Sighted Guide Training

Specialist guiding in the natural environment

About Sighted Guiding in the Natural Environment

"Publicly owned parks and green spaces are there for all sectors of the community to enjoy and yet for people with sight loss there are significant social, physical, and economic barriers that prevent their access and enjoyment."

Current Sighted Guiding training courses cover access around the home, in the built environment and using public transport but do not deal with the very different access issues faced when walking in the countryside, through woodlands, along the coast, on the moors or in parks.

We know that being able to get out into nature and fresh air is good for everyone however people with sight loss conditions can be very isolated and quickly lose their confidence as their sight deteriorates. To help them to re-connect with nature it is essential to learn about how to safely guide a person with sight loss to ensure a safe and enjoyable sensory experience, and wherever possible to link them to a peer group so they can share a walk and a social connection.

Our Heritage Lottery project has enabled us to develop a comprehensive body of work covering the experiences we have had in leading and facilitating such walks. From it we have created a short reference guide to enable organisations to consider setting up their own walks and workshops for people of all ages with sensory loss and other disabilities/long term conditions, who need extra support to be able to access the natural world.

A Train the Trainer programme has been designed specifically about walking in the natural environment, to enable those with relevant experience to develop their skills so that they can effectively train others.

We want to develop this further and provide informative videos and a template for countryside and outdoor activity organisations around the country to take up the ideas to enable more people to enjoy nature. Download the Sea-ing Sense guide here.

GFI can offer advice and we can deliver the specialist Sighted Guide training if required.

For more information contact us via this link.