Donate to OAB this Christmas to help support people like Ian...

Since moving back to Oxfordshire in April I have been wonderfully supported by OAB. It has been great to see first-hand how Nathan, who has a similar degree of blindness to me, copes with everyday life. It has given me confidence and reassurance at what had become a very difficult stage in my life and gave me renewed optimism for the future.

Nathan has helped guide me in the ways of the iPad and iPhone so I can enjoy reading audible books, decipher and answer emails, and communicate much more easily. I have started to read Braille and OAB have loaned me a text-to-speech device which enables me to read magazines, books, journals, and interpret diagrams.

OAB has helped me realise that with perseverance and a good level of support, blindness need not be an obstacle to continuing a full and active life. For someone like me, who has had a challenging career, reared a family as a single father, and had previously enjoyed a wide range of hobbies - from singing, to sailing and building a model railway - the relatively sudden onset of sight loss through glaucoma has been a massive blow. OAB is helping me enormously in overcoming a disability that could have blighted my life.

OAB relies on voluntary donations from supporters, so please consider donating this Christmas. OAB offer a uniquely supportive and personalised service to people who might otherwise become isolated and lonely, through the loss of such a vital sense, one which we so often take for granted.