“provide sport and recreation for blind and partially sighted people”
Main aims:
BBS fundraisers raise money via companies, Trusts and individuals and assist the members to organise and raise funds for their own Sports Sections.
The fundraisers spend a lot of time building relationships with grant giving organisations. It is particularly special when a Trust or company elects to support BBS with donations or funding on a year in year out basis, as with the Primary Club.Derek Underwood MBE, Patron of the Primary Club explains;
“We at The Primary Club are well aware of the importance of sport in the lives of visually impaired sportsmen, women and children.
We have worked with British Blind Sport over many years, on a variety of sports, throughout the UK.
I am always impressed by the dedication and application of blind and partially sighted players and competitors of all ages.
I hope our very happy partnership with British Blind Sport continues for many years to come”.
There is a domestic BBS calendar of events which includes competitions, training days and weekends and Have a Go days. Internationally the Sports Sections select and coach teams of children and adults who proudly represent Great Britain at European and World Championships.
BBS is affiliated to the World Governing Body, IBSA (International Blind Sport Federation) and represents them in the UK. BBS is the VI member organisation of the English Federation of Disability Sport (Efds) and administers competitors’ sight classifications.
The charity works with the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport and the British Paralympic Association (BPA) at the high performance end of sport linking in with talent identification and IBSA European and World Championships.
VI people want to and can, participate in a full range of sporting activities, the degree of adaptation needed varies greatly and centres on the use of audible or tactile aids. For example blind footballers and cricketers use a ball with ball bearings in, Goalball players use tactile lines to orientate themselves and archers use back of the hand and foot markers to align themselves. The use of acoustic balls means that an important requirement is a quiet environment so players can hear the ball.
