COLUMNIST

WHAT is the spirit of Christmas for you? Is it about giving gifts? Sharing special time with family? Reflecting on the year that you’ve had and how to make sure the next year is even better?

For us here at RNIB Cymru, Christmas came a little early this year. At the end of November we joined forces with charities, businesses, the public sector and people with sight-loss themselves to launch our new priorities for the Wales Vision Strategy.

We all have different goals as individual organisations, but we recognise that to break down the daily barriers facing people living with sight-loss and improve eye health in Wales, we need to work together.

The Wales Vision Strategy group is a collaboration that aims to deliver positive change for blind and partially-sighted people in Wales, including those at risk of sight-loss, by 2020.

Admittedly there wasn’t any tinsel, no mince pies and certainly no mulled wine at our launch event at the Senedd.

But we were surrounded by our extended family of organisations who are all members of the Wales Vision Strategy group.

The event itself launched our new priorities, which are:

■ To improve the nation’s eye health and end avoidable sight-loss;

■ To improve support across social care services;

■ To improve awareness of sight-loss and create an inclusive society for all blind and partially-sighted people.

Ambitious aims, I’m sure you’ll agree, but I’m confident by working together we can achieve them.

In practical terms, this means raising the awareness of the importance of eye health to everyone living in Wales.

Every day in Wales four people start to lose their sight. But many people’s sight can and should be saved with the right information, treatment, care and support.

For those who do have sight-loss, we want to make sure that they live in a world that is accessible to them – whether it’s being able to get around their local community safely or having access to vital health information in the right format.

The launch event itself, just like Christmas Day, was full of activity and over far too quickly.

We challenged partner organisations and Assembly Members to take on the challenge of putting together our RNIB Cymru jigsaw wearing our “sim specs”, special glasses that simulate various different eye conditions.

This gives a small insight into some of the challenges faced by blind and partially-sighted people every day.

We also had a fantastic performance from a theatre company called UCAN Productions, a creative arts cooperative that is run for and by blind and partially sighted young people.

Their sketch was a funny and touching reminder that though the word “strategy” can seem dull and lifeless, its aims, ambitions and achievements are measured by the real positive change happening in people’s lives each day.

The event itself was sponsored by Dai Lloyd AM, who is hugely supportive of the aims of the Wales Vision Strategy and is a great advocate for people with sightloss.

We urge other Assembly Members across Wales to sign up to his Statement of Opinion in support of the strategy.

After all, there are an estimated 107,000 people living in Wales with sight-loss and this is expected to double over the next 20 years.

That means there will be approximately 218,000 people in Wales living with sight-loss by 2050.

Each of us will know someone who is affected by sight-loss or is at risk of sight-loss and we can all do our bit to make change happen.

Whether it is giving the gift of a donation to a charity, volunteering your time, raising awareness of the challenges faced by people with sight-loss or just attending your regular eye test, we can all do our bit to make a difference.

Unlike the New Year’s resolutions I’m sure we will all be making and breaking within a few weeks, the Wales Vision Strategy will be championed for years to come. Merry Christmas, everyone.

■ Ansley Workman is director of RNIB Cymru