Derry guests invited to ‘see dining differently’ on World Sight Day

Derry News Journalist Toby Doherty was invited join local councillors and businesses and 'see dining differently' at an RNIB event on World Sight Day.

An event was held in North West Regional College on World Sight Day, giving attendees a chance to ‘see dining differently’ and raise awareness of the issues faced by people with sight loss.

The event was organised by community volunteers from the Royal National Institute of Blind People in Northern Ireland (RNIB NI) on Friday, October 13.

See Dining Differently gave attendees a small snapshot into life for blind or partially sighted people by having them eat a four course meal while blindfolded.

I was given the chance to attend the event along with councillors, local businesses, chamber of commerce and health and social care workers.

It was an extremely informative experience and a lovely occasion. It was mainly aimed at stimulating conversations about social inclusion.

While the event’s purpose was not to claim this was a realistic portrayal of a blind person's life, it was a chance for guests to actively empathise while introducing them to ways to make their services more accessible.

Joe Kenny and Jennifer Doherty, who have both been blind since early childhood, sat at our table and took the lead in conversation as the rest of us adjusted to the experience. Both have lived remarkable lives and travelled to interesting places, uninhibited by sight loss, just experiencing things in a different way to sighted people.

They spoke about these experiences like Joe travelling to The Gambia and Jennifer climbing Mount Everest as well as challenges they’ve faced.

For many of the challenges there are technological solutions that can be easily implemented to empower them to carry on independently.

Joe joked about common questions he gets as a blind person such as 'do you see in your sleep?' and 'can you picture things in your head?' And they both explained the natural curiousity about blindness some of their younger relatives express as they grow.

Eating the meal wasn't actually as difficult as I expected but there were a few slip ups.

The soup was easy but during the main course I occasionally struggled to get my sauce-covered vegetables onto my fork. I listened as hard as I could and hoped no one was nearby watching as I slid them on by hand.

I got all the way to the end of dessert without a single spill but with one of my last spoonfuls I dropped ice cream and brownie on my favourite jumper. I thought that was my only mishap but later when we took the blindfolds off I was greeted by one solitary falafel I knocked off the plate at some point staring me down.

Jennifer Doherty, Deputy Mayor Cllr Jason Barr and RNIB Northern Ireland Country Director Robert Shilliday.

After the meal I spoke to organiser Rory McCartney who told me about some simple changes businesses can make to increase accessibility for partially sighted people.

He explained one really easy tool is putting QR codes on menus or brochures.

“When you swipe over the code with your phone it will bring up the menu for you then with reader software it will just read through the menu for you,” he said.

Another simple and extremely valuable step is to have staff receive visual awareness training.

“There's a lot of blind and visually impaired people who use businesses day in day, whether it be shopping centres, food establishments, and the more people out there who are trained to help them the better.

“It gives people security, and makes them confident going into places, knowing somebody is trained. When they know that they're going to keep coming back and spending their money there, which at the end of day benefits the business as well.”

Rory, who is partially sighted himself, said the feedback from guests was overwhelmingly positive.

“Everybody has had a really good time. So far, people have been saying that they've used all their other senses and every person so far has said that the food tastes better. I think that comes down to their senses, which they wouldn't normally use in the same way. Because they can't see it, it makes the experience completely different.”

Rory has been an RNIB volunteer for years now and provides visual awareness training to businesses and services throughout the Foyle area.

“I know through my own lived experience and from others I know with sight loss, a lot of the challenges and barriers we face for equal access to society, can be overcome by raising awareness and educating those who provide services and the wider public, on what it’s really like to live with sight loss.

“Whether it’s access to transport, getting around your local area safely or being able to get health and other information in a format that works for you. We’ve come a long way but we’ve still so much to do.

“I hope those who attended this awareness raising event for World Sight Day, will remember their experience and I know that I, and the sight loss community as a whole, look forward to working closely with them to improve the society we all live in, for people who are blind or partially sighted.”

RNIB is a sightloss charity that campaigns for change and the breaking down of barriers people with sight loss face.

There are an estimated 57,500 people living with sight loss in the North and according to RNIB half of all sight loss is avoidable.

Robert Shilliday, Country Director for RNIB in the North, further explained the goal of the event and others like it.

“If you were to ask someone to eat a meal whilst blindfolded, I’m sure most people would find it extremely challenging. They might worry about missing their mouth with their food or creating mess or spillages. But this is why we really value this kind of engagement event,” he said.

“It gets people talking and if people are talking about sight loss, then they are a step closer to understanding what needs to change in our society to remove barriers for blind and partially sighted people.

“World Sight Day is an opportunity to actively think about sight loss differently, to emphasise the importance of having our eyes tested regularly and highlighting ways that we can all work together to improve the quality of life for people who are blind or partially sighted.”

To access practical and emotional support or to find out more about the work of RNIB in Northern Ireland, call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit its website www.rnib.org.uk/northernireland