Living Well with Sight Loss Courses
Reviewed March 2024
Next Course Dates
- Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Telephone Course
2, 9, 16, 23 May 2024
10.30am to 12pm
- Shrewsbury Face to Face Course * FULLY BOOKED *
14 & 21 May 2024
10am to 3pm
Location: Roy Fetcher Centre, 17 Cross Hill, Shrewsbury SY1 1JE
- Telford Face to Face Course * FULLY BOOKED *
3 & 10 June 2024
10am to 3pm
Location: Independent Living Centre, Hazeldine House, Overdale, Central Square, Telford TF3 4JL - Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Telephone Course
1, 8, 15 and 22 July 2024
10.30am to 12pm
- Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Telephone Course
6, 12, 20 & 27 September 2024
1 to 2.30pm - Ludlow Face to Face Course
16 & 23 September 2024
10am to 3pm
Location: Shropshire Museums Collections Centre, Corvedale Suite 1st Floor , 7-9 Parkway, Ludlow SY8 2PG
- Oswestry Face to Face Course
14 & 21 October 2024
10am to 3pm
Location: Oswestry Library, 9 Arthur St, Oswestry SY11 1JN - Shrewsbury Face to Face Course
1 & 8 November 2024
10am to 3pm
Location: Roy Fetcher Centre, 17 Cross Hill, Shrewsbury SY1 1JE - Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Telephone Course
7, 14, 21 & 28 November 2024
1 to 2.30pm - Telford Face to Face Course
7 & 14 February 2025
10am to 3pm
Location: Independent Living Centre, Hazeldine House, Overdale, Central Square, Telford TF3 4JL
These free, informal, community-based courses are designed by the RNIB and delivered by Sight Loss Shropshire and help people to adjust to their sight condition and boost confidence.
Face-to-face courses comprise two, one day sessions which are delivered a week apart.
Phone courses comprise four shorter sessions, spread across four weeks.
Living with Sight Loss courses are for anyone with sight loss and provide information, advice, support and practical solutions for people with sight loss and those close to them. The courses offer an opportunity to share experiences with others in similar situations and find out about the services that are available.
Some feedback from some of our recent attendees:
“This course gives you so much confidence going forward. It really has made a difference. Thank you again for opening doors for me and giving me a huge lift, I am now following up quite a few things and do appreciate very much that there is a lot of help out there.”
Carolyn
“I’m new to sight loss. You’re all telling me things I didn’t have a clue about!”
Maureen
“I’m at the start of my sight loss journey. It amazed me how positive the Living Well with Sight Loss courses are and the help that is available. I feel much more positive going forward now.”
Irene
“Last Saturday I went to the NEC [by train] for the first time. Following your advice I signed up on the Transreport app and the service was excellent! Fantastic – thank you!”
David
“I will go and join a choir again.”
Ruth
To book a place on the next Living Well with Sight Loss course, contact the Sight Loss Shropshire team on 07778 956096 or email admin@sightlossshropshire.org.uk.
These courses are arranged on demand so if you would like to attend a course, please get in touch with us to register your interest.
CASE STUDY – LORNA
Lorna had been wearing glasses from a very young age. However, at primary school, she and the teachers noticed that she couldn’t see properly, no matter where in the classroom she was sitting. But it wasn’t until a routine appointment at the age of 10 when concerns about her eye health were raised and referrals to Shrewsbury and Birmingham hospitals resulted in the diagnosis: Macular and cone dystrophy.
“I was told there was no cure. They said there might be one within the next ten years, but then Covid hit.”
Lorna was referred to the Sensory Inclusion Service who helped her participate at school with the help of magnifiers, coloured overlayers and much more.
“School was particularly difficult when the pandemic and my sight loss clashed. Online learning wasn’t great for me. I only had my phone at the time, so we had to buy an iPad.”
Sight loss made it difficult for Lorna to get through college. In addition to her daily struggles, she had an accident, which completely knocked her confidence in going out by herself. The ECLO referred her to a ‘Living Well with Sight Loss’ course with Sight Loss Shropshire.
“There were so many things I didn’t know! The course helped me access cane training and starting the journey towards getting a guide dog.
I know that eventually my eyesight will get worse. But being able to use a cane gives me more confidence going out on my own, I’m happy that it gives people awareness, especially drivers. It makes me feel safer.”
Following the Living Well with Sight Loss course Lorna is also looking at new college course options.
CASE STUDY – CAROLYN
Carolyn started losing her sight in 2019, just before lockdown, when many support services were put on hold. The loss of her driving licence was particularly hard for her.
“I’ve always been extremely confident, but sight loss really made me lose that confidence. My friends noticed that I started to withdraw, and I was reluctant to ask for help.”
Carolyn’s sight degenerated and four years later she was registered severely sight impaired. At a hospital appointment she met the ECLO who introduced her to Sight Loss Shropshire.
“I really enjoyed the ‘Living Well with Sight Loss’ phone course, it was suggested on this call that I should have look into guide dogs. I never thought about it until this point and I never thought I’d qualify, but after the volunteer’s advice of not ruling myself out I contacted The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and got accepted. I am so excited about the independence that this means!”
Carolyn, who used to love writing letters and accessing social media, also took up Sight Loss Shropshire’s Tech Training service and other face-to-face opportunities:
“It’s about more than just information, it’s about meeting likeminded people who share their own experience of sight loss. There is a lot of understanding of how people feel, it’s almost magical. I started meeting sight impaired people through various groups, the positive attitude of some of these people is inspiring!”