Jump to main content

Listening and responding to people affected by sight loss in the west of Scotland

News

Visual Impairment Awareness Training

– New dates announced

Our Visual Impairment Awareness Training will be held on the following dates from 10am to 3.30pm.

  • Thursday 9 September, 2010
  • Thursday 28 October 2010
  • Thursday 11th November, 2010
  • Wednesday 8th December 2010
  • Thursday 20 January 2011
  • Thursday 10 February 2011
  • Thursday, 24 March 2011

Training sessions are held at Visibility’s offices and cost is £60 per person including lunch.  If none of these days are suitable, please contact us as alternative dates are organised from time to time.

The programme includes:

  • Myths and realities of visual impairment.
  • Eye Conditions and their impact on people
  • Practical Exercises with Simulation Spectacles to give people some understanding of the issues people face

Lunch

  • Visual Impairment in relation to the work environment
  • Adapting the environment
  • Accessibility
  • Effective Communication
  • Sighted guiding of a blind person

Training Overview

Training Pages

It is also possible to provide in house training and the content of the training can be adapted to the specific requirements of an organisation.

For any further information and bookings, please contact Andrea on 0141 332 4632 or email Andrea Vanlandschoot

Tandems Available Now

picture of tandems in use

Visibility now has four tandem bikes available for the use of visually impaired cyclists and their sighted pilots, the bikes are situated at Bellahouston park in Glasgow. If you are interested in using a bike please contact a member of the Go Active Team on 0141 332 4632 or click here for further information.


Go Active Project looking for volunteers

The Go Active Project provides support for people affected by sight loss to access and participate in community based social and recreational activities and is participant led.

We are currently recruiting volunteers to provide support to individuals and or groups residing within the East and West Dunbartonshire area and North & East Ayrshire.

Volunteers come from all walks of life and you do not need to have experience to participate. We will give you visual impairment, induction and other relevant ongoing training to ensure you understand how best to support people.

Activities may take place anytime during the week, day or evenings, and at weekends and you can volunteer for as many activities as suits your own personal circumstances.

Further details are available on our current vacancies page.

Go Active Summer day out - still a few places remaining

Waverley trip to Largs - Sunday 15th August - Cost £20 per person

Participants, their guides, Visibility staff and volunteers will take the train from Glasgow Queen St to Helensburgh Central for the crossing to Largs. We intend to have a Sunday Roast on board, but there are plenty of other dining options available for those who prefer. On arrival in Largs we will take a stroll along the promenade and visit a place of interest. After a hard earned cup of tea and slice of cake, we will return to the Waverley for the sail back to Helensburgh at 5.00pm.

The Waverley is one of the world’s greatest historic ships the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world - magnificently restored with towering funnels, timber decks and gleaming varnish and brass. You can see and hear the mighty steam engines as they propel the paddles that take Waverley majestically through the sea.

If you would like to join us on the trip or need any further information, then please contact the Go team on 0141 332 4632.

Go Shop awards scheme

RNIB Scotland has launched its new Go Shop Awards scheme to celebrate those businesses that have done most to help blind or partially sighted customers.

People are being invited to nominate the supermarkets, department stores, banks, transport providers, pubs or restaurants, entertainment venues, optometrists and websites that have impressed them most.

Nominations must be for a particular Scottish branch of the service, not the entire organisation.  Anyone can submit a nomination, but must include a 150-word explanation of why an award would be justified.   Reasons could include the accessibility of premises, the helpfulness of staff, and attitude to guide dogs.

Nominations must be received by 4 June.  A panel of blind and partially sighted people will select a shortlist of three finalists for each category.  The inaugural will be presented at an event in Glasgow in October.

For a nomination-form, go to www.rnib.org.uk/scotlandgoshop or request one from scotlandgoshop@rnib.org.uk, or phone 0131 652 3140.

Tandems 

picture of tandems in useA major milestone for Visibiliy’s GO Active project was the recent purchase of four new tandem bikes.

