News & Events

News, press features, events and more from the world of Dotty About Braille.

ALL 4  INCLUSION AWARD NOMINATION

3rd March 2024

A red background with white text saying all4inclusion awards 2024, nomination for inclusive business of the year. Dotty About Braille. With a trophy graphic and a logo for Carolyn Bowers - placing insurance professional, who sponsors the category.

I've seen a graphic like this across social media with some very big names attached to it, so I am over the moon to be even nominated! Finalists will be announced in July with public voting taking place in August.

TAMESIDE BUSINESS AWARDS - FINALIST

28th February 2024

A black banner with splashes of glitter, with text reading Tameside Business Awards 2024, B2C Start up of the Year Finalist

I'm over the moon to be a finalist in my local business awards, they're holding a glitzy awards ceremony at the end of March so I'm looking forward to attending that, wish me luck!

MY FIRST AWARD!

28th February 2024

A grey/purple box with a white and gold star next to text that reads: FSB 50, Celebrating Small Business Awards, Diversity & Inclusion Award, North West, 2024 Winner, Dotty About Braille, Headline partner TYL by Natwest

Although I have been included in some amazing lists which are fantastic accolades, this is my first official award and I'm over the moon to have been chosen. 

FSB are a fantastic supporter of small businesses all over the UK and I am so happy that they can see the value in my braille greetings cards.

We find out on the 9th May if I have won for the whole of the UK.

PICK ME UP MAGAZINE

8th February 2024

A photo of Hayley's article in Pick Me Up magazine, there are two images of Hayley, one holding a braille card and one of Hayley typing on a Perkins brailler.

I've been featured in Pick Me Up magazine which is really exciting, a double page spread all about me, why I started Dotty and lots of photos of my cards. Please do pick up a copy (if reading this before 16th Feb!)

I will add a PDF copy of the article here for those that would like to read it.

THE LILAC REVIEW

1st February

A graphic with a purple rectangle in the middle saying Get Involved, in the bottom right corner it says The Lilac Review.

I was honoured to be one of the disabled entrepreneurs invited to the launch of The Lilac Review, an independent review into the barriers disabled entrepreneurs face.

I'm a disabled entrepreneur myself so this is something I'm very passionate about. There are so many barriers we face that a lot of people wouldn't even think about, big things like lack of access to funding because we're seen as high risk, or smaller things like not being able to stand up for long at networking events.

And a lot of disabled people are forced into self employment because regular employment isn't accessible to them, this means some disabled people aren't equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to run a business. At the moment, there are very few business mentors that are disabled and this needs to change. 

Please do get involved with The Lilac Review whether as a disabled entrepreneur, or as an ally to us, the more people involved, the more bigger the impact we can make.

Since attending the launch, I have also since been invited to join the Steering Board which is a real honour and I'm looking forward to being involved and helping to make change.

10 DOWNING STREET

31st January 2024

Hayley, a white blonde female, stood outside 10 Downing Street, there is a ramp leading up to the front door. Hayley is smiling at the camera.

Larry the Cat sat next to a car outside 10 Downing Street.

Being invited to 10 Downing Street, as part of the launch for The Lilac Review, was a real honour, and it was so much fun walking up and knocking on the very famous door! (see my reel on Instagram)

Once inside it was very plush, as you'd imagine but I was slightly surprised to find that number 10 and 11 are the same building! We went upstairs to a room overlooking Horse Guards Parade which was cool. We heard from Kevin Hollinrake MP, Mims Davies MP and Michelle Ovens CBE, each talked about The Lilac Review and the changes they hope to see.

It was a fantastic experience and it was great to meet Larry the Cat!

F:ENTREPRENEUR #IALSO2024

8th January 2024

A blue box with white text reading: f: Entrepreneur, a campaign that highlights inspiring female business leaders across the UK. Through events, content and storytelling, f:Entrepreneur showcases role models to help and inspire all small businesses.

More great news! I am honoured to be included on this list, which features so many amazing women, women who are not only running fabulous businesses but are also managing other things too - a part time job, a family, a disability etc. It can be challenging running a business when you have other things going on in your life, but we do it and I'm proud to say we do it well. 

Please do check out the full list here.

