Hi, I'm Dave. Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page in aid of the RNIB.

Well since you've come to view, i hope someone told you theres a £5 cost for reading this far. All is not lost though, here's a chance to claim it back. Only fair we go double or quits though. You up for it? good, thanks and good luck.

OK, heres the challenge. 3 things you do everyday, only now, like the people i am raising funds for, you have to do it without the benefit of sight. Close your eyes, thats it, and remember to keep them closed.

1) Make a cup of tea/coffee. I'll even be nice. Don't boil the kettle, i would not want you to burn yourself. 

Did you pass or fail? Well done if you passed, though you know what price failure holds.

2) Is that your tummy rumbling, better grab yourself a bite to eat. Remember, no peeking.

How did you find that? is that more funds towards my cause or do you move onto the final challenge?

3) Read a book/newspaper/magazine.

HaHa, got you now. You did well to get that far, but now one of the things we take for granted day in, day out has tripped you up. Dont feel bad, you at least can go back to having your eyes open. Those i'm raising money for sadly can not.

OK. so i can't make you pay £5, let alone double it. All i can ask is you put something into the kitty. You've just had a very small taste of what it would be like to lose your vision, imagine how tough it would be to live with it everyday for the rest of your life.

Just imagine never being able to see your children/parents again. To have to rely on others to describe to you what something looks like. To see where that strange noise keeps coming from... the list could go on and on....

....and it does. Please visit this page to see what people like you and i would lose....

http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/lost/Pages/i_would_lose.aspx

This is how your money helps...

• £1 produces a Braille, large print or audio catalogue to tell blind and partially sighted people about the latest products to make life easie.
• £3 helps to pay for a call to our Helpline, giving us time to listen and respond to each individual's needs
• £15 pays for an in-depth benefits check to ensure that a blind or partially sighted person is receiving all the help they are entitled to.
• £70 covers an annual subsidy for one of our 40,000 subscribers to the Talking Book Service (in addition to the £79 annual subscription.
• £228 provides six sessions of emotional support or counselling from a qualified counsellor, to help someone come to terms with sight loss.
• £282 pays for a blind and partially sighted person to join in a weekly telephone befriending group, called Talk and Support, for a year.
• £410 pays for someone newly diagnosed as blind or partially sighted to attend a confidence-boosting Finding your feet weekend.
• £1,000 will pay for one new Talking Book to be produced and added to the library.
• £1,100 enables a young person with sight problems to spend a week trying out new leisure activities, gaining independence and making new friends on an RNIB Vacation Scheme.

Thankyou once again for visiting my page. An even bigger thankyou if you donated. Please pass this page around to everyone you know, and to those you don't too ;)

ps, i aim to do a few other runs between now and the Great North Run (well at the time of writing, its still over 10 months away). I will list them on here as i approach them, but rather than keep setting up new pages, i'll use this one page as a collection for all. See i do all the runs, you only have to dip your hand a little way into your pocket.

Confirmed runs:

14th March 2010 - Adidas Silverstone half marathon (2hrs 15min 42sec)

25th April 2010 - Bolton 10k (55mins 34 sec)

16th May 2010 - Bupa Great Manchester Run (10k) (52min 35sec)

27th June - Humber Bridge Half Marathon (2h 25min 42sec)

5th Sept 2010 - Bupa Great Yorkshire Run (10k) (57min 27sec)

19th Sept 2010 - Bupa Great North Run (half marathon)

My RNIB supporter number:5034984

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