A Cornish blind and visually impaired shooting club has marked 25 years with a commemorative get-together where past and present members reflected on their history and set sights on the future.
The members and volunteers of Blind Using Guided Sights (BUGS) Shooting Club were delighted to welcome a range of special guests to their usual venue at the St Austell Rifle and Pistol Club as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations last week. Affiliated to Cornwall’s sight loss charity, iSightCornwall, BUGS Shooting Club has provided a social space and a place to learn a new way of shooting for people with a vision impairment since 1999.
How Do Blind People Shoot?
Shooters at the club use air rifles equipped with specially adapted sights. These sights pick up a sound emitted from the backlit target which gets higher or lower in pitch depending on how close the user is to the bullseye. This means anyone can take part, no matter how much sight they have.
Throughout the years members have competed in national competitions and have even travelled to Scotland, Amsterdam and further afield to compete against other shooters. BUGS currently boasts some of the best blind and visually impaired shooters in the country with member Dan Lowe coming third in Division 1 during a recent national competition with a score of 995/1000.
Groundbreaking Club
BUGS member, Kevin, said: “This club is groundbreaking for visually impaired people. We’re so proud to be competing on a national level and it’s brilliant to see people improve week after week and meet their goals.”
The club is able to meet and continue to thrive thanks to its team of dedicated iSightCornwall volunteers who do everything from driving members to the club, acting as qualified range officers for the shooters and ordering and maintaining equipment.
The Difference the Club Makes
iSightCornwall Chief Executive, Carole Theobald, said: “Our group of volunteers really are invaluable, we wouldn’t be able to run this club or indeed any of our social and activity clubs without those people who donate their time to us and to the clubs.
“We’ve seen firsthand the difference going to a club can make to someone, whether it’s giving them the opportunity to meet new people and get out of the house or it’s the confidence they gain from learning a new skill or hobby. The fact that BUGS Shooting Club has been going for 25 years is a testament to how well-loved these clubs are and how dedicated the volunteer teams behind the scenes are. A big thank you to everyone, past and present, who helped make BUGS Club into such a success.”
To help mark the occasion, the members of BUGS Club were joined by founding members, former volunteers, team members from iSightCornwall and long-term supporters.
Supporters of BUGS Shooting Club
One such supporter was representing The Lewannick Amateur Dramatic Society (LADS) who have donated almost £7,000 to the club since its creation in 1999.
Everyone in attendance could enjoy a full buffet, a slice of cake – with blue icing to represent the BUGS official colour – and a trip down memory lane with a series of display boards filled with photos, articles, and relics of the past.
One of the club organisers, Paul, said: “It was lovely to see so many faces returning to the club to help us celebrate. I’d particularly like to thank iSightCornwall for bringing everyone together and for providing the food and drink. It was a wonderful afternoon and a proper celebration of 25 years.”
iSightCornwall offer a range of social and activity clubs for people with sight loss across Cornwall as well as support throughout someone’s sight loss journey. For more information, call 01872 261110.
