A donation of time, care and commitment by 16 people who are blind or vision impaired brought three beautiful Christmas trees to life for others.
Mastering the ancient art of Origami as a person who is blind or vision impaired brings additional challenges, when tactile and auditory senses provide the only cues to creation. This didn't deter a group of 16 BSRV participants, who were on a mission to produce hundreds of colourful Origami boxes, hearts and doves, which now adorn three large Christmas trees.
On Wednesday 7 December, the trees were presented as gifts to community focused organisations for display in their offices, including Vision Australia, Ready Set and Nelson Alexander Charitable Foundation as a thank you for their incredible support of BSRV and our programs.
At the presentation, BSRV participants, Janice, Silvana and Adua elaborated on the mental and physical challenge - and resulting sense of achievement in seeing the final outcome in the form of 400 pretty Origami decorations.
The idea behind the Origami Christmas decoration project came from BSRV Ambassador, Rob Fletcher and was brought to life in partnership with Mike Assis from the Melbourne Origami Group and the participants involved. A big thank you also to BSRV volunteer, Camille Lovering for her time in coordinating the group.
This project was possible thanks to the generous support of the City of Stonnington.
[Image description: The news preview image shows Melanie Robbins from Vision Australia, Amanda Webb from BSRV, Liz Redfern from Ready Set, and Jonathan West from Nelson Alexander. They are standing side by side. In the centre are two large Christmas trees adorned with origami decorations.
The banner image above shows a long table, indoors, with people sitting and creating origami decorations. Next, we see a closeup of a big golden origami star being held up. The people sitting at the table, who are folding in the background, are out of focus. The third image shows participants and volunteers who join in on the project: Adua, Camille, Janice, Amanda & Silvana. There are three Guide Dogs in the picture.]
