text: Members pay a nominal annual fee and the association caters for anyone with a recognised sight problem.
  Mr Payne said the club meets on the first and third Thursday of every month at the Pinelands Town Hall.
  “The first Thursday is a games evening where members play darts, chess, dominoes and bingo. On the third Thursday they take part in discussions about various topics; host choral performances while light refreshments are served,” he said.
  They also enjoy bowls and next month three of them will compete in the National Bowls Championship in Johannesburg.
  Mr Payne said the members are also taken on outings. They have been to Robben Island; up Table Mountain with the cable car; Goudini Spa and to Club Mykonos where they have even tried their hand at a “little gambling”, he quipped.
  Mr Rainier said secretary and home visitor, Pulcherie Strangwayes plays a pivotal role in the association.
  “Her function is to visit sick members; take them to doctor’s appointments and the pharmacy as well as doing their shopping or just popping in to their homes to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat,” he said.
  Mr Payne said while working at the SABC in Johannesburg, he tuned into a radio station and heard a blind man call in to a show asking why there were no programmes on radio for blind people.
  “My life would have been completely different if I had not heard that man on the radio. The next day, I went to my boss and asked if I could start a radio programme aimed at the blind. The show was a quarter of an hour each week and it was called InTouch and it was aimed at helping blind people in their daily lives as well as conscientising sighted people about the challenges that blind people face in society,” he said.
  The association was initially a social club but that changed when they started doing outreach work in Cape Town’s townships.
  “Members don’t pay a fee instead they are given identity cards which entitles them to the privileges provided. They are given a three course meal; grocery parcels and re-imbursed for their transport costs.”
  “However, three of our members are employed at the South African Revenue Services (SARS) as switchboard operators. One guy is a piano tuner and some of our members work in the IT industry; at the bank and many of them go on to become physiotherapists.”
  “It costs R35 000 a month to run the association and we are appealing to people to donate to our worthy cause even if they