Friends Lynne, left, and Karen smile to the camera while holding cups of tea.

“We can support each other and that has been quite marvellous”

Posted: Wednesday 17 July 2024

Two women who joined a global online support group for people with an extremely rare form of macular disease have formed a friendship after discovering they lived just a few miles apart.

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Fitness leader Rosey with her arm aloft wearing a Macular Society fundraising t-shirt. Macular Week posters are in the background

"I want to help create awareness of macular disease first and foremost"

Posted: Thursday 4 July 2024

Rosey, a 67-year-old fitness instructor, turned her exercise classes into a tribute to those living with macular disease as she set the routines to vision-themed music and asked everyone to wear yellow for Macular Week.

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Peter and wife sue posing to camera. Peter standing smiling wearing a light blue shirt, with his arms around wife sue who is sat down wearing yellow spotted dress

“Talking to people who knew what macular was, I knew I wasn’t alone"

Posted: Tuesday 2 July 2024

When Peter was told he had macular degeneration, he found himself overwhelmed with uncertainty and fear. The rapid deterioration of his sight was far worse than he had imagined, and the lack of information and support he received left him feeling ‘abandoned’.

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Nancy looking into the camera with her hands held near her face

"I know my eyesight will change, so I want to live in the here and now"

Posted: Monday 24 June 2024

Nancy assumed her vision changes were just part of getting older. When she noticed blank spots and disappearing words while reading, she thought she needed a new prescription.

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Tricia Sturgeon smiling

"Volunteering is very fulfilling and it keeps your brain and body active”

Posted: Monday 3 June 2024

When Tricia was diagnosed with macular disease, she already had a support system in place, thanks to her role as a volunteer with her local support group.

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Anne, left, pictured with John on holiday outside the Anne Frank house museum

'It's very important that I make the best of what I can see and do now'

Posted: Thursday 25 April 2024

John has been creative for as long as he can remember, and is determined to keep doing what he loves, while adjusting to life with sight loss.

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Jill Barker smiling

‘I didn’t appreciate the longer-term emotional impact of this disease’

Posted: Wednesday 20 March 2024

Jill, a university researcher from County Durham, described how the Macular Society’s Counselling Service gave her the “time and breathing space” to adapt after a diagnosis of an extremely rare form of macular disease.

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Leah Holroyd smiling with book

'Talking about it is an opportunity to help people understand more about sight loss'

Posted: Thursday 29 February 2024

Leah's journey with Best disease started when she was growing up with her brother Finn, who has the condition. But, even though she knew what it was, her own eyesight was not affected.

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An illustrative design showing victorian-era women in the middle of a modern street to suggest an hallucination somebody with Charles Bonnet syndrome might experience

'The more that is known about Charles Bonnet syndrome, the better'

Posted: Thursday 1 February 2024

Researchers at Royal Holloway University looking into the effectiveness of different techniques to help manage visual hallucinations are calling for more participants to take part in the first study of its kind.

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Carol Ozanne smiling into camera

'Do the things that make you feel worthwhile'

Posted: Wednesday 24 January 2024

The loneliness and isolation associated with sight loss can be detrimental to our mental health, but volunteer Carol is on a mission to emotionally lift and encourage others.

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Valda Johnston smiling into camera

'I went to help make tea but I stayed for the support'

Posted: Thursday 21 December 2023

For more than a decade Valda volunteered with her local support group, despite her initial doubts of being around others with sight loss.

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Penny Rome smiling

"I didn't know if my hallucinations were a manifestation of my grief"

Posted: Thursday 16 November 2023

Seeing frightening faces in her own home was the reality for Penny, who was trying to come to terms with her sight loss in the aftermath of losing her husband.

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