Dubai, UAE- 4 Feb 2025: As part of ongoing efforts to repurpose waste and connect with communities, Emirates has recently distributed more than 12,000 First Class eye masks to schools for the blind, sensory services, and vision support centres across the UK. The donation was inspired by an idea from a creative teacher in Scotland, who connected Emirates to a network of more than 80 service providers across the UK, and explained how eye masks can be used in the training of teaching staff.

In September 2024, Tracy Pearce, an outreach teacher with Sight Scotland based at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh had an idea to reach out to Emirates with a request for eye shades, knowing that these are used by passengers travelling overnight onboard Emirates’ flights to 140 destinations. Tracy and her colleagues work with visually impaired children in Scotland, training teachers and support staff on how best to support young people who are blind or visually impaired. Tracy wrote passionately about the school, and how they often use eye shades during training activities, to simulate some effects of a visual impairment. The aim of these trainings is to encourage thought-provoking experiences, by taking part in everyday activities without vision. Tracy stressed how impactful this exercise can be for teachers and wondered whether Emirates could support.

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Emirates’ PR and CSR team were able to locate eye shades to fulfil Tracy’s request, and encouraged Tracy to connect with her network of teachers across the UK so multiple requests could be fulfilled. Within a few days, Emirates had requests from more than 80 dedicated teachers across the UK, who shared that they would love to use the eye shades in trainings. By November, 12,250 First Class eyeshades had been distributed to schools and centres like Guide Dogs for the Blind Associations, Learning and Inclusion Centres, Sensory Service providers, Schools for the Low Vision Community and Habilitation services.

“These eye shades provide invaluable insight into the realities of living with a visual impairment. They are a crucial tool in our training sessions, allowing participants to experience first-hand the challenges faced by those with sight loss. We’re grateful to Emirates for their generous donation, which will make a significant difference in our ability to teach with empathy and expertise.” Said Tracy Pearce, Outreach Teacher at Sight Scotland.