VOLUNTEERS took to the street to show people what life can be like for sufferers of bad eyesight.

Members of the Macclesfield Eye Society (ES), formerly the Society for the Blind, on Queen Victoria Street - a resource centre, Brailleing service and meeting place for people with sight-difficulties - had special specs and white sticks at the ready for passers-by to simulate eye-conditions.

The ES information stand in the Grosvenor Centre had several pairs of goggles that imitated blindness, tunnel vision and peripheral vision. But the real aim of the day was to get people thinking about little ways in which they could help the visually-impaired get about.

People with corrupted vision find cluttered or crowded areas the most difficult to manoeuvre. Everyday objects, like A-boards, ladders, hanging baskets and goods outside shops, can turn pavements into obstacle courses.

Tony Wardle, an ES volunteer, has tunnel vision caused by a damaged optic nerve. He can only see what is directly in front of him.

He said that outside of his house things like cars parked on pavements and rubbish bags left outside buildings can be nasty surprises when he is out and about.

Unmarked steps can be a big problem to short-sighted Jean Swann, 40, a volunteer co-ordinator for the ES.

Without coloured strips on the edge of each step they simply blend into each other.

Jean is a lifelong sufferer of hydrocephalus - water on the brain - having been born with it and has only ten per cent vision in her left eye and a little more in her right.

She said: "I have to be very close to things to make them out, and then they need to be a few inches from my face. It's very easy for me to fall over things. If there is a window cleaner's ladder on a pavement I hardly see it until I am just about to crash into it. I have had a few close shaves."

Volunteer and committee member Ruth Woodward, 64, who has suffered partial-sight for half of her life was also at the stand. She has very poor vision and demonstrated this by bringing her hand close to her face and saying: "I can't even see my fingernails."

Holding a charity box in one hand and a white stick in the other, she said: "I don't think I could walk very far in this precinct on my own."

Cracked streets, raised pavements, hanging baskets and untrimmed hedges are among her pet hates.

The Eye Society provides a number of services including a weekly talking newspaper - news recorded onto cassette.
And it sells all sorts of useful gadgets including a machine that bleeps when a drinking-glass is almost full and talking watches and calendars.

If you want to find out more about the Eye Society either call 01625 422602 or drop into the Thursday Club at the ES office, on Queen Victoria Street between 1.45pm-3.45pm.