Lottery grant enables sight support services to be launched in Scotland

A new three-year initiative to support families who have children with sight loss has been launched in Scotland.

Established through funding from the Big Lottery, the RNIB Scotland and Visibility will work in tandem to help children, young people and their families, who may struggle to adjust following the diagnosis of a sight condition.

While the RNIB Scotland’s IRISS project will employ two people to work with families across the west and central belt of the country, Visibility’s children and families team will work across the west of Scotland to offer support.

Through the initiatives, RNIB Scotland's paediatric vision support officers will offer initial emotional support and develop a 12-week programme, based on each family's individual needs. Beyond diagnosis, Visibility will provide ongoing, responsive and tailored support for any child, young person and their family.

Development worker at Visibility, Clare Sweeney, commented: “The projects are in their infancy but we're already seeing the significant differences that our services, and the partnership approach, are making. Both organisations are benefitting through sharing resources and information, which will have greater impact on the children and families we help."