A charity supporting islanders with visual impairments has received a £4,000 donation from the Lions Club to fund their swimming sessions in 2026.
EYECAN began offering the swimming sessions in partnership with Jersey Cheshire Homes in 2024, supported by the Government of Jersey’s ‘Connect Me’ initiative.
One of the participants highlighted the fact that she had not been able to swim for 20 years before the initiative, stating it was the “best thing she has done in years”. Another has grown so confident in her swimming that she is able to attend activities in the sea with support from partners at Jersey Sport.
The sessions are run every four to six weeks at Jersey Cheshire Homes’ accessible swimming pool with up to six participants.
Attendees are able to not only benefit from the physical activity, but also from socialising with other participants.
EYECAN CEO Mark Coxshall said: “You often sense when activities work well for your clients and this is a great example of where clients made it very clear that using these fantastic facilities is something that they would like to continue doing.
“The generous donation from the Lions Club of Jersey means that pool activities can be funded for the whole of 2026, which is just fantastic.”
Lions Club president Lion Jane Rueb added: “Sight is one of Lions International’s global projects and thus locally we are delighted to support EYECAN. It is very appropriate to use funds raised by the Lions Swimarathon to make swimming more accessible to EYECAN’s clients.”