Amar Latif (born December 1974) is a Scottish

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, television personality and professional traveller. His

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

is due to the incurable eye condition

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

. By his late teens he had 95 per cent sight loss.

Education and early career

Born and raised in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Latif gained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Mathematics, Statistics and Finance at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

, spending part of his course in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

. On leaving university, he trained as an accountant, eventually becoming Head of Commercial Finance for British Telecom. In 2004, Latif founded Traveleyes, a travel agency specialising in tours for blind and partially-sighted travellers.

Media career

In 2005 Latif was a participant in the first series of the BBC Two documentary ''

Beyond Boundaries ''Beyond Boundaries'' is a reality TV series produced by Diverse Bristol for BBC Two. Each series follows a team of adventurers with disabilities as they take on some of the toughest expeditions on the planet under the guidance of ex- SAS Majo ...

'', as one of a group of travellers with various disabilities on a trek of from the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coasts of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. Latif directed the 2007

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary ''Sightseeing Blind''. He has had minor acting roles in the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

comedy series '' It's Adam and Shelley'', and the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

drama series ''

Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...

''. In 2007, he appeared as a special guest on the BBC Two cookery show ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

''. In 2016, he appeared as a tour guide in Channel 4's '' The Last Leg Goes Down Under''. From 2017 to 2018, Latif and

Anna Richardson Anna Clare Richardson (born 27 September 1970) is an English television presenter, writer and journalist. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including '' Supersize vs Superskinny'' (2008–2009), '' The Sex Education Show ...

co-presented the Channel 4 show ''How to Get Fit Fast'', which aired for two series. In 2019, Latif and

Sara Pascoe Sara Patricia Pascoe (born 22 May 1981) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' for Channel 4, '' QI'' for BBC and '' Taskmaster'' for the digital chan ...

featured in the BBC Two documentary ''Travelling Blind'', in which they explored Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, remote

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

-bordering mountains, traditional summer

oil wrestling Oil wrestling ( tr, Yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is a traditional Turkish sport, where participants, called ''pehlivan'' (wrestlers) or ''baspehlivan'' (master wrestlers), wrestle while covered in oil. Competitions are held in ...

festivities, traditional alpine cattle and bee farming methods and

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

rock formations A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sedimen ...

. In 2020, Latif appeared as the first ever blind contestant on ''

Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2 ...

''. In 2021, Amar was one of seven celebrity participants trekking the Sultans Trail in

's '' Pilgrimage: The Road to Istanbul''.

Patronship and awards

Latif won the 2005 Outstanding Young Business Entrepreneur of the World and Outstanding Young Person of the UK, both awarded by the Junior Chamber International; the 2006 One Vision Man of the Year; and the

's 2006 Alumnus of the Year award. In 2007, he was presented with the inaugural Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur Award, presented by

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

founder Sir

Stelios Haji-Ioannou Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ( el, Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου, translit=Stelios Hatziioannou; born 14 February 1967) is a Greek Cypriot entrepreneur. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best known for founding the low-cost ai ...

in partnership with the charity

Leonard Cheshire Disability Leonard Cheshire is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world. It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC. Leonard Cheshire's aim ...

. A 2018 episode of the BBC documentary series ''River Walks'', presented by Latif, was awarded both the Single Documentary category at the 2019 Royal Television Society Yorkshire Centre Awards and the Best Documentary award at the 2019 O2 Media Awards for Yorkshire and The Humber. In July 2020 Latif was appointed as one of the first two celebrity patrons of

SeeAbility SeeAbility (formerly School for the Indigent Blind and Royal School for the Blind) is a UK charity that provides support and campaigns for better eye care for people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. In 2017 it reported that 236 ...

, a charity working with people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. In February 2022 Latif presented
BBC Radio 4 Appeal for Rafiki Thabo Foundation
about a blind young girl in Uganda who
as he says in this personal message
touched his heart deeply, shortly after he was announced a
patron for the charity
The charity works to remove barriers to education for vulnerable children in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho, including those living with disabilities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latif, Amar 1974 births Living people Scottish male television actors British television directors British Telecom people Alumni of the University of Strathclyde British blind people Businesspeople from Glasgow British people of Pakistani descent Television presenters with disabilities