About Sight Loss Shropshire
Reviewed August 2023
Sight Loss Shropshire (formerly Shropshire Voluntary Association for the Blind) was founded in 1922. It is a registered charity that helps and supports blind and visually impaired people of all ages in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
Sight Loss Shropshire is one of the national network of local charities for blind and visually impaired people that serve every part of the country.
Sight Loss Shropshire’s aim is to improve the quality of life of visually impaired people of all ages who live in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Our objectives are:
- To help visually impaired people to cope with their sight loss and the difficulties this imposes on their daily lives
- To reduce social isolation for visually impaired people and provide access to a range of social, physical and creative activities that contribute to people’s physical and mental well-being.
- To enable visually impaired people to make informed choices about the services and support that they access
- To enable visually impaired people to access equipment and services that they cannot afford to self-fund, and which are not available from statutory services, but which have a significant impact on their level of independence
- To improve or maintain visually impaired people’s confidence and mental well-being which are often adversely affected by a diagnosis of sight loss.
- To raise awareness of sight loss issues and improve the provision of local sight loss services
- To work in partnership with statutory, private and third sector organisations to support visually impaired people in the community
- To act as a local champion of visually impaired people who live in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin by facilitating national and local organisations’ fuller understanding of the specific issues and circumstances faced by visually impaired people in our area
Our Committee is drawn from all over Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Half of the Committee are themselves either blind or partially sighted, and therefore have real first-hand understanding of the challenges of living with visual impairment.
Sight Loss Shropshire provides its services to visually impaired people of any age, irrespective of whether or not they are registered as sight impaired. We also provide advice, information and signposting to carers, family members and friends of visually impaired people as well as professionals working with individuals with sight loss.
Sight Loss Shropshire’s work is heavily dependent on the services of local volunteers.