John and Janet

John Baines and his wife Janet have been supported by British Wireless since the 1970s and say our radios can help combat the loneliness which sight loss can cause.

They have both got retinitis pigmentosa and John also has glaucoma – meaning they are both totally blind.

The couple, from Sidcup, have one of our Sonata Plus+ internet radios.

John says that while he does sometimes struggle to accept that he’s lost his sight, he just tries to get on with life because he knows there’s nothing he can do.

The pair do go away on holiday and get out and about with their two guide dogs but they also enjoy the time spent at home listening to their radio.

The Sonata gives the user access to thousands of stations, podcasts, talking newspapers and magazines and it can also read out audio content from websites.

John, 72, said: “You can be really lonely at times, there’s no doubt about that – it goes with sight loss.

“And you get bored at times too but the radios have been brilliant.

“I’ve always got something to listen to. You can always listen to a book or the radio and I have always loved music. A radio gives you that choice.

“A radio has got many roles – it can make you feel a bit less lonely.”

John says he and Janet often listen to their set together, and if they do it’s usually to the sport so they are really enjoying the internet radio as it’s opened up even more sport for them.

They can tune into the live streams for cricket and have a wealth of sports news, results and league tables at their fingertips.

“We have always listened to the same sort of stuff together,” he added. “It’s one of the nice thing to do.”