Manx Blind Welfare Society has announced the Isle of Man’s biggest guided walk will return for 2016.
Walk My Way, the popular finale to the annual Vision Awareness Week, will take place in Douglas on 18th September and everyone is invited to get involved.
A highlight of Vision Awareness Week for the past two years, Walk My Way aims to raise awareness of the free guided walking training Manx Blind Welfare Society offers businesses, charities and other organisations. Guided walking is the method used by sighted people to escort the blind and visually impaired, and the training enables them to assist confidently and safely.
The guided walk will start at 3pm from the Jubilee Kiosk on Loch Promenade and head towards the former Summerland site. Walkers will be paired up, with one person blindfolded and the other guiding, and can walk as far as they want before turning around and heading back.
Individuals and teams can sign up now by downloading a form from www.mbws.org.im, or you can sign up on the day from 2pm.
Manx Blind Welfare Society Volunteers Coordinator & Events Organiser Debbie Thomson said: ‘Walk My Way has proved to be one of the highlights of Vision Awareness Week, attracting a great turnout and many positive comments from walkers telling us how it had given them a different perspective on the challenges faced by the visually impaired.
‘This year we’d like to have even more people involved, so the message of what we can do, as a community, to remove the barriers to learning, work and social environments experienced by blind and visually impaired people in the Isle of Man is spread as far as possible.
‘Walk My Way will demonstrate to everyone that takes part why it is so important to understand how to safely and confidently escort a visually impaired person, and will encourage more organisations to sign up for our free training.’
She added: ‘You can enter Walk My Way on your own or with a team. Entry is free, but if you’d like to be sponsored and raise money to support the Society’s vital work with more than 600 people in the Island with serious sight loss, that would be very welcome.’
The third Vision Awareness Week, which will highlight the need for good eye health and raise awareness of the challenges faced by blind and visually impaired people in the Island, runs from 12th to 18th September. It will include an open day at Corrin Court, a series of talks to schools, businesses and local organisations, fundraising events, Bright for Sight Day on 16th September and a visit by the RNIB Eye Pod.
Entry for Walk My Way is free and more details are available by calling 674727 or emailing enquiries@mbws.org.im.
To find out more about MBWS visit www.mbws.org.im.
