Mycharity.ie allows you to set up your own personal web page which you can email out to all your friends and family. In the click of a button you’ve just asked everyone you know to sponsor you…it’s genius!

All you have to do is go to www.mycharity.ie and click on ‘create a fundraising page’. Select Fighting Blindness as your charity and then you walk through the steps of setting up your own fundraising page. 5 minutes and you’re done.

There’s nothing stopping you now…best of luck!

Did you know that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables also plays a major role in eye health? We’ve all heard the idea that carrots are good for your eyes (which they are due to their high levels of vitamin A) but there are lots of foods that are important for your eyes including:

1. Avocados – one of the most nutrient dense foods that exists with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin E and of course lutein.
2. Broccoli – good source of vitamin C, calcium, lutein, zeaxanthin and sulforaphane 
3. Eggs – excellent source of eye nutrients like vitamin A, zinc, lutein, lecithin, B12, vitamin D and cysteine 
4. Spinach – another great source of vitamin A plus lutein and zeaxanthin 
5. Kale – like spinach, kale is a good source of vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin 
6. Tomatoes – high in vitamin C and lycopene, two important eye nutrients 
7. Garlic – contains selenium and other eye nutrients such as vitamin C and quercetin 
8. Salmon – rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are important for maintaining overall eye health plus it contains folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and vitamin A

So where to go from here…this is one idea courtesy of Derry Clarke who promoted the recipe through an Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Awareness campaign with Fighting Blindness, the NCBI and Novartis

 Vegetable Lasagne Stack

 Serves 2

50g unsalted butter

50g plain flower

60ml white wine

200ml low-fat milk

50g grated parmesan cheese

1 aubergine and 1 courgette, washed and cut into quarters

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 English spinach leaves, washed and dried

200g lasagne sheets 

• Preheat oven to 160 C. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and mix into a paste. Add the wine and when it has been absorbed, add the milk and cheese and stir until smooth.
• Coat all the vegetables except the spinach in olive oil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Cut the lasagne sheets into 8 4-inch squares then blanch for 3 minutes in boiling water. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon. Place in a bowl and coat with olive oil to prevent them from sticking.
• Place one lasagne sheet on a plate, cover with a layer of hot vegetables, a layer of spinach and then the white sauce.
• Repeat process to create 4 layers on 2 separate plates.

Let us know of any recipes you’d like to share and we’ll pass them on.

There’s no better time than a long weekend to get started. Check out http://www.florawomensminimarathon.ie/race_preparation/training_schedules.23.training.LE.asp for the full schedule and let us know how you get on.

 Good luck!

Well done to the women of Ireland…

As anyone who has done the mini marathon will tell you, the best thing about the day itself is the atmosphere. There is usually sunshine (well, maybe not last year!) and a party atmosphere. It really does attract all ages and fitness levels; from the runners at the front who are trying to beat their own best time, to the groups of friends who are walking the route and catching up on all the news at the same time. 

As there are six women in our head office and two more in our counselling centre we already have a headstart on getting a group together for the day!

Our fundraising mission this year is to raise €10,000, which works out at about one Euro per metre (or roughly every two steps) if we can get enough women to sign up. 

Drop me a line at martina.madden@fightingblindness.ie to get your t-shirt and sponsor card if you fancy joining us on the day (fingers crossed for sun this year…)

Click here to open the cards and read what they had to say. We were really touched by how much our amazing trekkers enjoyed the experience.

Do you want to travel to the top of the world? You can start your own once-in-a-lifetime journey by signing up for Everest Base Camp 10 (October 20-November 6, 2010)

Here at Fighting Blindness, we can help you make 2010 a year to remember…and one that you actually keep you resolutions! Here’s how we can help:

• Resolution: Stop Smoking / Be Healthy
  

There are many good reasons to lead a healthy lifestyle, but did you know that smoking and and eating poorly can damage your eyes. A recent study has shown that quitting smoking can improve you eyes and help prevent conditions like Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) even if you are a long time smoker. It’s never too late to practice good eye health by giving up the smokes and eating a diet rich in vitamins and veg!

Read more about smoking AMD in the Irish Times here

Learn more about AMD here

• Resolution: Get Fit / Visit Somewhere New

What better way to get fit and see the world than joining a Fighting Blindness Trek! As part of our trekking team, you’ll have access to training tips and practice hikes to help get you into shape. No matter what your fitness level, there’s a path for you. Plus, the you also be helping raise funds for world-leading research into treatments and cures for blindness. It’s a win-win way to keep your resolution!

This year, you can trek with Fighting Blindness in Peru (March 26 – April 5), Transylvania (May 25-30) and Everest Base Camp (Oct 20 – Nov 6).

• Resolution: Conquer you Fears: Take a Leap of Faith

You’ve always wanted to jump out a plane, haven’t you? Or are you afraid of heights? Why not conquer your fear and start out 2010 by doing something truly brave–a tandem skydive over Co. Offaly! See the world from a different perspective and join other brave souls during the Fighting Blindness Big Skydive Weekend in February. All you have to do is raise €650 to take flight for sight!

