4Sight Vision promoting importance of good eye health for National Eye Health Week

West Sussex charity 4Sight Vision Support is supporting National Eye Health Week (NEHW) from 20th to 26th September, an annual event promoting the importance of good eye health and the need for everyone to have regular eye tests.

NEHW is an opportunity to highlight 4Sight Vision Support’s specialist services for blind and sight impaired adults and children across West Sussex, and will also focus on the charity’s recent announcement of a number of new services for 2021, its 100^th anniversary year. 

The latest data estimates there are over 2 million people living with sight loss in the UK, and over 35,000 people living with sight loss or low vision in West Sussex (RNIB West Sussex Data 2020).

Sight is the sense people fear losing the most, yet many of us don’t know how to look after our eyes – National Eye Health Week aims to change all that!  Eye tests are not just about checking whether your vision needs correcting through glasses, but are vital for checking the health of the eye. Eye health checks detect many general health problems and early signs of eye conditions before you're aware of any symptoms, many of which can be treated if found early enough.

It also promotes tips to keep eyes healthy including the importance of leafy greens, bright fruit and veg, eggs and oily fish in our diet, all of which contain antioxidants which can help to prevent retinal damage. It also explains the importance of protection from the sun such as choosing a pair of sunglasses with the CE mark which ensures you have the right level of ultraviolet protection.

Some of the new services introduced by 4Sight Vision Support, and open to all, are a direct result of how the Charity adapted to provide support to its members throughout the pandemic. 4Sight Vision Support is now able to help with accessing benefits and concessions: advisors can assist with completing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms, which can make a huge difference to the quality of life, independent living, and general wellbeing. Advice can also be given on obtaining a 50% TV license discount, applying for a Blue Badge, and other travel concessions.

CEO Kirstie Thomas said, “National Eye Health Week is an opportunity for everyone to discover how to take simple steps to take care of their sight in the long term and is a great platform for us to highlight the importance of eye health care. We are also very grateful to everyone at Bognor Regis Town Football Club for their continued support and allowing us to join them at their home match on Saturday 25^th so that we can promote awareness of this, whilst raising some much needed funds to support 4 Sight Vision Support’s free services.”