When he suddenly lost most of his sight in the space of a few months Mark Skelton feared his working life would end and he was only in his 30s.

Mark went from being fully sighted to blind in one eye and only 20 per cent vision in the other eye over the space of a few months as a result of diabetic retinopathy; he had four operations to save the sight he has.

“The more sight I lost the harder it was. I’d only been married for a year, I’d just taken out a 25-year mortgage and you can imagine how worried I was when I went to see my HR Manager to ‘fess up’. I was well aware that 2 out of 3 people who are blind are unemployed.”

But thanks to the support from the company Director and his own positive outlook, Mark is now heading up an innovative project by running sessions throughout Yorkshire to help people with a visual impairment use their technological devices whether that be mobile phone or tablet.

As Mark works in the Telecommunications industry, everyday the organisation he works for helps millions of families enjoy the amazing opportunities that the digital world can offer them. But as we are all coming to understand… the online world can bring pressure and dangers too. Children can be vulnerable to bullying, grooming, inappropriate content and the pressures of inappropriate behaviour.

Technology and helping others are two passions of Mark’s, so raising money to keep kids safe online is paramount.