STAFF from a sight loss charity have signed up to cycle as part of their new campaign to raise awareness and funds in January.
Berkshire Vision announced in November that they were teaming up with other sight loss charities for the Take on 250 campaign.
The campaign centres around the statistic that in the UK 250 people a day begin to lose their sight and challenges participants to complete 250 of something.
Members and supporters of the charity have already begun their own challenges, including 250 laps of a pool, walking 250km of Welsh coastline, and the creation of 250 pieces of art.
But staff at the charity have announced that they are taking on their own challenge.
They will be taking to the Oracle shopping centre, Reading, to complete The Big Pedal, which will see them cycling 250km on an exercise bike.
They will be joined by Katie Crowhurst, who recently won gold in the paratriathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
They will also be joined by some of the members of the charity and those that it supports, and are encouraging businesses and residents to take part.
Caversham Health and Fitness has provided the exercise bike for the team and will be joining the event to help reach the target.
Berkshire Vision CEO, Laura Mitchell, explained why the challenge was important. “All our senses are precious, but sight is the sense people fear losing the most.
“We want to raise awareness of the fact that 250 people in the UK begin to lose their sight each day and encourage people to attend regular sight tests that can pick up many conditions before you notice something is wrong.
“We also need to raise much needed funds– demand has more than doubled for our support and services over the past 3 years and we need to raise money to keep up with the ever-increasing number of people they we are supporting right across the county.”
Berkshire Vision has been supporting those with visual impairments as well as their families across Berkshire since it was established as the Berkshire County Blind Society in 1910
