The Mayor of Beccles with members of Beccles & District Lions Club and staff from Observatory the Opticians ready to set off on their blindfolded walk around Beccles.

A blindfolded walk took place through Beccles to mark World Sight Day

Organised by Beccles & District Lions and Observatory the Opticians, the event aimed to draw attention to the challenges that blind and vision impaired people face and overcome every day.

Among those taking part were Beccles Mayor Richard Stubbings, who said, “I always like to help out for a worthy cause, and this is a very worthy cause. It’s fascinating. You’re led around the town and you don’t even know which direction you’re going. Unless your leader is telling you where you are, you’ve got no idea where you are. It’s always a very interesting day”.

The walk started and finished outside the optician’s practice at 1 Smallgate, travelling through the marketplace and returning via the King’s Head pub.

Optometrist at Observatory the Opticians, René Moor, said: “The blindfolded walk may seem light-hearted, but there is, of course, a very serious reason why we are doing this. There are over two million people living with significant sight loss in the UK. Every day, 250 people start to lose their sight in the UK and at least half of all sight loss is avoidable. We want to raise awareness of the difficulties that visually impaired and blind people face as part of their everyday routines, such as entering shops, crossing roads, negotiating kerbs and shopping in busy high streets”.

World Sight Day’s theme for 2021 is #lLoveYourEyes. This means being aware of your own eye health, getting a sight test and recommending others do the same.

Observatory the Opticians employee Jo Birtwistle also took part in the walk. She said, “I found it really interesting. You don’t realise what a blind or visually impaired person goes through on a day-to-day basis. There are so many obstructions. It was good to get a chance to experience that”.