RNIB pushes ‘I am here’ petition

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the leading charity offering information, support and advice to people with sight loss, is launching a major campaign to raise crucial funds to boost the number of “sight advisers” in the NHS.
The campaign, devised by The Good Agency, carries the strapline “I am here” and includes online, print, press, outdoor, TV, radio and direct mail executions.
It aims to raise awareness of the importance of providing early emotional and practical support through sight loss advisers following research which revealed almost half (47%) of all eye hospitals in the UK do not offer any patient support to people who are going blind, resulting in nearly 23% leaving the hospital not knowing what eye condition they have.
RNIB is urging the public to sign its online petition (at www.rnib.org.uk/iamhere) calling for every eye clinic to have access to a sight loss adviser by 2019 and wants the NHS and other funders to defend the posts of existing sight loss advisers.
The charity’s head of marketing and communications Natasha Dickinson said: “Almost half of blind or partially sighted people feel completely cut off from people and things around them. RNIB is dedicated to helping these people find their lives again and this is the perfect time to launch an integrated campaign to help us reach more blind or partially sighted people. We were delighted to work with The Good Agency to help us achieve our goals.”