Find out more about skydiving for Fighting Blindness during the Big Skydive Weekend (February 27-28) or any other time of year here

• Resolution: Lose Weight / Volunteer / Meet New People

Ladies, you can tick 3 resolutions off your list by joining Team Fighting Blindness for the Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon. Each year we have a great group of gals, young and old, that run, walk or jog the 10K route to raise money for Fighting Blindness. It’s a great day out and a great way to meet other members and supporters. So grab your mom, sister, auntie, granny or friend and take to the Dublin streets to fight blindness. Gents, you can help too by organising the ladies in your life to form a team or by sponsoring someone on Team Fighting Blindness.

Read more about the Dublin Mini Marathon and all other running events

• Resolution: Learn Something New

Well, you’re in the right place. This year we’ll officially launch the Fighting Blindness blog with a series of articles on research, fundraising and more about what we do day-to-day. Stay tuned to learn more about what we do and why we do it. If you have any burning questions you’d like to have answered on the blog, send them to communications@fightingblindness.ie (or leave a message in the comments)

Happy New Year from everyone at Fighting Blindness. Here’s to another decade of achievement in vision research!

Thanks to Sally M for the Happy New Year photo

Fighting Blindness started out as a group of families affected by RP getting together for support. Now, we are a global leader in the search for cures and treatments for all forms of blindness.

A group of researchers at Trinity College in Dublin funded by Fighting Blindness were the first in the world to discover the gene responsible for RP in 1989. Often the causes of degenerative eye conditions such as RP are genetic, and as Ireland had many big families, it made it easier to trace the genetic course of diseases here. The team is now working on switching off the gene, replacing it with another gene and hopes to begin human clinical trails in 2010.

It’s a great Irish success story. We know a cure is around the corner, but we can only get there with your help. You can support research into treatments and cures for blindness by donating online.

To honour International Volunteer Day, we’re having our first ever contest for our supporters! Without the tireless work of our volunteers and fundraisers, we couldn’t continue to fund world-leading research into treatments and cures for blindness.

To thank you for your support we’re offering up a great deal–just in time for the holidays.

You can win a ONE HOUR SPA PACKAGE at the Solas Croi Eco Spa in the Brandon House Hotel, New Ross Co. Wexford (voucher valid until July 2010)

• All you have to do is leave a comment on the blog or on Facebook with your name and the answer to this question: What is one eye condition that Fighting Blindness is researching (hint)?

EDIT: This contest is only open to folks in Ireland and closes on Tuesday, December 8 at 11:59pm (GMT). The winner will be picked at random and announced on Wednesday. This contest is closed.

Good luck!

I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to a fantastic team of 18 people who reached Everest Base Camp in Nepal on October 31! Located at a dizzying 5,364m above sea level, this was no small achievement for a group that included two extremely brave trekkers with visual impairments.

Despite the difficulty of the challenge–varying degrees of unwellness along the trail, the biting cold at night, and an unchanging diet of eggs, curried potato and bok choy–spirits remained high throughout and the sense of camaraderie and determination to complete the mission (as a team!) was electrifying.

Long days of trekking were followed by evenings of joke-telling and endless games of Switch, which at one point involved (a possible record-breaking) 15 hands dealt from 3 packs of cards (by our master croupier Steve Cunningham). Laughter was always in plentiful supply, with notable characters such as Gerry Behan (the Sarge), Anthony O’Reilly (Dougal), Kevin McKeown (Wolverine) and the inimitable Ger Ward (Cool Hand Luke) keeping the troops well-entertained day and night.

Nights were mostly sleepless due to the altitude but slumber, when it came, was often accompanied by strange dreams, and none was stranger or more alarming than Ger Comerford’s “Night with the Vampires” when he woke the whole tea-house screaming like a school-girl.  (He’ll never live it down!)

There was much singing and merriment along the trail, but in the final sing-off against the Sherpas, we were missing our MVP (Liz Cassidy) who was laid-up with a tummy bug (amid suspicions of foul-play). But little Lauren Carter (aka Pippy Longstocking) did us proud with a rousing rendition of Madonna’s Like a Prayer that left the crowd begging for more!

Not only did we reach our goal, but strong friendships have been forged and will no doubt be maintained long after the trek has become a distant memory (Anthony has probably forgotten it already). Along with the courage demonstrated by our  friends with visual impairments, grand gestures such as those made by Gerry Behan (Guide-Human extraordinaire) were supplemented by so many small acts of kindness – carrying a backpack, holding a hand, a pat on the back, a well-timed word of encouragement – that I think the experience has probably left a profound mark on everyone involved.

Thanks to everyone for making this the trip of a lifetime and thanks to Fighting Blindness for making it possible.

-Bernice