RNIB

Note: An article I wrote on the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) for Good Looking Optics.

Around 180,000 people are registered blind in the UK alone, with another 180,000 registered partially sighted – and this might not even cover the true number. According to statistics, the true number of blind or partially sighted people in the UK – registered and unregistered – could number close to 2 million. And as we all get older, that number will only continue increasing.

However – the RNIB is on hand to help.

What is the RNIB, I hear you ask?

The RNIB is the Royal National Institute for the Blind, one of the major charities that offer support, advice and information to those with partial and total blindness, as well as preventing unnecessary sight loss.

Many people don’t realise that organisations such as the RNIB exist, and can spend their lives thinking that the impairment of their sight will completely limit what they can do their in life.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Being blind or partially sighted doesn’t mean the end of your autonomy. At the RNIB, information and advice on housing, employment, money, eye health, local services, welfare and education is widely available through their booklets, helplines and advisers. The RNIB seeks to support the blind and partially sighted in living as independently as possible, and is able to help people from all walks of life, including children and families.

Run by a combination of volunteers and paid workers, the RNIB has its main office located at King’s Cross on Judd Street, open Monday to Friday. It hosts over 70-80 departments, including an Eye Health Department helpline, with trained experts present to answer all your calls.

The RNIB also provides their own specialist learning institutions such as the RNIB Sunshine House School for children, and the RNIB College Loughborough. The RNIB College not only helps the blind or partially sighted, but people with a wide range of disabilities, from autism to severe learning difficulties, offering day and residential programmes. Further education opportunities are also on hand, with custom-made plans based on a student’s individual goals for the future, whether it’s an education, independent living or being part of the community. Additionally, they are able to offer you help getting into the workforce, such as through their Adult Employment programme at the RNIB College.

Sight impairment needn’t mean isolation. The RNIB provides information not only on the practicalities of daily life such as work and housing, but the RNIB seeks to create a supportive community that the blind and partially sighted can be involved in. It hosts events such as the upcoming RNIB Products’ Roadshow, which will give visitors the chance to see and learn about all the latest adapted products. Furthermore, it puts you in touch with other organisations and societies such as the Hackney Peer Support and Social Group and the Royal London Society for the Blind, and provides info on events and activities you can participate in, such as the 37^th National Athletics Championships for Visually Impaired People.

Of particular note is their Resource Centre at King’s Cross, which sells specially adapted products for those with impaired sight, including Braille and audio books and talking scales and jugs that allow you to hear the measures and weights. Here, some of the latest technology for the visually impaired is available, such as the RNIB pen friend voice labeller, or the Colorino colour detector, which can check the colours of a variety of surfaces and items and announce it to you.

Sight impairment doesn’t mean your life is over. Contact the RNIB, and you can find yourself on the way to a better life than ever.

All products are available by mail order, for those unable to leave their house.

For more info on the RNIB, you can visit their website at www.rnib.org.uk

You can visit the Good Looking Optics website at www.goodlookingoptics.co.uk