Shining a spotlight on……The Partially Sighted Society

Each week we are going to be saying “Hello” to another organisation in the VI world to learn more about who they are and what they do.

This week, we are chatting to Anita Plant who is the Chief Executive Officer of The Partially Sighted Society.

So, Hi Anita, please can you tell us about The Partially Sighted Society:

We are a national charity that is based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. We have been in existence for over 50 years and provide expert individual support, advice and information to anyone affected by sight loss. Our aim is to help people make the best use of their remaining vision.

What services do you offer then?

Our national helpline can provide advice about the latest technology; ways to continue favourite hobbies (or find new ones such as goalball!); peer support; and signposting to other services.

In addition, we have an online shop that sells a variety of daily living items from bumpons to talking microwaves. We also have an in-house print service that produces bespoke stationery (e.g. different colour contrasts, wide lines, etc.) for individuals and schools. This includes notebooks, diaries and calendars.

We also deliver Visual Impairment Awareness training and our assessment and sight test service in Doncaster provides one to one assessments where we focus on practical solutions to living with sight loss.

We have a variety of support and activity groups which range from knit and natter to chair-based exercises and boccia, which we hope to resume once the social distancing restrictions are lifted.

What is the ‘Shaded Eye’?

As sight loss is an invisible disability The Partially Sighted Society developed the ‘Shaded Eye’ which is internationally recognised as the symbol of visual disability. It has been incorporated into a variety of products to help identify the wearer as being sight impaired. Our lanyards which state ‘Visually Impaired – I cannot see to Socially Distance’ are an example of how we have used the symbol.