White Cane Day - a special coin in Poland

[ph...@sonokids.com]

Shared with thanks to Professor Boguslaw (Bob) Marek

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Yesterday, 15 October 2025, was International White Cane Day, celebrating the achievements and independence of white cane users, and raising awareness about challenges faced by people with blindness and low vision.

This is a slightly belated post but, with his permission, in support of White Cane Day I would like to share a special ‘White Cane Story’ from Prof. Bob Marek, who many of you will know.

 

In 2011, a special edition Polish coin was issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Laski School for children with blindness. This is a school near Warsaw where Bob Marek taught English for three years including two years as a volunteer. Bob was invited by NBP (Polish National Bank) to be their consultant and evaluate their original design. He suggested that they replace the stiff looking person (“like we see in road signs”) with a happy looking figure with a cane. This idea was prompted by RNIB logo from 1990's. The designers obliged and the coins were produced. Bob received two sets of these beautiful special coins which he treasures.

The image below shows the front of the gold coloured 2 Polish złoty coin, with a dynamic, happy picture of two stick people, one holding a cane.
The lines of the stick people are dotted, while the cane is a smooth straight line.
Four dotted stars complement the image.
The official text on the rim of the coin says ‘Europe Bez Barier’ (Europe without barriers in Polish).

 

I thought this story was rather beautiful and hope that you will enjoy it too.

Kind regards,

Phia

 

 

 

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Phia Damsma
Creative Director Sonokids Australia - Developers of Accessible Educational Software and Apps https://www.sonokids.org

Fellow of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia