Delivering national radio services to people with print disability, one K at a time

Vision Australia is well on the way to reaching its annual target in the 100K Your Way fundraising challenge.

For a second year, Vision Australia Radio has four teams participating across its broadcast regions and is asking listeners to sign up and join.

The Vision Australia Radio Network incorporates ten community radio stations across Victoria, southern New South Wales, Adelaide and Perth, as well as five digital radio services.

Vision Australia Radio’s Jason Gipps says getting involved in this fundraiser goes a long way towards delivering national radio services to people living with a print disability.

“It is getting harder and harder for organisations to fundraise. The overheads for Vision Australia Radio are astronomical. Even with the power of 600 volunteers, we still have some unavoidable costs that we really need to tackle.”

100K Your Way ambassador Dale Pierce (pictured above) believes most of us have resilience built in.

“Once you start having disability, that resilience factor amplifies, I believe, because you have to figure out, overcome, adapt – all of those things- and just push through.”

Dale’s life was ticking along well. He was working as a freelance chef and running his own business when everything suddenly went pear shaped.

Dale, in his late forties, went from having normal vision to being legally blind, and the journey was a shockingly rapid one.

One night he went to bed with a headache. The next day he woke up with no sight in his left eye.

“It was a central retinal vein occlusion – basically a stroke in the eye is the simple term. Four months later at work, the right eye started to let go.”

Not one to do things by halves, Dale decided to knock over his 100K in the space of just one day, on a treadmill at his local gym in Ballarat.

No matter how you want to knock over the kilometres, Gipps says it’s a journey that’s accessible for everyone – whether you walk, run, dance or roll your way to the finish line.

 “It’s an opportunity for the community to come together to get fit, keep active … it has a social element to it, and supports a really important cause.”

Co-captain of Vision Australia Radio Perth‘s fundraising team Kal Krzyanowski says donations will go a long way to helping people with vision loss live more active, independent lives.

“For someone who is blind or has low vision, staying active and independent isn’t always easy. Even a simple walk or run can be a challenge. Vision Australia is playing a crucial role in empowering people of all ages who are blind or have low vision to move the way they choose.”