You could be forgiven for thinking that things may have quietened down for me since that euphoric day at Lancaster House last October when I was so amazed to pick up the "Outstanding Achievement" prize at the first Civil Service Diversity & Equality Awards. Not a bit of it, however, for the God who I believe inspired my "Fear, Fun & Faith" Diversity presentation in the first place, has continued to bless it and open further doors of opportunity.

Invitations have come in at a steady pace for me to make the 60 minute presentation inside and outside of the Civil Service. I have been to HMRC offices as far apart as Southend and Liverpool and still have outstanding engagements to fulfil in London and Newcastle. Even though these have all been work-based talks it has been clearly evident to me that God has turned up to touch people's hearts with his love. Tears and laughter have been present at all of the sessions as God by his Holy Spirit has been reaching deep into people's emotions. I have emails from two ladies saying that as a result of hearing my presentation they have been inspired to quit smoking. Two other emails relate to blindness. One lady was given strength and inspiration to be able to cope with her own degenerative eye condition, whilst another received some guidance from my own story of losing my sight at the age of 19, as to how she could help her beloved, elderly Auntie who has just gone blind. Someone else has written to me to say that even though not at my seminar, she was just told about it and given the notes; she had been so inspired that she has decided to call the little girl she is pregnant with by the name of "Faith" in honour of my talk. I am now praying for mother and baby every day because I believe god's hand is on those two lives.

News of my award spread by word of mouth and this has led to a variety of fresh opportunities. Firstly I have had the privilege of visiting a few churches to make slightly adapted versions of my presentation and then apart from Civil Service-based publications I have also been interviewed by local newspapers and Inspire, the magazine that goes out to Churches.

I have a particularly strong interest in the media and it was therefore thrilling to receive an invitation to be interviewed by Carl Chinn, on BBC WM one Sunday afternoon in December about my life, Christian faith and how I came to win the Diversity award. A visitor in the studio on the day filmed the interview on his mobile phone and with my permission put it on Youtube. To date in excess of 5,000 people have viewed the recording and if you want to do the same then you must go to youtube.com and type in the key words "blind man football" to get the first part of the three part interview, which lasts in all for 27 minutes.

Since becoming a Christian at the age of 21 life has been far from dull, but the last three years have been nothing short of sensational as God has taken me on this journey of faith to tell my story and in so doing inspire so many people. I have now, fulfilled the desire of my youth and written a book about my experiences (which is currently being proof-read, before I start the search for a publisher). It all goes to show that it is never too late to realise your dreams, especially when they are God-centred ones. In this year when I could be retiring, God has clearly said "You will be re-firing at 60".

"This is the Lord's doing - it's marvellous in our eyes" Psalm 118:23

John Flanner

February 2007