Edinburgh Castle part of campaign to urge Scots to get their eyes checked

Edinburgh Castle has been chosen as one of four Scottish landmarks to feature in a nationwide campaign to promote healthy eyes.

The iconic edifice is pictured on a series of specially produced beer-mats as seen through the eyes of someone with age-related macular degeneration, the commonest cause of sight loss in the UK.

The coasters have been produced by the sight loss charity RNIB Scotland to mark National Eye Health Week which starts today.

The charity is distributing these to pubs and cafes throughout the country with a message urging everyone to go for regular eye examinations, which are free in Scotland at local optometrists.

Images on the other coasters in the series feature the Callanish Standing Stones in Lewis (as seen through diabetic retinopathy), the V&A Dundee museum (as seen through glaucoma) and Buchanan Street in Glasgow (as seen through cataracts).

Cate Vallis, campaigns officer for RNIB Scotland, said: “With many sight loss conditions, damage to vision can be arrested or even reversed if the symptoms are detected early enough. That’s why it’s so very important that people do get their eyes examined every two years.

“Our coasters are just one way of getting this message out to more people. The distorted images of Edinburgh Castle and other Scottish landmarks will hopefully make people think a little more about what we might miss if we lose our sight.”