Our Awareness Days

The following pages will give you an insight to our work that we get involved with. (To enlarge the pictures simply click on them)

Whilst Lions International was challenged by Helen Keller in 1925 to become 'Knights of the blind,' alongside their other work within the clubs community, 15th October 11 seen some of the Glantawe Lions club members, prepared to step up to a football challenge, whilst their vision was impaired.

Sight Officer Lion Christine Sweeney learned of sighted volunteers from the staff of St Madocs Christian Youth camp & Margam Youth club, which together with members of Glantawe Lions, we were able to form 4 teams, whilst occasionally borrowing a member, to play coach Martin Griffith’s ‘Swansea City Vision Impaired’ junior & senior teams. The sighted teams weren’t playing with their normal vision, that wouldn’t be fair, so masks were made of bubble wrap & their sight was then probably similar to what a person with a cataract would usually see.

Sighted people on putting on the masks noticed an immediate difference in their vision. As the games, each 20 minutes long in total progressed, the masks steamed up & the vision got worse for those wearing the masks.

Following their experience some comments made:-

Nathan Holland, St Madocs Christian Youth camp – Really tough, but I enjoyed the experience.
Andrew Cole – St Madocs Christian youth camp – New challenge, made everything much harder.
Boys from Margam Youth Club, who made two junior teams for the event – 1) Couldn’t see very well, 2) Cool, 3) Blurry.
Martin Griffiths, coach of the Swansea City Visually Impaired football teams, following the series of four games at Pitchside, Cwmdu, said "the event was fun & I enjoyed it. It's nice to see people made aware of what it takes to play the game, if you’re visually impaired, or blind."

Lion President Phil Taylor, commenting on both the days experience & the event said, “It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. The Visually Impaired juniors & seniors really enjoyed the occasion. The other team’s that took up the challenge of competing, whilst wearing masks, soon realised what a great disadvantage it was not being able to see clearly. They soon however, got into the spirit of the occasion & provided some spirited opposition.

Personally I enjoyed the game I played in. It highlighted how plucky these people are to overcome their disability. They gave us a very good game & we were lucky to end up only losing 5 goals to 4.”

Christine is already accepting ideas, as to what we might do for our next event, to demonstrate the difficulties of being without good sight. If you have an idea, or own a venue we might use, contact christine.sweeney@glantawelions.org.uk

pupils & additional Staff to marshal the pupils. Mr Bendle was very keen to assist, to give his pupils the opportunity to experience being visually impaired & to appreciate similar difficulties that Aaron, a visually impaired pupil of theirs, experiences daily. Our friends from the group Vision Impaired West Glamorgan, who joined us last year, also joined us again. We were pleased to see how the group had grown.

We walked a circular route around part of Woodfield Street, Morriston, from St David’s Church. Things noted as we walked:-
1) One optician certainly wasn’t thinking of those without sight, when he decided he’d regularly display a sign on the pavement.
2) Various other obstructions were experienced on the walk, to include large trade bins on the pavement, shop signs & bus shelters.
3) Pupil’s found the climbing of the concrete steps on the route, far harder than when they have their sight.
4) Andrea Gordon of VIWG allowed Lion President Phil, an opportunity to experience using her guide dog ‘Fliss.’ Lion David Wilkinson therefore took a rest from being a guide & Lion Phil now felt the pace stepped up.

After the walk, whilst enjoying refreshments, back in the Rev Hugh Lervy’s, St David’s church, everyone was able to try on spectacles bought along by Mrs Andrea Gordon, which demonstrated what people with various visual impairments, can actually see. Our Lion John Moore also told the story of Helen Keller, who at 18 months old, after a fever, was left deaf & blind. In 1925, Keller challenged Lions to become ‘Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.’

A few days later, Sight Officer Lion Christine Sweeney, visited a Morriston Primary School assembly, to hear of Mr Phil Bendle & the various pupils experiences of the day. Some comments heard:-

Mr Phil Bendle:-
“Disorientated, I couldn’t tell where the sounds were coming from.”
“I was very dependant on Josh who guided me & I only knew where I was as we passed the bakery.”

Pupils:-
“Josh walked slowly & held me very tightly.”
“Freaky guiding Cloe.”
“Very hard.”

Glantawe Lions Club would like to think the experience on the day, will make the Morriston Primary School pupils, more sympathetic to the needs of their Visually Impaired class mate, Aaron.

Vision Impaired West Glamorgan member, Janice Gill, explained how people are often not aware what the white stick means. People don’t acknowledge the problems things like signs or raised pavements cause visually impaired people, “Our sticks get caught in the areas the paving slabs are raised.”

Following his experience Cllr Harris, wrote: "It gave me great pleasure to join Glantawe Lions members in order to highlight their World Sight Day activities. Using a blindfold and a white stick I acted as a blind person in order to draw attention to the campaign and the plight of the blind. It was an interesting experience to walk around Pontardawe without sight and many problems were highlighted which the blind might encounter such as traffic, obstructions on pavements, uneven surfaces and many more”. "The Lions are collecting old and unused spectacles for recycling for this very worthwhile cause. I hope that the Lions get all the support necessary from the public in order to make a difference."