It’s that time again! Hear from our Chief Executive Lauren, meet our new Sight Loss Advisors, learn about our new support hubs, and find out how you can volunteer to help people with sight loss.
Developing a new 3-year strategy
With Vision North Somerset’s current strategy ending in 2022 and having come through a challenging time, it seems right to develop a new strategy to take us through the next few years. We aim to be led by the needs of local people so we would love your input via our strategy survey and, if possible, workshops coming up in January 2023.
Come along to a workshop to share your thoughts on support for local people with sight or hearing impairment. Help Vision North Somerset plan its work for the next few years. This will be a fun, interactive workshop with a range of local health and care staff, volunteers and people with sight or hearing impairment.
Workshop options – pick one:
- Central Portishead with good transport links – Tuesday 24th January, 1pm to 3pm.
- Central Weston-super-Mare with good transport links – Wednesday 25th January, 10am to 12 noon.
As places are limited, please express your interest by email info@visionns.org.uk or phone 01934 419 393
Online surveys:
- For people with vision impairment: https://forms.office.com/e/TuzUhpsNQw
- For people with hearing impairment: (Contact us for a paper copy)
- For Vision North Somerset volunteers: https://forms.office.com/e/wL5rw9P80K
- For professionals working with people in North Somerset: https://forms.office.com/e/cByhs04sNW
Our Autumn 2022 Newsletter
Find out what help is available with the Cost-of-Living Crisis, meet our new Peer Support Services Coordinator Claire, learn more about our services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, and see how you can get involved helping local visually impaired people.
Living Well with Sight Loss
The RNIB’s Living Well with Sight Loss phone course is being run in partnership with Vision North Somerset for North Somerset residents.
The course is open to those with sight loss as well as family members. The course is free and is run over 4 sessions.
To access the course, you will receive a phone call so all you need is either a landline or mobile phone. You can choose to join in on the phone call or just listen to the information.
The course is being run at 10:30am for no more than 1 hour 15 minutes on:
- Wednesday 5th October
- Wednesday 12th October
- Wednesday 19th October
- Wednesday 26th October
Course Content
Week 1 – Introduction:
- What the course entails
- Where to find information on specific eye conditions
- Certification and Registration (Certificate of Visual Impairment, Role of Low Vision Service, Magnifiers, Lighting)
- Role of Eye Care Liaison Officer, Rehabilitation Officer and RNIB Services.
Week 2 – In the Home:
- Home Visits from a Rehabilitation Officer
- Low vision aid equipment
- Daily Living Aids at home including making drinks and preparing food, talking equipment, reading labels, reading equipment, RNIB catalogue.
- Technology including accessibility settings, basic info on smart phones, recommended apps, smart speakers, etc.
Week 3 – Getting Out and About:
- Mobility and Orientation,
- Role of a Rehabilitation Officer in terms of helping with mobility, discussing white canes,
- Guide Dogs for the Blind,
- Public Transport,
- Welfare Benefits and Legal Rights
Week 4 – Eye Health, Wellbeing, Leisure and Staying Connected:
- How to look after our eyes
- Charles Bonnet Syndrome
- Sight Loss and Wellbeing
- 5 steps to wellbeing (Connect with others, be physically and mentally active, learn new skills, give to others, be mindful)
- RNIB Connect and Next Steps
To take part in the course please phone Vision North Somerset on 01934 419393 between 10am and 1pm Monday to Thursday and ask for Anna or Lori.
Our Spring 2022 Newsletter
Meet new CEO Lauren and Registration & Equipment Advisor Lori; discover our phone groups, tech wizards, and equipment service for hearing loss; and find out how you can help make everything happen.
Follow us on Social Media
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Living with Sight Loss: Share your experience
Are you living with Sight Loss? How has the pandemic affected you? And what could we do to help? We’d love to hear from you!
Tell us more about your experiences so we can tailor our services to better support people living with Sight Loss in North Somerset.
If you’d like to have your say, or maybe get involved in future consultations with Vision North Somerset, please follow the link below to complete our survey on Microsoft Forms.
Click here to share your experience of living with sight loss during the pandemic.
We’re hiring – work for your local sight loss charity
About the role: Fundraising Officer
An exciting chance to join an established, friendly local charity and really make your mark managing a wide range of fundraising activities. You will have a considerable degree of autonomy and will be working with a CEO who really ‘gets’ fundraising.
About you:
You will be a creative, can-do galvaniser with a good understanding of ‘return on investment’ and great people skills. You will work closely with the CEO, other staff and volunteers to plan and deliver different fundraising streams to increase our fundraising income.
This is an ideal opportunity for the right person to land a flexible, potentially part-time, enjoyable role in the charity sector. You might be looking to move up from an entry-level position in the charity sector, to get back to work after a gap or move to work locally in North Somerset rather than needing to commute. We can discuss flexible working to fit around caring responsibilities.
While professional fundraising experience would be extremely helpful, we are open to candidates with some years of transferable experience, for example in a management role in sales or marketing, volunteer management, business development, membership scheme or alumni management etc. Significant voluntary fundraising experience would also be helpful. We will provide training and induction – you will need to be proactive, quick to learn and to implement your knowledge.
About us:
Vision North Somerset are a small but established local charity supporting around 1500 people with vision impairment and hearing impairment from our office base and across the county. We have recently appointed a new CEO and are at an exciting stage of development in our service offer and income streams. We have been successful with grant fundraising and are increasing other funding streams such as regular givers, individual donors and income from room hire. We’re a friendly, supportive team with committed volunteers and appreciative service users.
Practical bits:
You will be based at our office near the train station in Weston-Super-Mare in North Somerset with regular homeworking and flexible hours available by agreement with your manager. You need to be able to regularly travel across the county. If you have a disability this can be arranged via the Access to Work scheme.
While this role is a one-year contract, there is the possibility of a permanent role in future.
Vision North Somerset strives to be diverse and inclusive a place where we can ALL be ourselves. We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic backgrounds and/or those who identify as LGBTQ+, who are currently underrepresented in our organisation.
How to apply:
Please forward a tailored CV and a one-page cover letter detailing how you meet the requirements of this role. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
If you would like an informal discussion before applying, please contact CEO Lauren Williams at Vision North Somerset on lauren.williams@visionns.org
Repair Work Started at Neva Road!
Work has started on essential repairs at our Resource Centre in Weston thanks to a donation from the Rank Foundation and the generosity of the local people who use our services.
We still need to raise a further £4,000 – but at least our roof is fixed and we have new radiators so we can provide a warm and dry environment for our visitors. Grateful thanks to all who have donated.
£1,855.96 raised by Boro Social Club!
A huge thank you goes out to Boro Social Club, who held a fun filled musical day for Vision North Somerset on Sunday 29th September.
Supporters raised £1,855.96 for local people with sight loss. A great day for everyone. Thank you from all at Vision North Somerset.