My Story

It was a warm autumn afternoon when Alex (the Director of ClearVision) reached out with a simple question: do I know anyone that’s well connected, has generous friends and likes running? I thought, I thought a bit more, then I realised that I ticked at least one of those boxes. So I said to Alex: “I’m in“.

Fast forward a couple of months and it’s cold, my legs hurt and I’m questioning my life choice- just not saying to Alex that I’d run the London marathon for ClearVision. In these tough moments, I remind myself of why I’m doing this: for the children...

ClearVision is a postal library. Their children’s books all have braille, print and picture in. This lets children with little or no sight to share books with their sighted friends and family. It sounds simple, but without books like this, how can blind children learning braille get the support they need from sighted parents and teachers, share books in the classroom or enjoy the same stories as their sighted friends? Without them, how can blind parents and grandparents teach their kids colours and shapes, or snuggle up for a bedtime story?

ClearVision provides the solution. There are over 11,000 books in the collection, supporting children from birth until they’re independent readers. They cover the whole of the UK and Ireland, and have over 800 tactile picture books, where all the illustrations are designed to be explored by touch, so blind children can enjoy pictures too.

Children learn to love books and become confident readers through shared reading. Confident reading helps maximise educational attainment and lets children make the most of their opportunities in life. I’m running for ClearVision because although their work is unique and important, they’re a small charity and get no government funding. Your donations will let more families enjoy all the pleasure, comfort and excitement reading together brings. Thank you for sponsoring me.