Beccles blindfolded walk highlights challenges of sight loss

Organised by Observatory the Opticians & Hearing Care in Beccles and the Beccles & District Lions Club, the event aimed to highlight everyday struggles.

Beccles mayor Colin Hill was one of the participants.

He said: “It was frightening. I was really frightened. I had someone directing me but if I had to do it on my own without anybody, I’d have been in a heap on the floor.

"I couldn’t have done it…I’d have probably tripped over four or five times or I’d have hit a wall or a door."

Beccles mayor takes part in blindfolded walk around town (Image: Submitted)

The walk started and ended outside the optician's practice at 1 Smallgate, passing through the marketplace and the King's Head pub.

This year, the walk also included a detour into Country Cards, a business owned by the mayor's wife.

Mr Hill said: “I thought I knew that shop, but I obviously don’t.

"I bumped into three or four things in the shop which is amazing and I shall now have more consideration for non-sighted people."

Beccles blindfolded walk highlights struggles of visually impaired (Image: Submitted)

Senior optometrist at Observatory the Opticians, René Moor, said: “We do a blindfolded walk every year to raise awareness of the difficulties that visually impaired and blind people face as part of their everyday routines, such as entering shops, crossing roads, negotiating kerbs and shopping in busy high streets with many obstacles."

Michelle Lyman, optical dispenser at Observatory, also took part in the blindfolded walk this year.

She said: “I found it disorientating. I didn’t really know where I was at times and I found I couldn’t distinguish between the pavement and the road."