How your pennies help people with sight problems enjoy their favourite books

Customers at Contact Lenses Express, one of the retailers that joined Pennies in March, probably know what it’s like to wake up  to an out of focus world in the morning. But they can quickly pop their lenses in and the world soon rights itself. However, many of the people supported by one of Pennies’ longstanding charity partners, RNIB, spend their lives coping with the emotional and practical challenges of having sight problems.

The majority of the money raised through Contact Lenses Express goes to RNIB and we’re looking forward to seeing these donations come in. But as one of the charities chosen by The Pennies Foundation to share 25% of every donation, over £9,000 has already been raised for RNIB. One of the ways this money helps out is through their National Library Service.

Do you remember the scramble for the best story book at primary school when your teacher said it was reading time? For children with sight loss however, many of their favourite story books won’t be available to them. In fact, 96% of the 9,000 children’s books published each year are not available in Braille, large print or audio.

Through their National Library Service, the RNIB are able to help children and adults access the books they love in a format suitable for them to read. For children with sight problems, this service means that they don’t have to wait months before they get to read their favourite book.

“Giant print books are brilliant,” says Tom, aged 9. “Now I can read the same books as my friends.”

Next time you reach for your favourite book, close your eyes and imagine being that you couldn’t see the words on the page you are about to read. What would you be missing out on? Everyone who goes through a sight loss experience has different needs but whatever they are, RNIB helps people find their lives again and the library service is one way they do this.

So next time you top up or round up your bill and donate the change to Pennies, remember that part of that will be going to help people with sight loss enjoy their favourite books.

Find out who else joined Pennies alongside Contact Lenses Express in March and which charities they are supporting.