Plant sale for My Sight Bassetlaw
Two green-fingered fundraisers, Dale Greatorex and Kevin Shaw who met and became friends at My Sight Nottinghamshire’s Shared Vision group, have got together to grow beautiful blooms and make hand crafted wooden planters, which they plan to sell to raise money for My Sight Bassetlaw.
The sale takes place:
- Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 May
- 11am-3pm
- 87 Stubbing Lane, Worksop. S80 1NF
Green fingered fundraisers
The Bassetlaw buddies have been hard at work, planting, watering and nurturing tomatoes, marigolds and other seeds; and using touch to cut, plane and paint wood to make planters from old pallets.
Photo 1 shows Dale on the left wearing a t-shirt and dark glasses and Kevin on the right in a check shirt. They are holding a hand-crafted planter between them which contains some lovely marigolds and you can see a greenhouse in the background
Kevin’s story
Kevin, who is in charge of planting, was diagnosed with Stiglers Syndrome, a rare genetic condition which weakens the retinas at the back of the eye in 1977. Since then his vision loss has been gradual, until recently when he was diagnosed with glaucoma and now he is registered blind.
“I felt like my luck had finally run out,” said Kevin, “I’d been dodging the bullet of blindness for years but the glaucoma has robbed me of most of my sight and I’m left with just light and dark perception.”
Photo 2 shows Kevin who is sat at a table planting up some plants in full leaf
Dale’s story
Dale, who is in charge of making planters jokes, “I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands to create things, but now I rely on touch more than sight to work the wood. I’ve picked up a few splinters making these planters but I haven’t lost any fingers yet!”
Dale Worked as a scaffolder until he was furloughed during lockdown. On his return to work he noticed deterioration in his vision and booked an appointment with his optician.
“The optician checked my eyes and prescribed new glasses,” said Dale, “but when I tried them I still couldn’t see the number plate on my car, so I challenged the diagnosis. After numerous hospital tests the doctors remain unsure about the precise cause of my vision loss, diagnosing an unexplained neurological problem – a faulty connection between my brain and my eyes.”
Dale is now partially sighted as he has no central vision in one eye. After receiving counselling to help him deal with his life-changing vision loss, Dale was referred to Shared Vision at My Sight Notts where he met others going through similar experiences.
“During lockdown everything stopped,” recalls Dale, “There seemed to be no help from anywhere, support services promised they’d call me back but never did and I felt I’d been abandoned. So when I got a call from My Sight Notts inviting me to Shared Vision I thought ‘what have I got to lose?
Photo 3 shows Dale standing in front of a greenhouse holding one of his hand-crafted planters made from recycled pallets
Friendship for through Shared Vision
“It’s been incredible meeting other people who understood my anxiety and everyday frustrations. It’s easy to think you’re on your own trying to deal with this scary thing that’s happening. So when you meet other people in a similar boat, you learn from each other and you support each other, it’s really life-changing.”
Kevin agrees: “Dale and I hit it off very quickly, partly because we live in the same area and partly because we shared an interest in gardening. When you lose your sight your hobbies get dropped because you think you can’t do them anymore. Dale and I encourage each other to have a go; we meet regularly, drink lots of coffee and put the world to rights!”
Both men agree that attending Shared Vision and the My Sight Bassetlaw social group has helped them make new friends and feel more positive about the future. Kevin said: “I’ve made more friends at My Sight Notts than I’ve made since I began to lose my sight. Dale and I will be friends for life and we want to give something back to the charity as a thank you and to raise money so that other people can benefit from the services and support it offers.”
Thank you!
Lydia Fenton, Fundraising Manager at My Sight Notts, said: “We’re very grateful to Dale and Kevin for raising money for us and what a beautiful way to fundraise! The plants and planters look so lovely, I’d encourage everyone who can to buy one, they will really brighten up your balcony, garden or patio this spring!”
You can support My Sight Notts by buying a beautiful spring planter created by Dale and Kevin. For more info please call Lydia on 0115 9706806