Neil Skene - Performer 

Neil is totally blind due to Glaucoma and has been since his teenage years. Educated at Sunnybank Primary in Aberdeen before attending Powis Academy, which he describes as one of his worst experiences “the bullying I faced from teachers, and even some pupils really toughened me up and gave me the steel to face anything”. Steel is certainly something he has in abundance, as someone who braved sub 40-degree temperatures to trek to Everest Base Camp and the raging heat of the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco as well as bagging over 65 Munroes - many completed in winter conditions. he has done the 3-Peaks Challenge proving his steel; this was done only 3 weeks after falling in the Cairngorms and fracturing his ribs and smashing his kneecap. Neil has also completed 2 London Marathons in 1999 and 2021. and on 7 th June 2014 he reached his highest point when he stood proudly on top of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of a fundraising team. Neil recognizes that to achieve these remarkable feats as someone without sight is impossible without the support of sighted helpers to lend a guiding arm. Neil states that nothing could have been achieved without being able to laugh and wherever possible, he tries to eject humor into everything he does, this comes across in his motivational/after dinner addresses and makes up the vast part of his Stand up Comedy set. Despite everything Neil has achieved, he is still frustrated by the myths and misconceptions around blind people, in particular the assumption that blind people can’t and don’t do anything – REALLY?