“I’m registered blind, so working with clay in the Hawkhead Centre art room is good because it’s working with your hands. I’ve worked on quite a lot of things now. I must have been looking for an outlet. I just love the end product and thinking, ‘I’ve done that,’ when I never thought I could do it."

- Jackie, National Service veteran, macular degeneration

We understand how frustrating it can be when sight loss makes it difficult to continue a favourite hobby.

We help veterans living with a visual impairment to find new ways to keep on enjoying many of the activities they love and guide them to feel confident enough to pick up some new hobbies too.

Whether it’s a lifelong hobby or a new skill you’re curious to try out, our expert activity centre staff, Independent Living team and Rehabilitation Officers tailor their support to empower you in your goals – whatever your interests.
 

Sports and fitness

For many of our veterans, sport has played a much-loved role in their lives. If there’s a sport you’d like to get back into or something new you’d like to try, we’ll do our best to make it happen. We run a number of sports activities across Scotland for all abilities – everything from walking groups and climbing to swimming and golf. Our centres have well equipped gyms and offer strength and fitness classes, and our Independent Living Workers can support you to get involved with local clubs too.

 

Arts and crafts

The art and craft workshops at our Linburn Centre and Hawkhead Centre are the ideal places for creativity to take flight. We offer a huge array of projects for our veterans to get stuck into, including painting, sculpture, sewing, pottery and model work. Our art instructors and volunteers are bursting with adapted techniques. Our outreach workers can identify local opportunities to get creative. We can also provide equipment like magnifiers and lighting to help you enjoy art at home or local clubs.
 

Woodwork

Our Linburn Centre and Hawkhead Centre workshops provide a safe environment for our veterans to get into woodwork. There’s something for everyone to get stuck into, whatever your level of sight, with the guidance of our skilled instructors. Our veterans build everything from benches and bird tables to plant boxes and rocking horses. Self-confidence often flourishes with the discovery of craftsmanship.

Gardening

If you’re a fan of getting out in the garden, we can offer practical advice on gardening with confidence and guidance on equipment and tools that can help you stay green-fingered after sight loss. Our two centres have beautiful, fully accessible garden spaces to enjoy and each has its own greenhouse to bring veterans together.

Our Independent Living Workers, based across Scotland, provide one-to-one support for our veterans in their local area. They will use their creativity, contacts and local knowledge to support you in pursuing your hobbies and interests, wherever possible.

Some of the ways we do this include:

  • Organising outings like a day out golfing.
  • Introductions to fellow veterans with similar interests.
  • Providing specialist equipment to help with a skill or task, like task lighting for close up activities such as reading or model making. 
  • Partnership working with organisations that also run activities.

 We’ll always go the extra mile to help you reclaim your favourite pastimes and explore new hobbies, whatever they may be.

Get support to regain a hobby

Do you know a veteran with sight loss craving a new pastime? Complete our enquiry form and we'll give you or them a call shortly.   

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