Visibility has planned three group taster sessions to offer initial training and familiarisation on the use of the bikes. The available dates for adults are Monday 10th May, Wednesday 16th June and Friday 6th August.

We encourage you to bring along a sighted companion, as front cyclist, however, if this is not possible sessional staff and volunteers will be available for this role.

The Children and Families Team have organised similar taster sessions for cyclists who are between 8 and 18 on May 16th.   Young cyclists should bring along someone over 18 to be their sighted pilot.

There will be a morning session from 10am to mid-day and an afternoon session from 12.30pm to 2.30pm on each of the days. There are four spaces available for each session.

 If you are interested in these events please call Rosemary Cameron or Alex Campbell on 0141 332 4632.

fun day at castle semple

Watersports Fun Day – Castle Semple, Lochwinnoch

The Children and famillies team are holding a Watersports fun day at Castle Semple on Sunday 20th June 2010 (9.45 am - 3.30pm)

Cost £17.50 - Please call the team on 0141 332 4632 for further details

Fundraising Walk and Charity Night

images depicting fife walk

Visibility’s Go Active Co-ordinator, Rosemary Cameron, has organised a long distance charity walk to raise funds for Visibility.  Rosemary is leading a group of friends, Donna, Rajan, Jackie, Maddy and Jinty on a challenge to complete the Fife Coastal Walk in five days!  Their journey will begin at the Forth Road Bridge and end in Newport-on-Tay, a grand distance of 80 miles.

Following this expedition, a Celebration Charity Night will be held in No.29, Royal Exchange Square Glasgow on Friday 4th June. Entertainment is likely to include a salsa demonstration, a disco, a comedian, a singer and a presentation with highlights of their adventure. Tickets will cost £5.00, payable at the door.

If you would like to support Rosemary's hard work and efforts by sponsoring her for this event, or attend the Charity Night, please contact Susan on 0141 332 4632.

Join Team Visibility for one of Glasgow's famous running events

Runner advert

Women’s 10K Glasgow - Sunday 9th May

Great Scottish Run Glasgow - Sunday 5th September

Whether you want to run, walk, hop or skip, do the half-marathon, the 10k or the junior event…. we want you in Team Visibility! No minimum sponsorship, just raise what you can.

Open up a no-limits world for blind and partially sighted children – help fund our vital work with children and their families in the west of Scotland.

Go on, give it a go - just give us a call on 0141 332 4632

Sound Skills – Visibility’s Echolocation Project

Echolocation is the ability to use sound to get a mental picture of the surrounding environment.  People can be trained to use this skill in the same manner as a bat or a dolphin, by developing a clicking sound and interpreting the echoes that bounce back.

The training is particularly beneficial to people with no vision or very little, because for most people it is hard to overcome the natural instinct to make use of residual vision.  The training is available to adults and children.  There is no age limit to who can be trained but we would ask that all participants have had or are receiving long cane training.  Echolocation is an additional tool to cane skills and should not be thought of as a replacement.

The training will usually consist of seven sessions over a period of three months, some training will be group based and some delivered on a one to one basis, usually within your local area.

Providing such specialist, one to one training achieves outstanding, life changing results but is also expensive.  Although Visibility will not charge for the training we hope that trainees will consider helping us fund the service through donations or by raising funds, for details of how you could help support our work please visit our fundraising pages.

This training is available in many areas of the wet of Scotland, if you are interested and would like to know more, please contact Alex Campbell on 0141 332 4632 or email alex@visibility.org.uk .

Volunteer Mentors

Many people have told us that they can feel extremely isolated in the early stages of sight loss and that they would benefit from talking to someone who has been through the experience.  Visibility has started a mentoring scheme within East and West Dunbartonshire and   East Renfrewshire. We now have four new volunteer mentors who will be available to provide support by telephone or face to face.  If you would like to know how to refer to the mentoring service or you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Mentor please do not hesitate to contact the Visible Communities Team on 0141 332 4632.

