The London borough of Kingston has established a Visual Impairment (VI) Parliament which aims to provide blind and partially sighted people with the opportunity to represent the wider visually impaired community in the area.
Created in partnership with the Thomas Pocklington Trust, the initiative is the first of its kind in the UK and will see blind and partially sighted people in the borough selected as ‘MPs’. They will discuss issues such as health, transport and education, helping to empower people with sight loss to influence and improve access to services.
The Parliament will consist of 10 ‘MPs,’ five who will be selected to launch the service at the end of the month, with a further five expected to be elected by the community by the end of the year.  
A total of 570 people are currently registered as living with sight loss in Kingston, while the RNIB estimates the ‘real’ number to be along the lines of 4,000.
A vision strategy
The Parliament has been introduced as part of the Kingston Vision Strategy which was launched in 2013 in partnership with the Thomas Pocklington Trust, Kingston Council, Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Royal Eye Unit.
It aims to enable the borough to promote inclusiveness for people with sight loss in the area, in line with the wider goals of Vision 2020, as well as raise awareness about eye health and support those living in the community with sight loss.
 
In addition to the introduction of the VI Parliament, on Monday (September 22) the Strategy will launch an Eye Unit Support Service at the Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (pictured). The service, which will be led by a team of nine volunteers, will provide emotional and practical support to people who have been newly diagnosed with visual impairment, or who are receiving treatment for an eye condition.
 
Development manager at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, Michelle Baxter Wickham, said: “It’s very exciting that the Kingston Vision Strategy is launching these two projects. Both the VI Parliament and the Eye Unit Support Service are hugely important initiatives that will raise awareness of the issues that blind and partially sighted people face, provide additional support in the borough and give the Kingston visually impaired community a voice.
 
“These services are a real collaboration between the statutory, private and voluntary sectors and local residents, and show just how much can be achieved when people work in partnership.”

SOURCE: Optometry.co.uk