Kasper paves the way for his peers

Seven-year-old Kasper Mason recently got in touch to share the fantastic poster he drew for Glaucoma UK as part of his homeschooling work. His mum, Philippa, believes it’s important to teach children about looking after their eyes from a young age, in the hope they carry this habit on into adult life.

Philippa, who works as a Development Manager for Glaucoma UK, said “Kasper is currently being homeschooled due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and one of the tasks for his Health and Wellbeing class was to research a charity and design a poster for them. Kasper decided that he wanted to do one for Glaucoma UK.”

Kasper said “I was interested in finding out more about the charity. I know they help people to keep their sight.”

Thanks to his mum’s work, Kasper knows the importance of looking after your eyes. Philippa said “Kasper understands that glaucoma is an eye condition, and that mummy talks to people and helps them with their eye drops. He knows you need to go for your eye tests and that if you don’t, you might lose your sight.”

Philippa added “Kasper goes for regular eye tests and I think it’s a great habit to get your kids into. Hopefully this will become a normal thing for him to do when he’s grown up, just like going to the dentist!”.

Over 700,000 people in the UK have glaucoma, and half of them don’t know they have it. Taking children for regular eye tests helps it to become the norm, and ensures future generations have the best possible chance of early diagnosis to retain sight in later life.

When designing the poster, Kasper researched the Glaucoma UK website to make sure that he included all the services we offer. ‘I like the new logo. I picked the same colours as on the website, and the colouring in was the easiest part. The hardest bit was writing the words.”

By sharing his poster with his classmates and teacher, Kasper will not only be helping his mum to spread awareness of glaucoma but also encouraging others to get their eyes tested regularly.