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Lions In👁Sight
Lions In
Sight
| Name: | Sue Taylor |
| MD title: | MD Lions In Sight Officer |
| Email: | suetaylor@lionsclubs.co.uk |
Key information
The Lions In👁Sight Programme embraces the Lions Eye Health Programme and has four key components. These are:
- Eye Health and Care – nutrition, take up of regular eye tests, quit smoking, and reduce computer eye strain
- Service and Support -Talking newspapers, low vision exhibitions, and healthy vision campaigns
- Partnership – local-led alliances with sight-related organisations, and national organisations eg Lions Sight Savers Trust and Blind Veterans
- Lions Clubs’ best practice – sight loss, accessibility, and support for lions members and those in our communities.
Contact Lions National Headquarters on 0121 441 4544 for the new leaflet/poster shown below
A Lions In👁Sight video presentation is available to view click here Lions In👁Sight video
How your lions club can get involved, please download the Sight Project Ideas sheet below
Eye Health and Care
Raising awareness and knowledge on the benefits of healthy eating, having regular eye tests, stopping smoking, and minimising computer eye strain. Dispelling myths such as eating carrots to help you see in the dark.
Eye health Information is available on a variety of websites including www.webmd.com, www.nhs.uk – looking after your eyes, www.aop.org.uk
The Lions Clubs Visual Awareness presentation to support clubs is available on the link below.
Service and Support
linking with local societies for the blind (details of all local organisations on www.visionary.org.uk ) either as an individual member or as a Lions Club. Opportunities to become volunteer drivers, telephone befrienders, one-to-one IT support, and local Talking Newspaper groups. Volunteer with social and activity groups, Guide Dogs for the Blind, RNIB etc.
Opportunities to recycle spectacles (and hearing aids), campaigning around the annual World Sight Day, National Eye Health Week, or White Cane Day – resources available online click on spectacles recycling and through Lions National Headquarters.
Partnerships
Existing alliances have been formed eg Sight Savers through the development of Lions Sight Savers Trust. Local clubs could develop locally-led partnerships (working together with) low vision/blind organisations. A list of organisations is available by visiting www.visionary.org.uk Lions Clubs MD105 is developing partnerships with sight loss-related national organisations. Click on the link, for further information on how to Develop Local Partnerships.
Lions Clubs’ best practice
In the United Kingdom there are well over 2 million people with sight loss, 80% of who are over the age of retirement. It is estimated that over 50% of Lions Clubs members in the British Isles may have some level of sight loss which affects their way of life. Clubs should ensure that they are able to provide equal support to individual members with sight loss eg information in an accessible format and a volunteer driver/or guide to help them to meetings and activities.
Accessible information – it is recommended that a larger font size of 14 be used on all documents, which can be enlarged to 18-20 upon request. For further information, please visit Ability Net to download their free factsheets. Information may be easier to listen to for example, in your local Talking Newspaper and the LION podcast, available https://lionsclubs.co/Public/lion-podcast/. Only 4% of visually impaired people actually read braille. A possible alternative would be a ‘volunteer reader’ or other adapted equipment (which could be obtained with grant funding through your local society for the blind). Free digital accessible resources, useful links, and webinars are available through Ability Net’s site, click on https://abilitynet.org.uk/free-resources
Visual Awareness Training is available online visit www.ncctrainingresources.co.uk or through downloadable webinars, https://abilitynet.org.uk/free-resources/webinars There are local societies for the blind, checking on the website www.visionary.org.uk and other training providers. Sometimes there is a cost to training unless you’ve developed a local partnership. The above Visual Awareness presentation is available to all clubs.