All Wales Macular Society Group Calls

First Wednesday at 11am – English

Second Wednesday at 2pm – Welsh Only

Third Wednesday at 2pm – English

Fourth Wednesday at 11am – English

These will be hosted by, Adele Francis (South Wales) and Marian Williams (North Wales). Please feel free to join the calls even if you are attending the face-to-face meetings and need further information.

Sight loss and prevention of falls

I am sure you are aware that sight loss can lead to falls.  Here are some tips to help reduce the incidence of falls related to vision impairment in older people; it might be a good time to invite someone along to your group to speak to your members on this topic.

Alternatively, just remind your members to:

•        have their eyes checked regularly

•        maintain good lighting throughout their homes

•        Be aware that they have less accuracy when their judging distances and depth – such as misjudging the height of a step or stairs

•        They will have reduction in their ability to see well in low contrast situations – such as distinguishing similar coloured fixtures and furnishing

•        Their eyes will take longer to adjust to changes in the lighting levels – such as when moving from a darkly lit to a brightly lit room

So please take your time and take care!

Count Down to Macular Week – 20 – 26 June 2022

Macular Week is our chance to tell the rest of the world about the impact of macular disease, raise awareness of the importance of good eye health and highlight why funding research to find a cure is vital.

Macular Week runs from Monday 20 to Sunday 26 June and there are lots of ways you can get involved, from talking to others about the condition, to organising your own fundraising event. If you want ideas or resources please contact our fundraising department email community(at)macularsociety.org  or phone 01264 560 222. If you do run an event, have a special tea, or a bring and buy sale, I would love to see some photos.

Surveys

An invitation for Patients and Supporters to participate in a Survey about Dry AMD. A scientific research company is doing a global survey to explore people’s experiences of living with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

They are interested in understanding how advanced dry AMD impacts people’s daily life and that of those who support them.

People aged 60 or older living with advanced dry AMD and their main, non-paid  supporter (unpaid person who supports a person with dry AMD or whose life is affected by a person with dry AMD) living in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, and France are invited to participate.

Patients and supporters who qualify will be asked to complete a 30 – 45 minute electronic or telephone survey and participants will be compensated. No medical treatment will be provided as part of this study. If you or someone you know may qualify (patients or supporters) and is interested in taking part please contact Global Patients on 01603 577 062 or email contact(at)global-patients.com

And finally a Hello from our new volunteer development manager

‘Hello everyone

I am the volunteer development manager for the Macular Society. So a bit about myself, I have been working within the third sector for nearly 10 years, in a number of community development roles. I have worked with young people, refugees and asylum seekers, as well as with individuals from low-socio economic backgrounds. Having myself been a volunteer for several charities, alongside having worked mainly with volunteers over the last few years, I came to appreciate how invaluable volunteering really is. I believe, volunteers are an exceptional resource to any organisation as they freely share their time, skills and experience for a cause they truly believe in, which is incredibly valuable.  So, I wanted to expand on this as well as my experience of supporting and mentoring volunteers so they can do what they do best.

I am excited to work for a fantastic values based organisation and am looking forward to meeting you over the coming few weeks as I attend virtual meetings and calls. As well as the odd face to face meeting!’

Aaishah

Contact

If you would like further information about any of the topics raised in the newsletter, please contact me on 07494 468 007 or you can ring the Advice and Information number on 0300 3030 111.  Best wishes, Adele