RESIDENTS of Ardrossan may have been left wondering what was going on in Princes Street and Arran Place last Saturday as several blind folded people were seen to being guided around the town.

The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety (ScotCPS) charity which is based in the former Barony St. John church and halls in Ardrossan held a training day for its instructors and, as they are currently developing a personal safety course for the blind and visually impaired, they invited Scottish War Blinded, a charity for blind veterans, to come along and present a blind awareness training session.

The training was presented by two Scottish War Blinded staff, Sharon McAllister and Sandra Graham, who brought with them a variety of glasses designed to demonstrate how different levels of blindness affect a person (macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, etc.) as well as different types of canes.

The canes are used by the blind and visually impaired to not only stay mobile but to also inform other members of the public of their condition. The first cane is called a “symbol cane” and is a short holding stick only about two feet long and is held out by a blind person to show the public that he/she is blind and may bump into you.

The second cane is called a “guide cane” and is a longer cane which reaches almost to ground level and is used to find obstacles.

The third type of cane is a “long cane” and reaches to the ground where it can either be tapped or rolled, via a ball attachment on the tip, to enable the blind person to walk around towns avoiding obstacles such as people, kerbs, lampposts, etc.

All the canes are white to signify that the person holding it is blind or visually impaired however if you happen to come across someone with a red and white banded cane, this signifies that the user is someone with a hearing impairment as well as sight loss.

Sharon and Sandra then took blindfolded ScotCPS instructors out on a guided walk around Ardrossan town, much to the amusement of passers-by, including crossing the busy seafront road.

Executive Manager, Alan Bell, commented: “The training session provided by Scottish War Blinded was very informative and gave us a clear insight into not only the different types of blindness we will be dealing with but also how to offer support to a blind person without offending them.

“Being blindfolded and led around town, especially across a busy road, was daunting but it gave all of our instructor team a greater understanding of what it must be like to be visually impaired and the huge number of obstacles blind people face just to remain mobile.”

Chair of The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety, Deidre Oakley added: “We cannot thank Scottish War Blinded enough for the time and effort they put into this training session. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and gained a greater awareness and understanding towards the blind and visually impaired people we will be helping in the future.”

Mr Bell will be visiting the Three Towns Cunninghame Club for Visually Impaired next week.