STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Steve is a witty articulate man who tells it how it is, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. The perfect guest for all motivational occasions.
The world disappeared from Steve Cunningham’s view one sunny day when the green and picturesque Malvern Hills became shrouded in a sinister, creeping grey mist that clouded out his vision.
What little had been left of his failing eyesight was now terminally obliterated. He was totally, irreversibly and permanently blind. Aged 12, lonely, confused, and housed in the Lickey Grange School for the Blind in Worcester, all he could see was one long black tunnel.
One of five children from a working class family whose parents were in the throes of a distressing divorce, Steve found himself in a black world. Never again would he see the Malvern Hills, but even more horrifying for him, his days as a promising junior footballer with Aston Villa were over, blacked out as effectively as were all the visual delights of a youngster growing up.
Surely all of this would be a recipe for a one-dimensional existence of assisted meals, radio, TV and talking books, or as he puts it “making baskets and selling matches”.
However Steve Cunningham has never made a basket or sold a match. After a traumatic period of readjustment he simply set about getting on with his life without the luxury of eyesight. To him that meant tackling virtually everything that a sighted person could undertake and succeeding with a panache that makes him a role model for other similarly or lesser-affected people.
Steve offers his message of an uplifting tale of triumph over the cruellest of adversity, and even more exhilarating and uplifting because it is neither fictional nor far-fetched.
When the wretched despairing aftermath of the fretful day had eased, Steve set about exploiting his remaining four senses of sound, smell, touch and taste to the full, while adding a few abstract qualities to his repertoire, including faith, instinct, self belief, a sense of humour (especially a sense of humour) and a get-up-and-go courage that has seen him overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
In tandem with his pursuit of sporting achievement he also passed all of his examinations at Business College, made impressive progress in his career with Barclays Bank and has raised substantial funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Far more importantly he produced two beautiful daughters, Megan and Katie, on whom he has never been able to feast a pair of admiring eyes.
THE SPEAKER:
Steve now passes on to others, his knowledge of the qualities he has developed. So often people do not realise what their capabilities really are, or how far they can stretch themselves. They actually fear going past the comfort zone, and finding out the limit of their own inner strength. Steve will change that defensive mind set into positive action.
He will bring to your conference, seminar or business meeting, the inspiration to transform potential into reality, with the dual purpose of developing the individual to a higher personal level thereby increasing the performance of the business.
His presentation will always be tailored to meet the definitive brief of the client; it will be delivered succinctly, passionately, humorously and above all, truthfully. Steve activity encourages the use of goals and targets as a means of monitoring and measuring personal development and performance.
As an After Dinner Speaker he tells of his triumphs and failures in a no-nonsense style, combining humour with humility. He is a genuine man who sees no disability in his total lack of sight but takes pride in sharing the vision, which many sighted people fail to recognise.
THE SPORTSMAN
As a keen sportsman Steve has never let his blindness affect his ability to compete in sports, and indeed has achieved things most people only dream about, below is a summary of his key achievements.
·Former holder of the World Junior Blind Sprint Title at 100 metres
·Member of the GB athletic team at the 1989 Disabled European Championships in Zurich
·Founder member and captain of the England Blind Football Team, competing internationally in Argentina, Brazil, France, Greece, Italy and Spain
·He has played a demonstration cricket match at Lords as a member of the England Blind Cricket Team
·As a golfer he plays of a handicap of 14, and has played a number of the UK’s top golf courses including the Brabazon at the Belfry
THE RECORD BREAKER
What better way of proving that blindness is not a disability but a slight diversion than developing and break world records?
On 26th September 1999, at the former RAF aerodrome of Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire he became the official fastest blind man on the planet. Over three measured mile runs driving a Chrysler Dodge Viper, his average speed was 147.55 mph, beating the old record by 12mph. His highest recorded speed was over 176 mph
On 6th September 2000 in the English Channel off Bournemouth in a V24 BAT boat, Steve set a new world offshore powerboat record in a time of 74.4 mph, less than one second slower than the record for a fully sighted person in the same class of boat
Steve recently added another record to his list by being the first blind person to fly a light aircraft around the UK.