Local sight impairment Charity EYECAN marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities by thanking the retail businesses in Jersey who have helped their members, particularly during the Covid pandemic.
The International Awareness Day on Friday 3rd December seeks to raise awareness of challenges, barriers and opportunities for people who live with disabilities in the context of the global pandemic and into the post-covid era.
At a local level, EYECAN members are supported by the EYECAN staff who provide advice and practical solutions to challenges around living with sight impairment, enabling Islanders with sight loss to lead independent lives.
EYECAN member, Lorraine, praises the staff at her local Waitrose supermarket who assist her in many ways including fetching a trolley when she arrives, reading out her shopping list and locating items, assistance with loading up shopping and sharing details of special offers. “They couldn’t be more helpful,” enthuses Lorraine.
The intention of this year’s awareness day is all about ‘moving forward’ post-covid, summed up as:
“Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-covid world, for and with persons with disabilities”.
EYECAN wishes to thank retailers publicly for their support of customers who use lanyards which indicate a hidden disability, or those customers with sight loss who might also use ‘sight impaired’ badges, white canes, or guide dogs.
EYECAN Welfare and Advocacy Officer, Sarah Shaw, comments “we do engage with retailers on a positive level and when our clients experience difficulties we liaise with store managers to work through a solution. We are continually seeking improvements which serve to help our members in their daily lives”.
