British Paralympic runner and five times gold medallist, Noel Thatcher MBE, is the face of Carrots NightWalk 2013. The main focus of National Eye Health Week will take place in four city locations on Friday 20 September.
The flagship fundraiser is organised by Fight for Sight, the main UK charity dedicated to funding eye research to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease and will raise vital funds to help research.
Noel who is visually impaired was born with Optic Atrophy, a mixture of problems with the retinal cells and optic nerves is encouraging people across the country to take part in Carrots NightWalk and even dress up as carrots.
He represented the UK at six Paralympic games between 1984 and 2004, making his athletic debut aged 17 competing in a national school championship. He achieved a world record at the 1992 Barcelona games and during the 5k race in Sydney in 2000. His achievements at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta earned him an MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours.
Noel is an ambassador for British Blind Sport which provides sport and recreation for blind and partially sighted children and adults throughout the UK. The charity is supporting Carrots NightWalk.
Noel Thatcher said: “I feel that having a disability has helped to shape how I performed in sports, as you need to have a positive attitude. I feel this translated on to the track and in my personal life too. I have been fortunate enough to have met some fantastic people along the way, who were in similar situations to me and knew exactly what I was going through as an athlete.”
The Carrots NightWalk, sponsored by Healthspan, will be taking place in four cities; Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and London and supporters are encouraged to embrace the theme and dress up as carrots for the 6-mile walk starting at 7 pm or the 15-mile walk starting at 11 pm. Noel will be joining walkers in London for the 6-mile route with his family.
Julian Jackson, Director of Development and Marketing at Fight for Sight who lost his sight three years ago, aged 47, because of Retinitis Pigmentosa, a progressive congenital retinal disease said: “We are calling on people across the country to join the Carrots spirit and sign up to Carrots NightWalk today. Fight for Sight is determined to fund research along with our partner charities in order to have a future that everyone can see. A huge thanks to Noel for being the face of Carrots!”
Lucy Shepherd, Senior Fundraiser at British Blind Sport said ‘British Blind Sport is really pleased to support this fantastic event. We enable the visually impaired to take part in a variety of sport and leisure activities and it’s fantastic that they can now join a large scale charity walk while raising funds for eye research.”
We are official sponsors of National Eye Health Week under our Viteyes brand of macular supplements.
A special thanks to Healthspan, the UK’s number one direct vitamin and supplement supplier, for supporting all four events this year.
To register for your Carrots NightWalk place please visit www.fightforsight.org.uk/carrots or call 0207 264 3900.
For further details about Fight for Sight visit www.fightforsight.org.uk or British Blind Sport visit www.britishblindsport.org.uk