Family Insight project – Northern Ireland
Supporting you and your family in living and learning
Are you a parent or carer of a child with any degree of vision impairment? You’re not on your own. Our Family Insight project is here to support you.
What we do
Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, Family Insight is a five year project led by RNIB NI in partnership with Angel Eyes NI. We support and empower families with children aged 12 and under, living with a sight condition.
We want families to feel fully equipped to:
Understand their children’s eye condition and how it affects their sight
Access support both at home or in school
Help your children reach their full educational and social potential
We offer both practical and emotional support, to the whole family.
The Family Insight Project – An RNIB Northern Ireland and Angel Eyes NI Partnership
Listen and watch as Rosaleen Dempsey, Children’s Young People and Families Manager for RNIB in Northern Ireland and Karen Wilson, Education Advocate with Angel Eyes NI, give an overview of the RNIB Northern Ireland and Angel Eyes NI’s Family Insight project.
Confidence and skills building workshops including one to one tuition
Group confidence building for children - including helping children to access local leisure activities including summer schemes and swimming lessons.
Practical workshops for parents to better understand how to support their children in both their educational setting and at home e.g workshops showing how technology can support children in learning.
Activities like IT, music lessons or swimming.
Caoimhe and the Family Insight Project
“My hope for Caoimhe is that the confidence continues and that she doesn’t let her sight loss stand in her way of achieving whatever she wants to do in life.” These are the words of Caoimhe’s mum Dierdre whose family found the Family Insight Project invaluable.
Family events
Fun days for the whole family to enjoy together
Family residential weekends with tailored activity sessions
Great opportunities to share experiences and concerns, and build peer support networks
Elodie and the Family Insight Project
Michelle, who is mum to nine-year-old Elodie, said: “Once you begin to understand a little bit more about your child’s sight loss, you feel a wee bit more in control.”
Support with education
The Educational Advocate will provide advice and guidance for parents getting to grips with the NI education system, through workshops or one to one guidance
Referral to other relevant services and organisations, for example Vision Support teachers and other education professionals, local health trust’s sensory support service, benefits advice, other voluntary organisations
Above all, we want families to get together, share experiences and feel empowered.
Ryan and the Family Insight Project
Fourteen-year-old Ryan said: “At one of the family weekends I met Peter and we were able to talk and go to swimming. It was nice to know someone who had the same eyesight condition as me.” The Family Insight project helps bring children and young people with sight loss together.
Useful links for families
Download Let’s play, a guide with toy and play ideas for children with vision impairment. Whether you are a parent, teacher or carer of a child with vision impairment, our guide will help you create fun-filled playtimes for your child to develop and explore their senses.
Visit our activities and events webpage and download your copy of our Events Guide and find other sources of support available to you and your family in Northern Ireland.
Go to our Children, young people and families section for details of more information, products and services available UK-wide.
Download your copy of the Family Insight project booklet
Family Insight A5 flyer v6.pdf (1.73 MB)
Contact us
You can contact either project partner to find out more about our Family Insight project
RNIB NI, call 028 9032 9373 or email [email protected]
Angel Eyes NI, call 028 9094 1632 or email [email protected]