He was the first sight impaired trustee in 1976 and was Chair of the board of trustees from 1997 to 2003. Alec was a solicitor and is now active in Rutland, where he is Deputy Mayor of Uppingham.
Mike Kapur OBE
Patron
Mike Kapur is a Patron of Vista and has long and fond connections with us, having first joined the charity in 1983 to do a year long internship which involved computerising the then manual accounting records. Graduating and then qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, he still maintained his links with Vista. He is currently Founder and Director of Signum Corporate Communications, Chairman of the National Space Centre, and Chairman of Leicester City Football Club Community Trust.
Mike has always been a strong advocate of public service and is a Trustee of Warning Zone and National Forest Company. He served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire from 2015 before being appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 2018, and in 2017 he was awarded an OBE for Services to Science, Technology, Business and Enterprise.
Tilly Dowler
Ambassador
Tilly was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at the age of 15, and whilst initially pursuing a career in teaching, Tilly found her true purpose in fashion, thrifting and styling. She is the Managing Director of Wanted Wardrobe - a sustainable clothing store based in Castle Donnington selling pre-loved clothing, shoes and accessories.
Brian Negus
Ambassador
Brian is registered blind and a keen photographer. Over the last few years Brian’s work has attracted media attention, and he has set up an online group for visually impaired photographers, which has a steadily growing membership. Prior to his retirement in 2007, from his position as Director of Computing Services at Loughborough University, Brian became a Trustee and subsequently Chairman of Vista. He stepped down from the Chairman role in 2013, however Brian remains an enthusiastic supporter of Vista’s work. For his role in training other visually impaired people in the use of technology, Brian was recognised by Talk Talk as a Digital Hero in 2015, one of only five nationally.
Philip Parkinson OBE
Ambassador
Philip came to Leicester from Hampshire in 1964 with a post in industry with Scaffolding (Great Britain) Ltd, but after a few years changed careers, retrained and served as a Youth and Community Worker in Highfields. In 1974, he joined Vista as deputy to John Brown BEM, succeeding him as Chief Executive three years later. On his retirement in 2001, Philip was made an OBE for services to blind people. Since then he has been very active in the NHS, chairing the Leicester City Primary Care Trust and is currently a Director of Healthwatch Leicester. Philip has remained very interested in how Vista has continued to develop and was very pleased to become an Ambassador.
Sue Disley
Ambassador
Growing up, Sue was encouraged and supported by her blind grandmother. From an early age, she recognised the practicalities of living with limited sight and that being blind need not be a barrier to an active happy life. Sue had a career in social care for over 30 years, retiring as Assistant Director at Leicestershire County Council. Sue was diagnosed with glaucoma and received support from Vista, becoming a trustee in 2012 and was Chair of trustees from 2013 to 2016
Stephen Bilbie
Ambassador
Stephen was appointed chairman of the Harborough District Council in 2020 choosing Vista as his charity for the term in office. Raising awareness of Vista’s work supporting visually impaired people at his many engagements across Leicester and Leicestershire. Arranging fundraising events, even throughout covid using technology like quiz nights and a virtual bike ride around Harborough District were all completed from home.
Stephen runs a cleaning company across the midlands employing a large number of staff. Founded in 2005, his work has included cleaning for some of the UK’s largest names in retail, construction, education, healthcare and premiership sports clubs. The company joined the Vista business club last year and Stephen as managing director and chairman brings expertise of business and government policy.
Having finished his term in office May 2022 Stephen continues to support Vista and was honoured to become an ambassador.