‘We’re making sure Santa’s letters are accessible for all children with vision impairments’

The UK’s leading sight loss charity has launched a Christmas initiative which aims to ensure all children will be able to get into the Christmas spirit this year.

The ‘Letters from Santa’ project is the brainchild of the UK’s leading sight loss charity, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

The initiative will ensure blind and partially-sighted children get to enjoy the thrill of enjoying a letter from Santa.

According to the RNIB, 1,604 letters from Santa in braille, large print and audio form were sent to children across the UK during the run-up to last Christmas. (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

placeholder image — According to the RNIB, 1,604 letters from Santa in braille, large print and audio form were sent to children across the UK during the run-up to last Christmas. (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

“For those of us living with sight loss, being part of the Christmas fun is just as important,” said the RNIB’s newest ambassador, Claire Sisk.

“From wrapping gifts and decorating the tree to helping children write their letters to Santa, we all deserve to share in that festive magical joy.”

Claire said it is vital that youngsters don’t feel excluded from the joy of the season simply because they cannot see as well as their peers:

“It’s especially magical when children with vision impairments can have the same experiences as their sighted friends,” she said.

To this end, Claire and her RNIB colleagues have teamed up with Santa and his team of elves to establish a letter-writing outpost of the North Pole, right here in the heart of Peterborough.

“Together, we’re making sure Santa’s letters are accessible for all children with vision impairments,” she said.

According to the RNIB, 1,604 letters from Santa in braille, large print and audio form were sent to children across the UK during the run-up to last Christmas.

“It’s such a beautiful way to ensure that every child gets to feel the wonder and magic of Christmas,” Claire explained.

If you know a child with a vision impairment who would love to receive a letter from Santa, they can write to him at: Santa Claus, RNIB, Northminster House, Northminster, Peterborough, PE1 1YN. To make sure your child receives their letter from Santa before Christmas, please send your requests by Sunday, December 1.

The RNIB was founded on 16 October 1868 as the British and Foreign Society for Improving the Embossed Literature of the Blind. Queen Victoria became the charity’s first Patron in 1875, although a Royal Charter was not issued until 1949.