THE Rangers Charity Foundation today announced the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland as the Club's new National Charity Partner for the coming year.

Defender Kirk Broadfoot launched the initiative with 12 year-old Evan MacFarlane, who is learning to read braille, and 11 year-old Declan Davidson, who uses large-print books.

RNIB Scotland is the country's leading charity offering information, support and advice to over 200,000 Scots with sight loss.

In the UK, 96% of books never make it into a format a blind person can use.

Over the course of the year, the Rangers Charity Foundation will aim to raise £50,000 to help RNIB Scotland with an ambitious project to increase the number of books available in braille, audio and large print to Scotland's 1,500 blind and partially sighted children, who often struggle to gain access to the stories their peers enjoy.

The project will also facilitate the participation of children with sight loss in the Scottish Book Trust's annual Children's Book Awards for the first time ever, with the competition's top three books being recorded into accessible formats.

The announcement of the Rangers Charity Foundation's new National Charity Partner follows the groundbreaking launch of an agreement with UNICEF, which sees the respected children's charity become the Foundation's International Charity Partner for the next three years and the announcement of Fairbridge in Glasgow as Community Charity Partner.

The appointment of International, National and Community Partners comes as a result of a strategic review of the Foundation's activities following the growing success of its charitable and fundraising concerns.

Kirk Broadfoot commented: "The Charity Foundation has pledged to raise £50,000 for this project which will allow blind and partially sighted children in Scotland to benefit from increased access to great reading materials, as well as allowing them to get involved in the Children's Book Awards.

"We are all right behind the initiative and look forward to working closely with RNIB Scotland over the course of the year."

John Legg, Director of RNIB Scotland, said: "This partnership with the Rangers Charity Foundation will enable us to help blind and partially sighted children to access the same books as their sighted peers.

"Our aim is make this project sustainable in the longer term. With the Foundation's help and support, our Transcription Centre in Glasgow will be in a fantastic position to ensure that many more books are available in accessible formats, allowing people with sight loss to take part in the shared enjoyment of literature."