Hollie Morgan

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.

Download and read our Autumn 2022 Newsletter as a PDFDownload
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Or listen in as Molly gives you the latest
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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  

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Lottery Celebration

Celebration is in the air on June 12th when Vision North Somerset launch a fantastic new project funded by the National Lottery.

People with sight loss, their family and carers are invited to come along to the charity’s centre in Neva Road to see what’s on offer.

The In Sight in Touch project received an amazing £336,000 from the National Lottery and will introduce some innovative ideas put forward by blind and partially sighted people themselves.

The Celebration and Open Day is an opportunity for everyone to come along, find out what we have planned and tell us their own ideas too.

Other exhibitors will also be present for the event including HumanWare assistive technology, Dolphin Computers, Wiltshire Farm Foods and others.

The charity is also celebrating volunteers week and has invited all of the organisation’s 80 volunteers to share in the celebrations. Voluntary Services Co-ordinator Michele Blake said: “Our volunteers are a great team and highly valued. If anyone would like to consider joining us we’d be happy to see them at the Open Day and have a chat about volunteering opportunities.”

The event takes place from 11am – 3pm on 12th June at Vision North Somerset, 3 Neva Road, Weston super Mare.

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Charity Accounts Training with Albert Goodman (via Vision)

  • Do you struggle to understand your organisation’s accounts?
  • Can you read the balance sheet?
  • Can you explain your accounts to funding bodies?

Vision North Somerset are working with Albert Goodman, Charity Accountants to present a seminar to help staff and trustees gain a better understanding of their accounts in a down to earth and practical manner.

Take a look at the accompanying course outline and see if it meets the needs of your staff and trustees. It will certainly be a help to ours.

Vision are happy to host the course, so there will be no venue charge. To cover the costs we need to charge £60 per person (ourselves included) and we need to attract 10 attendees.

The course will take place on Tuesday 16th October 1.30pm for coffee and the course will start promptly at 2.00pm.

To reserve your place please complete the booking form and return by email or post by 28th September. The course fee must be included with your booking to secure your place, but is fully refundable if the course does not run due to lack of support.

Compared to other finance courses we have considered, this is a cost effective option and we hope there is sufficient take up from our voluntary sector colleagues to make it viable.

Thanks for your interest!

Celia Henshall, CEO, Vision North Somerset.

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Wing Walk – An Exhilarating Experience!

Two intrepid volunteers, Julie and Katherine, are taking up the ultimate challenge of Wing Walking to raise money for Vision North Somerset. They will be strapped to a biplane and whisked off into the air.

Flying on top of an aeroplane sounds terrifying to most, but Julie and Katherine both say they are looking forward to it!

The event will take place at an airfield near Cirencester on the 14th August. Those of us determined to stay on terra firma can show our support with a donation:

  • Via Local Giving – please enter Wing Walk in the comment box
  • Via cheque to Vision North Somerset
  • Via cash at our Resource Centre, 3 Neva Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1YD

Thank you in anticipation of your support for these brave (or foolhardy!) ladies. Contact us if you have any questions about the event, or if you need help and advice about sight loss.