Love of swimming rekindled after visual impairment

Jean Zhang says the length of the lido made her less anxious about doing full strokes or running out of room

A woman with a visual impairment who joined a befriending service has spoken about the boost it has given to her confidence.

Jean Zhang, 59, from Cambridge used local charity CamSight to get back into swimming with the help of Lucy, 25, a volunteer she was matched with.

The sight loss organisation aims to help blind and visually impaired people do the activities they enjoy.

After swimming at the city's lido, Ms Zhang said: "All the people we meet using the facility have been friendly and it's made such a difference in this hot weather to get out and exercise somewhere I feel safe."

Lucy, pictured, was matched with Jean Zhang based on their shared interests and hobbies

Ms Zhang said Lucy's recent assistance at the Cambridge Lido helped her get back into swimming.

"The lido is fantastic for visually impaired swimmers and I feel safe, supported and free," she said.

"As the pool is 90m in length, I feel less anxious about doing full strokes and I'm not going to run out of room quickly to turn at the end."

She added lido staff had been "so helpful and happy" for her to have her guide dog, Amber, sat poolside.

Ms Zhang and Lucy have also been taking Amber, the guide dog, out to learn new routes

The pair had also been to a yoga class.

Lucy said: "I taught Jean some key poses for her to use at the next class when we go again.

"The centre was incredibly accommodating and let Amber sit in the corridor while we had our class. I also helped Jean to outline the countries on some large maps in her study with a glue gun so she could learn geography of the world.

"I have learned so much about guide dogs and, of course, loved getting to know Jean too."

Zoe Dunstan, a senior volunteer coordinator for CamSight, said: "When you match a befriending pair together, it's essential that you find out about lifestyles and interests.

"Befriending is more than just conversations, though sometimes a good chat is all it takes to make a difference.

"It's about enabling service users to reconnect with a hobby or activity they may have enjoyed before they became visually impaired and showing them how they can still try new ones."

Lucy (right) has been volunteering as a befriender to Jean Zhang (left) since January this year