Services for blind and partially sighted people across Forth Valley have been given a boost after Forth Valley Sensory Centre was awarded £45,000 by Blindcraft Trust for a three-year outreach project. This award of funding will enable the Sensory Centre to appoint an ‘Ambassador’ with lived experience of sight loss, to help direct other people with sight loss to find the right support.
The fund will allow the Centre, which is based in Falkirk, to specifically target people who struggle with their vision and who live in the wider Forth Valley area, such as Stirling and Clackmannanshire, who are not currently engaged with the charity and possibly not aware of the range of support available.
Jacquie Winning MBE, Chief Executive, Forth Valley Sensory Centre said:
“This generous support from Blindcraft Trust, is great news for blind and partially sighted people in Forth Valley. It will allow us to appoint an Ambassador who understands the day to day challenges of living with sight loss. The pandemic has made things even harder for blind and partially sighted people who have become more isolated since lockdowns began in March 2020.
“We know there are lots more people, especially those who are struggling with age related sight loss who would benefit from the services of ourselves and our partners. However, travel, mobility issues or just confidence in getting out means they are not currently taking part in our groups, classes, activities and are not getting the support they should. This project is designed to tackle that issue head on, employing someone with lived experience of being blind to reach out to other blind and partially sighted people and offer support.”
The Centre has been supporting blind, partially sighted, deaf and hard of hearing people, across Forth Valley since 2006. Partners in the Centre include; RNIB Scotland, RNID, Falkirk and Stirling Councils, NHS Forth Valley, Sight Scotland Veterans and Blind Veterans UK.
Pandemic Increases Isolation
Support is peer led and comes in the form of the many groups, classes and social activities provided at the Centre and in Stirling. They are all designed to boost confidence and encourage independence. The pandemic hit the sensory community particularly hard. While the UK as a whole saw 1.5 million people begin using the internet in 2020 and 62 percent of web users say it helps with their health and wellbeing. Across the UK 84 percent of people say they have good internet skills but this drops to just 56 percent of people with sight loss and 36 percent have not used the internet at all.
This means no Zoom chats or quizzes. No catching up on favourite hobbies through forums or using email to contact local and national services. It means no online shopping, forcing people who struggle to social distance to limit their shopping and outings.
Hope For The Future
It is hoped that this funding will lead to the creation of new groups for people with sight loss across Stirling and Clackmannanshire as well as encouraging more people to access services from Forth Valley Sensory Centre.
Councillor Robert Mooney, Chair of Blindcraft Trust, who has sight loss himself, commented:
“250 people in the UK lose their sight each day. As the population ages, incidences of sight loss are only going to increase and this project is designed to help engage this often hard to reach group of people by providing examples of lived experience and offering ongoing support.
“Sight loss can be very isolating and saps people’s confidence very quickly. Forth Valley Sensory Centre has been a leading light for people with sight loss since it was built 16 years ago. Over the past few years everyone has come to appreciate the challenges that loneliness can cause and we were delighted to support this project to take help, advice and a friendly ear out to the people of Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire.” It is estimated that one in five over 70’s has some form of sight loss and manage the condition at home with the help of family or their partner. The Centre provides classes on everything from Art to Cooking, History and even Self-defence, all tailored to the sensory community. A full list of classes is available on our website here.
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