Guide Dogs urgently seeks volunteer fundraisers in Albury
01 February, 2012
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is seeking volunteers across Albury who can assist with local fundraising activities to help the organisation continue its support of residents like Brian Schreiber, who lost his sight overnight three years ago.
Relying entirely on the community's generosity, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT provides free services to help people with impaired vision, like Brian, to get around safely and confidently.
Services include being trained in how to use long "guide" canes, guide dogs and electronic navigation devices. Most training is delivered locally, in a person's home or work environment.
Brian began receiving assistance from the local Guide Dogs NSW/ACT team based in Albury when he was still in hospital recovering from losing his sight to a rare disease called giant cell arteritis, which affects the arteries.
"I literally lost my sight overnight - I went to hospital being able to see and woke up with no vision," says Brian, who has lived and worked in Albury for almost 50 years.
"I didn't know what the future held for me but I knew I had to live with it. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has been a magnificent support to me. An instructor visited me in hospital and introduced me to the long cane, which helps me to get around home and my local area.
"My confidence has improved and I'm becoming more and more independent - what Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has done for me is unbelievable."
In addition to helping Brian, in the past year the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Albury team has responded to 140 requests for assistance from residents with low or no vision across the region.
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT's Fundraising Manager Alex Green said that with demand for the organisation's services increasing, there was also a growing need for community support.
"Research predicts that as the population ages, the number of people in NSW and the ACT over 40 experiencing vision loss is going to increase to 300,000 by 2020*, but it can affect any one at any stage of their life," said Mr Green.
"We're calling on Albury residents who might be able to volunteer their time to help us raise funds in the local area. This support is critical to helping people with impaired vision realise that it doesn't have to limit their independence."
If you are interested in volunteering and would like to know how you can help, please call Guide Dogs NSW/ACT on (02) 9412 9324 or visit www.guidedogs.com.au.
ENDS
MEDIA: Please contact: Sally Edgar, 0413 753 241 or media@guidedogs.com.au
Source: * An Access Economics report commissioned by Vision2020 published in 2010, Clear Focus: The Economic Impact of Vision Loss in Australia in 2009, found that 575,000 Australians over the age of 40 experienced vision loss, including being blind, with this figure to increase to 800,000 by 2020. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT estimates that in 2009 more than 200,000 people across NSW and the ACT experienced vision loss, including being blind, with this figure estimated to increase to nearly 300,000 by 2020.