'We feel increasingly ignored', say those with sight problems who're highlighting daily battles
Campaigners say the day-to-day experiences of living with impaired vision shows that change is needed
Blind or partially sighted people here in the West Country say they're increasingly feeling discriminated against by hotels and public transport.
Across the South West there's 223,000 with sight loss and of those 28,865 are registered as blind or partially sighted - with many saying they feel they're being forgotten.
One of those is Torbay's Mandy Darling, a councillor and former Mayor, who says she now expects to have problems when booking hotel rooms.
She said: "Often now when you ring up to book a room in a hotel - or you want to buy some transport - as soon as you say 'I've got an assistance dog' there's often a 'oh, we don't accept dogs' and that's really hard as an assistance dog is not a pet - it's an extension of you really."
The former Mayor has revealed what happened when she tried to book an overnight train ticket for her husband recently, saying: They wanted to charge him an extra £40 because he was taking his Guide Dog with him.
"I did challenge that and eventually they did come back and say 'they weren't 100 per cent sure' but they wouldn't charge it at the moment - it's ludicrous'."
She says, like many other partially sighted people, she sometimes considers not telling companies in advance about her guide dog - but says she always decides - on reflection - it's the right thing to do.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind say its members are twice as likely to experience poor mental health than the UK average and they are calling for more general training and awareness about sight loss.
Graham Leach started the Torbay social club for the blind and visually impaired and says he's no longer getting the general help and support he used to.
He said: "They are not educated enough, do you know what I mean?
"The bus drivers nowadays they don't even tell you what number bus it is. One day I got on the wrong bus - it's laughable now but I wanted to get home."
Dan Letchford is guide dog user, based in Dawlish, who has been sharing stories of incidents in shops - where he says staff can either be really supportive or the exact opposite.
He said: "A security guard stopped me as a I walked into a mainstream store - without saying single word to me, he stopped me and grabbed my guide dog's lead and harness to check what kind of dog he was - and said 'I don't think you can come in here mate."
He then complained to the store's manager - and says other stores are more considerate, with staff removing potential obstacles from aisles when he enters.
Mr Letchford says he also backs calls to ban pavement parking, something the Government consulted on in 2020 but has still not been done.
He gave one example where: "The was a van blocking the pavement and I couldn't get past so I knocked on the window and gave them a little bit of advice about where they should be parking.
"It turned out it was a Police stakeout and they were watching the house across the street. They were very good because they did help me across the road and away from the situation - but it isn't what you expect."
In 2021, Guide Dogs claimed 75 per cent of assistance dog owners have been refused access to a restaurant, shop or taxi.
Steve Darling is the newly elected MP for Torbay, and his guide dog Jennie has already proved popular in the House Of Commons - and even has her own Twitter followers.
He believes ten per cent of hotels are still reluctant to let in a guide dog and said: "We had the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995, 2010 we had the equalities Act. It is for the Government to look and see if it is working as people are still sadly being discriminated against."
Grahame Flynn, from Devon in Sight, said: "The big challenge is about information about support early in their journey. People get a diagnosis at the hospital, they're told they have an accurate long-term sight condition and then they feel a bit bewildered - there's a lack of information."
Research from the RNIB shows across Devon there are 35,900 with sight loss and of those 3,700 are registered as blind or partially sighted.
They claim 'blind and partially sighted people are twice as likely to experience poor mental health compared to the general UK population' and that 'more than three in five (63 percent) do not speak to family or friends about their mental wellbeing'.
In Plymouth the number of people with sight loss is predicted to rise from 1,170 to 10,300 by 2032, according to research released to mark National Eye Health Week (23-29 September),
Nathan Burn, a director at Specsavers Plymouth, said: ‘Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of common eye conditions are key to reducing the number of people suffering sight loss unnecessarily.
"A large percentage of sight loss could be avoided if people have their eyes checked regularly. Yet despite sight being the sense that most people are concerned about losing, many people don't actually have their eyes checked every two years."