Rush joins St Vincent's School session
Liverpool legend Ian Rush visited St Vincent's School for the visually impaired on Wednesday to participate in one of their Physical Education lessons.
The former striker joined a very competitive group of pupils to take part in Boccia, an exciting Paralympics target ball sport belonging to the same family as bowls.
Boccia requires skill, accuracy and technique to get the ball as close to the jack - the white ball - as possible.
The blind or visually impaired player uses a unique tactile grid to locate the exact position of all the balls played on the court through touch.
Rush's visit formed part of the club's fortnight of action to raise awareness of its official sponsor, Standard Chartered's, global charitable initiative 'Seeing is Believing'.
The important campaign aims to prevent and treat avoidable blindness, thereby transforming the lives of many children and adults across the world.
Established in 1850, St Vincent's School has a tradition of excellence in the education and care of children with a visual impairment.
They cater for up to 50 pupils from foundation stage to post-16, offering day, extended day and residential placements.
The Reds' charity, the Liverpool FC Foundation, works closely with the school as part of its Respect for All programme.
Respect for All delivers free, impairment-specific, multi-sport classes in Liverpool and Wirral to children and adults with severe learning difficulties, visual and physical impairment and wheelchair users.
Dr John Patterson, principal at St Vincent's, said: "We were delighted to welcome Ian to our school to join in with our fun-filled Boccia session.
"Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day and getting to know Ian as well as helping to raise awareness of such a positive, life-changing initiative as 'Seeing is Believing'."
Andrea Cooper, head of the Liverpool FC Foundation, added: "We are proud to come together with the club, Standard Chartered and the local community to help support such a fantastic initiative.
"On behalf of the foundation, I would like to thank St Vincent's School for so kindly letting us join in with their fun activity and see how they nurture the talents of their exceptional students."
[SLIDESHOW]
Through simple treatments and affordable surgeries, 'Seeing is Believing', which the bank has been supporting for over a decade, aims to benefit not only those who receive treatment but also their families.
It is one of the most cost-effective health interventions, with a cataract operation, for example, costing as little as £20.
There are 39 million blind people worldwide, yet in eight out of 10 cases, blindness can be avoided, while 90 per cent of avoidable blindness occurs in the developing world, affecting many communities where Standard Chartered operates.
For the fourth consecutive year, Liverpool replaced the Standard Chartered logo on their shirts with the 'Seeing is Believing' emblem for the game against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday to raise awareness of the initiative.
A week-long auction will now take place on eBay for five limited edition signed player shirts from the match, which fans can bid on to raise money for 'Seeing is Believing'.
All donations will be matched by Standard Chartered, making the fixture the 'Perfect Match', with the club and its sponsor coming together to support an important cause.
Fans can head to www.eBay.co.uk/perfectmatch to bid for the limited edition shirts from Friday February 13 until Friday February 20.
For more information on the 'Seeing is Believing' initiative and to make a donation now, click here to visit the campaign's official website.