The National Lottery-funded charity Sightline launched its helpline back in 2002, which covered the north-west of England. Completely run by people with visual impairments, it caters for both blind people and their friends and family, and offers emotional support and guidance.
Now, Sightline is launching its new extension, a befriending service. This aims to combat and reduce isolation and loneliness in visually impaired people by matching them up with volunteers who often experience loneliness themselves, and have similar interests, hobbies and availabilities. A weekly befriending confidential call plan is then set up, with calls taking place between 6pm and 10pm, identified as the time during the day where people feel the most alone.
Luke Howarth has been a volunteer with Sightline for eight months after he went blind three-and-a-half years ago. ‘I feel a bit like Cupid matching all these people up. The pilot was launched back in July and has been going really well so far. There has been a lot of positive feedback, which is great for us to hear.’
Howarth stresses that this service is not just for those with visual impairments, but for the people who are close to them as well. ‘We aim to explain to anyone who asks how to deal with sight loss, and also how the sufferers and the people in their lives can cope with this. People will want to know how to go about helping their loved ones deal with this big difference to their lives, which is where we step in to guide them. Volunteering with Sightline has definitely been helpful for myself, it opened up a whole new world for me and helped me to get back on my feet again after going blind.’
Volunteers with their guide dogs on a training day
Sightline takes calls from all over the UK despite mainly catering for the north-west of England. Howarth says: ‘We’d never put the phone down on someone from London for example, if they needed help or someone to talk to. We often go out into the public to try and generate some more interest and awareness of the service and I work with the Blind Society and Henshalls as well to help where I can.’
The need for a more personalised service like befriending was highlighted by local councils and social care teams who noted that in terms of support, this was lacking.
Guide dogs are invaluable
‘All the volunteers who take part in this work from home and take calls 365 days a year,’ says Howarth. ‘They all have experienced a visual impairment themselves and help to give the callers something to believe in and sometimes, something to live for. We want to tell people that visual impairments don’t stop you from doing anything. I strongly believe that there are no barriers to being visually impaired, you can just train your brain to do things differently.’
Indeed, Howarth is actually doing a charity parachute jump on September 23, so anything is possible.
The befriending service launch is taking place on September 24 during National Eye Health Week.