Walk with a difference!  22nd May 2010 Strathclyde Park,Hamilton.

For just £20 per couple you can raise funds for Visibility whilst gaining a better understanding of sensory loss by wearing either a sleep shade or ear defenders. You will be guided by your partner while walking up to 10k round the beautiful Strathclyde Country Park. Visibility is joining with other sensory impairment charities to promote this fundraising event and the £20 registration fee covers the costs of organising and running the event, souvenir t-shirt and drink. Participants can then raise sponsorship for the charity of their choice, which we hope will be Visibility! There is no sponsorship target, just raise what you can. For further details please contact us on 0141 332 4632.

 New View – Moves into New Areas

new veiw training

Visibility’s is making it’s hugely successful New View training available in Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and North and South Lanarkshire to allow people suitable for the training to learn eccentric reading techniques without the necessity of a journey into Visibility.

Training programmes are tailored to individual needs but usually participants require four or five one hour sessions.  On completion of the training a final group meeting will answer any outstanding questions, discuss issues of lighting and glare management and allow people to share their training experiences with others.

If you are interested in finding out more about New View please contact David Logan on 0141 332 4632.

Community Support Team – Visible Communities Events

As part of the Visible Communities project, the team are offering free VIA Training to organisations / professionals and community groups in East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire. 

  • 20th April, 10am to 1pm - Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre, Kirkintilloch
  • 19th May, 10am to 12.30pm - Tontine Hotel, Greenock
  • 9th June, 10am to 1pm - Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre, Kirkintilloch

If you are interested in attending any of the event s detailed above or would like further information then please call 0141 332 4632.

Children and Families Events

The Children and Families team have planned a variety of events over the coming weeks.

Family Information Day

The first is a free Family Information Day suitable for parents and carers of children under 5 and will be held in the Visibility offices on Saturday the 20th March, Presentations will include ‘Play & Exploration’, ‘Optimistic Futures, and ‘Early Years Support’.   A crèche will be available for children and siblings.

Information Evening - Leaving School

The second event is a free information evening for parents/carers and visually impaired young people, which is due to be held on Wednesday 10th March 2010 from 6.30pm – 8pm at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Glasgow .The event will give attendees the chance to meet other families and listen to personal accounts from visually impaired people of their experiences of getting a job.

Skiing Oppurtunity

In addition to these free information events the team are also arranging skiing taster sessions for 10 -12 year olds and 13 -18 year olds. The sessions are suitable for those with little or no previous experience as qualified instructors will be on hand to help The sessions Cost £15 which includes equipment hire and instruction and are at SNO!zone at Xscape, Braehead on 21st February, 21st March & 18th April.  Young people are invited to attended just one, two or all three of these sessions.

If you are interested in attending any of these events or would like further information then please call us on 0141 332 4632

Sealladh - Look Out

Following the end of the successful two year Sealladh project working with Military veterans with acquired brain injury and visual field loss, Visibility is developing a new project in partnership with the managed clinical network for stroke in the NHS Lanarkshire area. This pilot project will run until April 2009 and will work with patients who have a neurological visual impairment as a result of a stroke. Typically, the people who will benefit most from the project will be those who have serious visual field problems such as hemianopia (loss of half the field of vision) quadranopia (loss of a quarter of the field of vision) or visual neglect (where an area of the visual field is ignored).

Visibility's rehabilitation Practitioner will be working in Lanarkshire for 2 days a week and will take referrals from Hairmyres, Wishaw and Monklands hospitals. Our worker will use the Neurovision Technology system of light box and tracking software to assess the extent of the visual field loss for each person and she will then prepare an individual programme of compensatory scanning and visual rehabilitation. The project will work with up to 10 people and will work closely with stroke support staff, occupational therapists and eye clinic staff from NHS Lanarkshire and hopes to involve Sensory Impairment staff from North and South Lanarkshire Councils.

