Charities
Let's Jump Off A Bridge
This month we cast our net wide and far and when we reeled it in, we'd caught several abseilers. Here are the highlights of what's coming up in this month's charity feature.
Story Highlights
- Abseiling Off The Tyne Bridge For A Good Cause
- The Science
- The Organisers Behind The Scenes
- How You Can Get Involved And Help Out
Abseiling Off The Tyne Bridge For A Good Cause
On October 7, 2007, 100 brave souls will be jumping off the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. This isn't just any mass abseil though. It's a mass abseil in aid of the Macular Disease Society.
The society is the only UK charity dedicated to helping people with macular degeneration which leads to the impairment of central vision. The charity aims to build confidence and independence for those affected by providing information and practical support for individuals, their families and carers.
The Science
Macular degeneration is the biggest cause of blindness in the United Kingdom. The degeneration causes the center of the inner lining of the eye (known as the macula area of the retina) to thin. It also causes atrophy and in some cases bleeding.
The result of this can be a loss of central vision which means that those affected lose the ability to see fine details, read and recognize faces.
The Organisers Behind The Scenes
Emily Clarke is helping to organise the event with a lot of help from Peter Bennetts. Together they passionately believe in the good that can come from jumping off a bridge.
She said: “I'm partially sighted myself and having a charity around like the Macular Disease Society is an amazing resource for people who need it.
“They work so hard to support the members and promote research by funding projects in UK hospitals.
“Conferences are held throughout the year to keep members up to date with the latest developments and I'm glad that the money we'll raise from the abseil will help the society to keep doing this great work.”
How You Can Get Involved And Help Out
Individuals and teams are welcome to participate in the event and it doesn't matter if you're visually impaired or fully sighted.
For your safety the abseiling will be controlled by a professional abseiling company. This means that complete novices as well as experienced abseilers will be well looked after.
If you want to get involved and help the society to raise some much needed funds then take a trip to http://maculardiseaseorg.site.securepod.com, check out the What's On section. This will lead you to the Entry Form that you need to fill out before you take part.
If you'd like more information all you have to do is send an e-mail to the charity at info@maculardisease.org
