South Yorkshire Sight Loss Council: Meet the Members

Iain Mitchell

Iain Mitchell is the Senior Engagement Manager for North England. He has worked at Thomas Pocklington Trust for over five years. South Yorkshire SLC is his sixth SLC launch.

Iain has been visually impaired since birth, born with Albinism, Nystagmus and photo sensitivity. Like many others, he wants to use his lived experience to create positive change.

Originally from Liverpool. Iain was previously the Engagement Manager for North West England. When the opportunity came along to manage Yorkshire and Humberside, he jumped at the chance to return having fallen in love with the area as a university student.

Iain has two lovely rescue dogs and enjoys walking them and the unconditional love they provide. He enjoys performance of all types and his speciality subject in quizzes is history! However, he says his real Achilles Heel is his love for Liverpool FC

Iain says: “We welcome everyone with a visual impairment to join us in the work we do. We want to raise awareness and influence change to help blind and partially sighted people to live the lives they want to lead.”

Belle Whiteley

Belle is the Sight Loss Council coordinator for Yorkshire and Humberside.

Belle has the genetic eye condition, Stargardt’s disease, and has been losing her sight since she was eight years old. She is passionate about making a difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people due to her own personal experiences of living with sight loss.

Prior to working with Sight Loss Councils, she worked for Opera North. It was here she discovered her love of classical music.

In her spare time, Belle enjoys going to the theatre, spending time with friends, family, and her little dog, and exploring the world.

Helen Stirland

Helen was born with a rare genetic condition (Bardet Biedl Syndrome), but was not formally diagnosed until 2010. Helen was then re-registered in 2014 as severely visually impaired. Helen worked as a civil servant till 2017 when she retired due to her eye condition deteriorating.

Helen enjoys volunteering with her local museum and listening to books on audible. Working (volunteering) also with the local council on several focus groups to raise awareness of the implications of living with sight loss.

Helen is looking forward to working with the new South Yorkshire sight loss council to ensure people living with sight loss can have more opportunities for independence and support in the community. Helen hopes to raise awareness for accommodating visually impaired disabilities through communities.

Rebecca Green

Rebecca has been registered as severely sight impaired since birth due to a rare hereditary eye condition called Riegars Syndrome.

Rebecca is a 50-year-old single mum from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.  Her hobbies include socialising with friends. Rebecca also enjoys listening to music and singing.

Rebecca is a passionate advocate for blind and partially sighted people. She has worked as a volunteer for the Barnsley Association for the Blind for 36 years, where she has been promoted to chairman for the last four.

Rebecca said: “I’m pleased to join South Yorkshire Sight Loss Council. Due to the deterioration of my eyesight and the challenges I personally have faced, I would like to make a difference for people with similar experiences.”