The circus was in town recently for the members of local charity Sight Matters.

A free four-day event saw more than 60 people aged from two to 83 with blindness or visual impairments get to learn a variety of circus skills including fire juggling, aerial acrobatics and plate spinning.

Peter Marshall, the charity’s fundraising and marketing manager, said: ‘The really crucial thing is they were actually teaching real circus skills, with real fire and real aerial work, not just half measures.

‘The idea was to help build our member’s confidence and prove to themselves and the wider community that having blindness or a visual impairment need not be preventative for partaking in these kinds of experiences.’

Sessions were lead by the team at Stiklings, a UK group that specialises in making circus education more accessible, who came over thanks to sponsorship from the Steam Packet.

Teaching culminated with a special show for family and friends.

Peter says that many of their members have said that the event has built up confidence and allowed them to take part in something they never would have expected.

He credits the idea to Cathryn Bradley, the social welfare and inclusion lead at the charity, who heard about Stiklings after visiting the Royal National College of the Blind.

The event is part of the charity’s wider mission statement to empower members and provide access to events and skills that might seem to be off limits otherwise.

For more information about to Sight Matters, ring 674727.