Sighted guiding awareness event - 18th June at Cardigan Centre

ABA is running an event to highlight and promote the My Guide sighted guiding programme, which it manages in association with Guide Dogs. The event at the Cardigan Centre on Cardigan Road, Leeds on Tuesday 18th June, will give people an opportunity to learn about the scheme and to pick up some of the skills necessary to support visually impaired people in the community.

My Guide is a scheme that aims to reduce isolation by helping people with sight loss to regain their independence.

It works by teaching sighted guiding techniques to volunteers and community members, so that they’re able to support visually impaired members of the community to rebuild their confidence in going out and getting things done.

The programme was initiated by Guide Dogs, and works in partnership with voluntary organisations, including ABA.

A trained volunteer can be paired with a service user for a period of 3 to 6 months, helping that person to plan the things they want to do and then to get out and do them. The volunteer will also help to make sighted people in the community aware of how they can support visually impaired people.
The aim is for the service user to feel more confident and enabled to get on with their life, even when the volunteer is no longer able to accompany them.

This event is for anybody who may be interested in accessing the service, people who want to volunteer with service users, those who regularly support a visually impaired person  (whether professionally, or in their family) and anyone who’d like to be able to offer a helping hand when it’s needed.

The event begins at 10am and runs till about 3pm.

Contact us if you'd like to attend - especially if you need help with transport.