SITTING down and enjoying a meal is not easy for people who are blind or partially sighted – something I discovered at Dining in the Dark.

The event is put on annually by charity Sight Concern Worcestershire to raise both money and awareness about the impact of sight loss.

But loss of vision doesn’t affect how you eat or taste, I hear you say.

You would be wrong.

This was proven through the attempts by all guests – who were blindfolded – at guessing what had been served up by the staff at Bindles Brasserie in Sidbury.

And actually getting the food to reach our mouths was challenging and many times an empty fork reached our lips leaving the diners frustrated. The experience also highlighted other ways we rely on our eyes.

Almost immediately I began to feel very isolated.

This seemingly instant retreat into yourself is something many people experience – as was ex-plained to us by Shirley, who uses Sight Concern Worcestershire.

In a brief presentation, she told how after losing her sight she stopped fully living her life until she moved to Worcester and found Sight Concern, which allowed her to live again. Holding full conversations while blindfolded became difficult and largely we spoke only to those sitting alongside us and not opposite. Yet after an hour we were able to take our blindfolds off and see again, something people using Sight Concern can’t do.

Jenny Gage, chief officer of Sight Concern, said: “After seven years of working with Sight Concern I am still profoundly affected by wearing a blindfold.

“Every time I wear a blindfold I am shocked. The desire to take the blindfold off is massive and overwhelming.

“Imagine never being able to take a blindfold off. That is what our service users are dealing with.”