Sport and leisure
Losing your sight shouldn’t mean you have to give up sport, leisure or hobbies. Check out the advice and resources below to help you continue doing what you love.
Metro Blind Sport
Metro Blind Sport has a 40-year plus record of supporting people to continue being active while living with sight loss. Metro Blind Sport organises a full programme of activities taking place across London, including: Swimming, bowling, football, cricket, rock climbing, athletics, and goalball. Metro also help organisations that provide sport and leisure opportunities to provide the best possible service they can to people with sight loss.
Aquabats
Aquabats is a London based group who have a year-round programme of guided walks, boat trips, social events, and outdoor swimming.
RNIB
The RNIB has an online shop containing a range of equipment designed to support sports and leisure activities. You can buy audible footballs, tactile board games and equipment designed to help your complete DIY tasks. For more advice on RNIB’s specialist equipment call 0303 1239999 or email helpline@rnib.org.uk
Sport and leisure
Managing Sight Loss course attendees suggested ways of continuing hobbies and leisure activities. We have listed a few of their tips here:
- Don’t stop what you love doing if you are having difficulty seeing. There are ways of completing most hobbies with sight loss you just need to find the right person to talk to and some advice.
- If your hobby or leisure pursuit has a governing body or organising committee approach them and ask for help.
- Whatever your hobby or activity consider making best use of colour contrast, magnification, and lighting. You might want to knit so use wool which contrasts well with the needles along with extra lighting and a magnifier to read the pattern.
- ‘The Touch of Yarn’ is a guide to knitting without sight
- If you are an artist, you might like to choose the medium in which you work to allow best use of colour or reduced definition. Magnifiers and extra lighting might assist you.
- There’s lots you can do to make gardening more accessible from raising flower beds, using brightly coloured sticks to tell weeds and plants apart or utilising garden tools with brightly coloured handles. You might even like a robotic lawn mower. Check out the Gardening without sight resource page for more.
- If you fancy a run British Blind Sport has a database of people who can act as guides even for those who have never run a step
- Park Runs are happening in a park near you on Saturday mornings at 9am why not go along and give it ago? Visit the Park Run website to find a run near you.
- There are regular tennis, football, or cricket sessions for people with sight loss happening all over London – visit the Metro Blind Sport website for more information.
- Sight impaired and severely sight impaired people have access to GLL leisure centres free of charge
- If you fancy walking, try Guide Dogs’ My Guide service. Sign up to find a guide in your local community.
- Look for your local rambling group; they are always happy to help ramblers.org.uk
- Why not use a smart speaker to play your favourite music so you can dance round your kitchen?
- Audio description provides a commentary on what’s going on within a film, or on the stage and on many TV channels and don’t forget audio description is available at most sporting venues. Find out more about audio description on the Making TV more accessible page
- If you find it difficult to get out and socialise, why not try a telephone group like RNIB’s Talk and Support.
Useful links
Metro Blind Sport Audio Exercise Programme
British Blind Sport Exercise Programmes
Vision Impaired bowls (South London)
For something, a little more social or cultural
Vocaleyes: Experience art and culture through audio description. Bringing theatre, museums, galleries and heritage sites to life for blind and visually impaired people.
Gardening
For green fingers check out www.thrive.org.uk
And check out the Managing Sight Loss: Gardening without sight resource.
Good luck and let us know how you get on. If you didn’t find what you are looking for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team on info@londonvision.org