Supporting People Service - Care Commission Review

The recent Care Commission inspection of Visibility's Home Support service went very well. The review awarded us a Very Good under one of the Quality of Care and Support Statements for the second year running. As in previous years we will work upon the recommendations received to insure that this invaluable service continues to provide the very best level of support and care to its service users.

You can access a copy of the report online here

Sealladh Receives Prestigious Health Award

We have had much to celebrate at Visibility. Not only is it our 150th year, making us one of Scotland ’s oldest charities, but we have just scooped a top award for Sealladh at the 2009 Military & Civilian Health Partnership Awards.

Richard Hellewell, Laura and David from Visibility, Wendy Jack and Angela Sprott

Sealladh won the Innovation in Service Development Award and HRH The Duke of Gloucester presented Visibility with our award at a ceremony in Edinburgh on October 29th.

Defence Minister Kevan Jones commenting on the winners at the event said:

“These are incredible people working hard to provide the very best care to our military personnel and veterans, both in the UK and on operations in Afghanistan.

“It is an honour and a privilege to meet them tonight and thank them for all they have done, and for all they continue to do, for their country.”

Visible Communities

lottery logo

Visible Communities will continue its programme of community based events to improve attitudes and awareness of visual impairment.

Information Sessions within the Community

These sessions are available to visually impaired people and friends and family members where you are welcome to “drop in” during a 2 hour information session to meet with other visually impaired people in the area and some local support services such as the Sensory Impairment Team.  A range of equipment which encourages independent living will be on display for you to try and family members and friends will have the opportunity to try simulation glasses to help increase their understanding of eye conditions. 

Proposed Timetable for 2010:

  • 26th January - Eaglesham
  • 9th February - Twechar
  • 23rd February - Neilston
  • February - Gourock
  • March - Lennoxtown
  • March - Barrhead
  • April - Kilmacolm
  • May - Clarkston
  • June - Giffnock

If you would like to add your name to our mailing list to be kept informed of the upcoming information sessions in your area, please call the Community Support Team on 0141 332 4632 and we will be delighted to discuss the sessions further.

Visual Impairment Awareness Training

FREE training will be available to organisations, community representatives, volunteers and services throughout the three geographical areas noted, providing the opportunity to update your knowledge and share their good practice with others. Discuss the importance of good communication, receive advice on guiding, and try interactive activities using simulation glasses which simulated the most common eye conditions. 

Proposed Timetable for 2010:

  • 20th January - East Dunbartonshire
  • 17th February - East Renfrewshire
  • 24th February - Inverclyde
  • 17th March - East Renfrewshire
  • 20th April - East Dunbartonshire
  • 19th May Inverclyde

Group training can also be arranged for an organisation and we would be happy to discuss this with you.  If you would like to find out more about the FREE training available, please contact the Community Support Team on 0141 332 4632.

Children & Family Service

Our Children and Family service intends to put on activities for children and young people mainly during holiday time, run local information sessions for parents giving them a chance to come together, hear from local services and get an opportunity meet other families with visually impaired children.

Our first is planned for Glasgow in November. On Wednesday 18th November, we are holding an evening session exploring transitions from school. Further information sessions are planned for other geographical areas.

In terms of the activities programme, Alex Campbell ran a very successful event at Castle Semple in August with young people kayaking and raft building, you can view photographs of the day here.  participants enjoying the water

Alex has now planned a few new adventures next year for all 12 to 19-year-olds.  As well as  events during the easter break and summer holidays, there will be excellent opportunities for you to try various activities.   We are hoping to organise beginner ski lessons at Braehead, tandem cycling and kayaking so plenty of opportunity for you to take part.   

These are all great chances to learn a knew skill, find a new hobby or just meet people and have fun, we are also really  looking forward to hearing what you think of these ideas and any others you may have.   To find out more and sign up for any of the activities, contact Alex Campbell on 0141 332 4632, or email alex@visibility.org.uk.