A Gwynedd man diagnosed with sight loss aged three hopes his story will inspire others to overcome challenges.

Phill Jones from Caernarfon, now 21, is confident, has a job and performs as a singer with his guitar.

He agreed to share his story through the North Wales Society of the Blind to highlight their work, and in the hope of inspiring others.

Born at 26 weeks old weighing less than a bag of sugar, Phill’s optic nerve didn’t formed properly.

He also has nystagmus which causes the eyes to move permanently.

Phill can't see further than two meters in front of him and uses magnifying glasses to read print and change its size.

“There's no treatment to improve my condition,” he said, “but I know it won’t get any worse”.

He receives support from the North Wales Society of the Blind in Bangor, and is very grateful to the society.

He said: "The society has been a great help to me over the years. They have enabled me to form groups of close friends and have day-to-day independence in my personal life.

"I owe a big thank you to officers Steve, Dafydd, Nick and the rest of the team.

"Thanks to the society, I have learnt numerous new skills – for example how to type correctly and use programmes such as Zoomtext and others that enable me to read."

Phill went to Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen where his aunt Tania worked. She and the rest of Phill’s family helped him a lot. He met Elidyr Glyn, the singer from popular Welsh band Bwncath, who was a teacher at the school in 2015. He gave him one-on-one attention for two years. The relationship between the two has lasted to this day and they are great friends.

Phill said: "I only have a huge thank you to the North Wales Society of the Blind, Elidyr, Bwncath and everyone who has helped me over the years."

In 2021 Phill started working in the reception for solicitors Pritchard Jones and Lane, Caernarfon.

In his spare time he is a top pool and snooker player. He started playing at the age of 10 - competing in World Disability Billiard and Snooker tournaments and travelled to Germany and the Netherlands.

But now he's focusing on singing and playing the guitar.

He said: "On the weekends, I gig and sing round local pubs.

"Elidyr bought me a guitar on my 18th birthday. After that, I said to myself, 'Right, I need to give my everything to learn how to play this guitar' – and that's what I did – spending hours and hours listening to Elidyr and Bwncath's songs and slowly learning how to play them.”

Elidyr said: "We're still good mates. I helped Phill learn to play the guitar at first with the chords and lyrics, but he's developed a lot himself.

“Now he's giggling and I'm really proud of him.

"I always thought he could. Confidence is half the job, then comes the enjoyment.

“Phill has proved himself and he's done fantastically well."