‘Come and Try Day’ is just one of the free services offered by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and encourages vision-impaired people to become more mobile and independent while at the same time developing

new skills and friendships along the way.

They tried their hand at lawn bowls, golf, croquet and orienteering.

Annette Ferguson has lived in Dubbo her entire life and was born with vision impairment.

Ms Ferguson said she not only enjoyed the activities, but also the social aspect of the day.

“This is the first time I’ve had the chance to try these activities, there’s been nothing like this in Dubbo before,” she said.

Ben Schwarz from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT assisted on the day and said the major aim was to create more sporting opportunities

for vision-impaired people in the west.

“We would eventually like to hold a sports day in 2009 where hopefully the vision-impaired community of Dubbo will compete against Orange, Mudgee and other regional centres in central west NSW,” he said.

While the concept of lawn bowls may seem easy to those of us who can see, for the blind and vision-impaired the game can seem a rather difficult challenge.

Mr Schwarz was just one person assisting the participants with their bowling.

He showed them how to play the game by telling them how far away the white jack was, how fast and hard they should swing their arm when bowling, and even arranged their feet in place so they were aligned with the jack.

“It’s not terribly hard to teach them how to play if you approach it the right way,” Mr Schwarz said.

“It’s about understanding their level of confidence and independence, and working with that.”

While there are sporting clubs in Sydney that cater for the vision impaired there is currently nothing on offer for their western counterparts.

“Come and Try Day hopes to open up more opportunities for vision- impaired people in the west,” Mr Schwarz said.

Yesterday’s participants travelled from Yeoval, Narromine, Canowindra, Forbes, Parkes and Peak Hill as well as Dubbo, and ranged in age from 14 to 80 years of age.

anna.yeo@ruralpress.com