Politicians see Derry differently on World Sight Day

Held in the Dial Centre at North West Regional College, invited guests took part in an unforgettable guided walk through the city streets wearing either a blindfold, or specialised glasses that simulate sight loss, known as ‘sim specs’.

The idea behind this activity was to provide elected public representatives and invited media, with a flavour of the challenges and frustrations faced by people who really live with sight loss as they navigate the streets of our towns and cities each and every day.

During the event, guests also heard from local people who live with sight loss and who shared personal accounts of challenges and issues they face in their day-to-day lives as citizens with sight loss.

It is hoped that by taking part in this opportunity to experience the streets of Derry blindfolded, complete with the hustle and bustle of traffic, pedestrians and other obstacles, it will help give an insight into what it means to be blind or partially sighted.

Rory McCartney is partially sighted and lives in the Derry area. Rory volunteers with RNIB as a Visual Awareness Facilitator and played a crucial role in the organising of this event.

Rory said: “It’s wonderful to be able to arrange an event like this and have so many people genuinely interested in coming along and learning more about living with sight loss.

“I’ve been volunteering for RNIB for a few years now, providing visual awareness training to businesses and services throughout the Foyle area and I find it so rewarding.

"I know through my own lived experience and from others I know with sight loss, a lot of the challenges and barriers we face to equal access to society can be overcome by raising awareness and educating those who make the decisions and the wider public, on what it’s really like to live with sight loss.

“Whether it’s access to transport, getting around your local area safely or being able to get health and other information in a format that works for you.

"We’ve come a long way but we’ve still so much to do. I hope the public representatives who attended our awareness raising event for World Sight Day will remember their experience and I know that I, and the sight loss community as a whole, look forward to working closely with them to improve the society we all live in, for people who are blind or partially sighted.”

Robert Shilliday, Director of RNIB in the north, said: “It was terrific to receive so many public representatives and members of the media at the Dial Centre in Derry/Londonderry on World Sight Day.

“I hope that they all enjoyed the experience and gained a greater understanding of sight loss and its impact.

"I’d like to extend my thanks to our volunteers who organised the event and for bringing the idea to fruition.

"I’d also like to sincerely thank the North West Regional College for kindly hosting what was a terrific event to mark World Sight Day.

“There are an estimated 57,500 people living with sight loss in Northern Ireland and the reality is that half of all sight loss is avoidable.

"World Sight Day offers us all the chance to actively think about sight loss differently, to emphasise the importance of having our eyes tested regularly and highlighting ways that we can all work together to improve the quality of life for people who are blind or partially sighted.

“We at RNIB, strive to remove barriers for people with sight loss; barriers to safe streets, employment, education, transport, healthcare and to promote equality overall.

“We hope that today’s exercise has given everyone who attended, an insight into living with sight loss, dispelled some myths and misconceptions and helped some of our public representatives to understand that we all see differently.”

To access practical and emotional support or to find out more about the work of RNIB in Northern Ireland, call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit our website www.rnib.org.uk/northernireland