Mrs Allen-King had one of her eyes removed as a baby due to measles and lost her sight fully aged 24, on her wedding day, due to glaucoma. Southend West MP Anna Firth has previously led a campaign for Mrs Allen-King to get a new guide dog and to be placed on the “priority list” for a sighted guide. Jill, who lost one eye as a baby and the sight in the other from glaucoma at the age of 24, says many people like her cannot book tickets online for various reasons. Imagine that you receive, each month, several bundles of around 600 very detailed appeal papers concerning claimants with a wide variety of disabilities.

In those days, lots of doctors didn’t believe blind people shouldn’t have children and after my daughter was born, I was persuaded that sterilisation was the best thing for me. With box canvas quality checked for scratches and marks, we ensure that the product we produce is of the best possible quality.Apex Publishing’s Chris Cowlin said: “Just Jill is an important book that raises questions about what it means to have a disability in our society and how we can all learn from the work of Jill Allen-King. Bunty was replaced by Brandy, who saw her through a miserable divorce (after 19 years of marriage to her first husband, Mick) and who, in 1983, accompanied her to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE for services to blind people. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. June 2011 - Jill Allen-King OBE signed copies of her book 'Just Jill' at Westcliff Library, Westcliff-on-Sea.

The coronavirus pandemic from 2020 meant that breeding the dogs had to be paused, and training was difficult due to the closure of restaurants and other public spaces. Guests included Councillor Ann Holland, Mayor of Southend, Lord Colin Low CBE, and Southend MP David Amis. Ms Firth said: “There is no doubt about the challenges Guide Dogs UK faces following the pandemic, but I was really pleased to hear that Jill has been placed on a high priority list following my lobbying. It wasn’t until seven years later that Jill successfully completed a training course with her first guide dog and finally, after years of being virtually housebound, was able to begin rebuilding her confidence and reclaiming her independence.Despite the worthiness of her cause, Allen-King is determinedly down-to-earth and has a wicked sense of humour. She is obviously a really special person to have overcome her blindness related problems so resourcefully. September 2010 - Jill Allen-King MBE signed copies of her book 'Just Jill' at Waterstone's, Bury St Edmunds.