Dunfermline Man Bowled Over By Blind Charity

Scottish War Blinded are helping veterans adjust to life with vision problems.

A new exhibition celebrating one hundred years of supporting visually impaired veterans in Scotland has opened at Central Library in Edinburgh. The exhibition describes the work of the charity Scottish War Blinded, which was established in 1915 to provide rehabilitation, emotional support as well as vocational skills training to blinded soldiers returning to Scotland from World War One.

These days the charity helps ex-servicemen and women who've vision impairment for any reasons, whether it was from while they were in the forces or not. Fifers and other Scots from around the region regularly meet at the Linburn Centre where there are hobbies to suit all tastes and the building is especially designed for visually impaired people.

One of those is Ian Graham from Dunfermline. He has been involved with the charity for 8 years now. Ian was diagnosed aged 43 with degenerative macular disease, he says it was sudden and he didn't know anything about the condition before. He was driving to play football when a passenger said ''watch out for that car'' and Ian replied ''what car?''. So when he saw the doctors it was a shock to learn there is little they can do to treat the disease and now he relies on a small amount of peripheral vision.

Ian spoke to Kingdom FM news and told us about how much he enjoys being captain of the blind bowling team, there are 15 other Fifers who play with him:

Scottish War Blinded Marketing Manager Davina Shiell said:

“We invite people of all ages to visit our centenary exhibition at Central Library this month. As we mark the Armistice and remember those who lost their lives in World War One, it is also important to recognise the support provided to those who did return to Scotland wounded and blinded from the Western Front as well as learn about how the charity has developed since its foundation”.

The exhibition will run from 16-30 November 2015 from 10am-8pm.