Norma and Janette - a success story Our My Sighted Guide service aims to build visually impaired peoples' confidence and independence, to achieve personal goals that they have identified. Janette had volunteered for this role, and Andrea (SRSB/RSS’s Befriending Services Coordinator) matched Janette with Norma.

From the moment they met, Janette recalls “We got on straight away, our interests matched and we clicked immediately.”

Norma adds “It’s most important that you are working with the right person so that you are able to achieve what you have identified. We built up a lovely friendship and bond, and I feel Janette is like a sister to me.”

Norma has changed a lot as a result of this relationship and both feel that she has achieved so much in comparison to how she was before. She used to be unable to go out on her own and was even frightened to go to the shops, depending on her daughter to get shopping.

Norma feels she is now able to go out and cross the road, and she has, over time, started to do this on her own. She spoke about how nerve-racking it was when she tried to go to Tesco but has slowly built her confidence with Janette’s help. Norma says “The experience of finding someone I can trust has been great. In the beginning I would hold on to Janette, but I gradually built confidence and now I go off on my own whilst shopping, but I knew Janette was always there in the background. Janette is very capable and open to what I wanted to do.” 

The pair laugh as they tell us about all the jokes they’ve shared, their Christmas Lunch out together, their shopping trips and choosing items for the house and deciding on colours. A visit to one of Norma’s favourite clothes shops was when she first went off on her own to browse, a big moment for them both.

Norma thanked Andrea for arranging such a good match and Janette thanked Andrea for her support and guidance, commenting “There is a structure in place to get the most out of this role for both parties. And the role grows organically, with time to get to know each other. There has to be mutual respect and boundries and this is discussed openly at the beginning.”

Janette talks about the pleasure she has had from watching Norma develop and her confidence grow in so many ways – even things like going on a tram for the first time! She comments, “If anyone is thinking about supporting SRSB/RSS clients in this way I can tell you that you get so much out of doing this.”

Once this process had begun, Janette received training around vision impairment awareness and sighted guiding and she says “The initial training was great, and with Andrea’s support and the trust you build up, you feel safe with each other. You need to be reliable for this role and also be careful not to take away someone’s independence – you need to stand back and just support.”

Norma commented how her family have noticed she is so much more confident. She even went off on the SRSB/RSS trip to the seaside last summer with the group of friends she has made at our Coffee Morning.

This project is based around achieving objectives and Janette will now support another client, but fear not, Norma and Janette have built up such a friendship they will still keep in touch and meet up!

Norma says “I want to thank Andrea for matching us - Janette’s such a special person, no wonder other people want you!”

This has been a success through teamwork and just shows what a difference the right support can make. Ultimately the success of this relationship demonstrates what Janette’s support and Norma’s determination have managed to achieve, with background support from Andrea and staff at SRSB/RSS.

Norma finishes by saying “It’s the best thing I ever did coming here (SRSB). Thinking back to what I used to be like and what I can do now I would encourage anyone who needs that support to achieve something gets in touch. I’ll never go back to how I was; it’s forward now for me!”