Sitting down one Tuesday afternoon for a briefing, there was just a small ask for our next campaign with RNIB. Transform the nation into a support network for blind and partially sighted people and ultimately, change society for good. Hmmm. Perhaps not such a small ask. Actually, this was the biggest brief I’d ever been given.
Honestly, I didn’t know where to start. I don’t know anyone who has sight loss. And I’ll admit that I’ve seen people with canes or guide dogs out and about and been paralysed by panic. Time to do some reading and immerse myself in all things sight loss.
Turns out, lots of blind and partially sighted people are extremely independent and have come up with all sorts of genius ways to manage their conditions. From befriending Alexa to neon painted banisters – they seemed to have it sussed. Was there a need for this campaign at all?
There was one stat that proved to me there unequivocally was. 9 in 10 blind or partially sighted people need some assistance to make an unfamiliar journey. That’s pretty shocking, especially when you think of an ‘unfamiliar’ journey as literally any time you want to go somewhere new. Which is all the time.
It was clear that people, including me, needed a helping hand to be better allies to people with sight loss. Even with the best of intentions, we’ve been getting it wrong. And it became even more clear that the only ones who could help us were people with sight loss themselves.
As a writer, I’m always very conscious of the voice I’m writing in. The more I wrote for this campaign (and threw paper ball after paper ball towards the bin) the more obvious it was our message had to come from people with sight loss. They were the experts.
Enter our campaign heroes: Kelsey, Yahya, J’Nay, Steven and CeeCee. We united them with a simple message: Let Us Show You. Giving this lovely lot a platform not only flipped the script of who was ‘helper’ and ‘helpee’. It also showed that there’s no one type of person who has sight loss.
Film shot. Headlines written. Downloadable ‘Be Helpful Guide’ created. We had a campaign. But the question was – would anyone actually download a guide to learn how to be more helpful with sight loss?
5,000 people downloaded the guide in the first two weeks alone. And if that wasn’t enough evidence, the team and I decided we had to see it for ourselves. Unfortunately, this involved a trip to Bank station at rush hour. We had been warned, but it didn’t deter us.
Seeing our out of home posters on the underground was amazing. It’s something that any creative dreams of, and a bit of a career milestone for me personally (cue proud parents). But it was even more amazing to see people actually reading them! Even the body copy !! A nice reminder that the final final FINAL proofread is always worth it.
I’m proud of this campaign not just because it feels incredible to see my work displayed in the tunnels I’ve frequented my entire life, but because it aims to bring us one step closer to a more accessible and inclusive world. And what’s more, me and at least 5,000 others will never be paralysed by panic again. How’s that for a support network?
