Need to Talk – counselling and confidence building support
Our Need to Talk team supports adults and young people over the age of eleven who are blind or partially sighted, and anyone who supports a person with sight loss, to face the future with confidence.
Need to Talk is a five-year (2017 - 2021) cross-border counselling and confidence building project, delivered through a partnership between RNIB in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and Fighting Blindness in the Republic of Ireland. The €1.8million project is funded by the European Union's INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Watch videos on Need To Talk to find out more and how it helps
Download our Need to Talk booklet
Find further information on how we can support you and your family through telephone and online counselling and confidence building programmes in our project information booklet:
New – free eLearning courses
Online "Living With Sight Loss" course – for individuals, friends and family
Our online confidence building programme will support you in adapting to life with sight loss. We’ll explore the same range of topics as our face to face courses, such as: mobility and daily living; emotional support and wellbeing; eye health, peer support and assistive technology.
This can be taken at your own pace, in the comfort of your own home.
Close family or friends have also found this course beneficial in understanding how they can support their loved one.
To register your interest in attending a face to face Living With Sight Loss course near you, call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999.
Become an Emotional Support Vision Champion e-learning short course - for professionals
This short online course (taking approximately 90 minutes to complete) will equip you to provide the best possible emotional support and practical advice to your current or future patients, clients, customers, and colleagues who have any degree of sight loss.
Read about our latest events and courses:
- Need to Talk project newsletter edition 3 (PDF, 392KB)
- Need to Talk project newsletter edition 3 (Word, 32KB)
Contact us
For further information, and to register interest in counselling, or taking part in one of our confidence building courses, contact your local Need to Talk team:
Northern Ireland and Western Scotland
Phone: RNIB Helpline 0303 123 9999
Email: [email protected]
Republic of Ireland
Phone: Fighting Blindness 01 674 6496
Email: [email protected]
If you live in a region of the UK outside of these areas, don’t worry, you can still avail of counselling and confidence building support through RNIB. Simply contact the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or [email protected].
Urgent support
Need to Talk is not a crisis service. If you need to speak to someone urgently, the Samaritans is available via free phone on 116 123 (UK and Ireland) or you can email [email protected].