GIFT OF THE YEAR AWARDS - FINALIST

4th January 2024

A collection of braille Christmas cards in different colours, there is a Christmas tree visible in the background and a graphic in the top left corner says Gift Of The Year Shortlisted

What a great start to a new year! My braille Christmas cards have been shortlisted in TWO categories at the Gift of the Year Awards. The finalists will be announced on the 20th February so please keep your fingers crossed. 

I'm delighted to say I have been chosen as a finalist in both categories and the winners will be announced on the 16th February.

Gift of the Year also have a People's Choice award, you can vote up until the 16th May and I'd be so grateful if you could vote for my cards in the Cards, Wrap & Stationery category and the Health, Wellbeing & Accessible Gifts category

THE HOUSE OF LORDS

27th November 2023

Hayley Kellard stood in front of a Small Business Saturday banner with MP Jonathan Reynolds

Hayley and her husband Scott stood on the outside terrace at the House of Lords, the River Thames is behind them, the London eye, Westminster Bridge and other landmarks are visible in the background.

I'm a little late to writing about this, but in November I was invited to the House of Lords to celebrate the #SmallBiz100 list for 2023. My local MP is Jonathan Reynolds, who spoke at this event, he was kind enough to arrange for my husband and I to have a private tour of Westminster Palace which was so cool and our guide for the day, Patrick, was incredibly knowledge and a fellow Tamesider so that was nice. During Jonathan Reynold's speech, he was kind enough to give me a special shout out (his words: using shameless favouritism because I was one of his constituents haha)

It was great to meet up with the small business owners I'd met at The Blue Tie Ball and meet some new ones too!

BLUE TIE BALL

12th October 2023

Hayley with her husband Scott at the Blue Tie Ball, both are holding blue coloured drinks and are smiling at the camera

As part of being selected for the Small Biz 100 2023, we were invited to attend the Blue Tie Ball in London, which was really exciting! We got to dress up and look glam, which doesn't happen often! And we got to meet some other small business owners which was great. 

TAMESIDE CORRESPONDENT

2nd October 2023

Hayley Kellard wearing a pink winter coat, stood against a fence with gorgeous scenery in the background

I was so pleased to be featured in our local online paper to celebrate the Small Biz 100 win.

Read the article on Tameside Correspondent here.

STEPH'S PACKED LUNCH

8th September 2023

Hayley at her market stall on Steph's Packed Lunch, lots of colourful braille cards on display with a perkins brailler.

I was invited on to Channel 4’s daytime TV show Steph’s Packed Lunch to showcase my braille greetings cards, as part of a feature on disabled business owners and the challenges we face.

Read my blog post all about my day being a television star!

SMALL BIZ 100

25th August 2023

A blue box with a scalloped edge with text saying Small Business Saturday 2nd December, SmallBiz100

Dotty About Braille has been selected as one of the Small Biz 100 for 2023 which is just amazing and I am honestly over the moon! To have been selected when I only started the business in May is such an honour.

Small Business Saturday is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which celebrates small business success and encourages consumers to 'shop local' and to support businesses in their communities. 

Find out more and view the full SmallBiz100 list.

D:ENTREPRENEUR GUEST BLOG POST 

25th August 2023

Braille Christmas cards in eight colours including red, green, pink, yellow, orange, teal, navy and chocolate with the d:Entrepreneur logo

I love writing blog posts so I was delighted when d:Entrepreneur put a shout out for disabled business owners to come forward and share their story.

d:Entrepreneur are part of the Small Business Saturday network and are hugely supportive of small businesses.

Read my post on d:Entrepreneur.

Blind New World Guest Blog Post

16th August 2023

An image of Hayley Kellard sat a Perkins Brailler with text overlay saying #MyBlindStory, Becoming Dotty About Braille, By Hayley Kellard with the Blind New World logo beneath.

Blind New World is a blog owned by the Perkins School for the Blind, a fantastic organisation, who happens to also be the manufacturer of Perkins braillers (as shown in the photo!)

So when Leah at Blind New World asked me to write a guest blog post, you can imagine how pleased I was!

Read the full blog post on a Blind New World here.

Small Business Sunday Win

27th June 2023

An orange and blue circle graphic with #SBS official winner, dotty about braille, #SBS Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday written inside.

I was over the moon to be selected as one of Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday winners! It’s a great accolade and I’m delighted to be part of a supportive small business family.

My Twitter feed was on fire last night, with many messages of congratulations and lots of new followers.

Find out more about #SBS here.