LOCAL SIGHT loss charity Berkshire Vision has delivered a new couples-focused guiding session to help partners of people with visual impairment.
The session explores how to guide and help those with sight loss safely, confidently, and respectfully, while fostering independence, trust, and communication in everyday life.
The session, Confidence in Guiding: Learn to Support People with Visual Impairment, is designed specifically for couples where one partner has a visual impairment and the other is sighted.
Through practical, hands-on guidance, participants learned effective sighted guiding techniques, clear communication strategies, and how to adapt support in different environments, including streets, shops, public transport, and social settings.
For many couples, guiding is often learned informally through trial and error.
The structured session provides clear, practical training that helps reduce anxiety for both partners, addressing common challenges such as miscommunication, loss of balance, and feelings of frustration or over-dependence.
The Confidence in Guiding: Learn to Support People with Visual Impairment sessions are not only available for couples.
Berkshire Vision also trains wider family members, volunteers and offers tailored courses for local businesses and organisations keen to create more inclusive and accessible environments.
Gill Comley, Head of Projects and Volunteering at Berkshire Vision, said: “Guiding isn’t just about getting from A to B–when done well, it promotes confidence, dignity, and independence for the person with visual impairment, while giving their partner reassurance that they are offering support safely and effectively.”
