Maps for all are unveiled by Lisburn in Focus

Left to right: Angela Montgomery (Lisburn City Centre Management), Jim McAuley (Translink, Bus Centre Manager), James Judge (Local person with sight loss), David Mann (Chair of RNIB NI and local person with sight loss), Anna McMonagle (Local person with sight loss) and Enid Maxwell (Local person with sight loss).

The completed maps were officially unveiled at a launch event on Friday August 1 in Lisburn Bus Centre with representatives from Lisburn City Centre Management, Translink and local people with sight loss.

The maps are large, tactile, to scale (15cm = 200 metres) replicas of the City Centre with text displayed in both braille and large print.

They show a number of key buildings such as the Library, Health Centre, Bow Street Mall and South Eastern Regional College.

The maps also illustrate where the React navigation units are located in the City Centre. React is an audible signpost system designed by RNIB for people who are blind or partially sighted.

A small fob, carried by the visitor, triggers a speaker unit, which plays an audio description of the surrounding area. The positions of all these React points are labelled on the new maps.

James Judge, a local person with sight loss who travels in and out of both the Bus Centre and Train Station welcomed

the Maps for All: “I am really delighted that Lisburn in Focus/RNIB have produced these large tactile maps. I know Lisburn City Centre quite well, but it is still easy to get disorientated and lose your bearings, so to have these maps - the static ones in the Bus Centre and Train Station and a hand held map to refer to at home before I leave - is great. I also use the React navigation system to reassure me that I am where I think I am so I am a whole lot more

comfortable and confident walking around Lisburn now than I was a few years ago.”

Lisburn in Focus is a project led by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB NI) in partnership with Guide Dogs, Lisburn City Council and Lisburn City Centre Management and funded by the BIG Lottery’s NI’s Safe & Well programme.

Although these maps are specifically designed to assist people with sight loss, the fact that they are located in the Lisburn Bus Centre and Train Station means that anyone can access them and use this resource to get the most out of their visit to the city.

There are hand held maps also available in large print and Braille for anyone who would like one. Just contact Lisburn in Focus on 028 9260 0388 or email us on [email protected] to order your copy or to request a React fob.