A CHARITY supporting visually impaired people in Somerset would like new volunteers in the Frome area to join the team.
Somerset Sight is a local charity that has been supporting sight impaired people across Somerset for over a hundred years.
Cath Lyn-Jones, volunteer visitor coordinator said, “In 2019 we proudly won the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. One of the services we offer is the volunteer visiting service, whereby volunteers are matched locally with a sight impaired person for regular visits for company and support and to alleviate their loneliness and isolation.
“Volunteer visitors help with a variety of tasks such as reading, correspondence, or making appointments, going out for a drive or just a cup of tea and a chat.
“Many volunteers get great satisfaction and enjoyment from their voluntary work, many friendships are formed and the people they support very much look forward to their visits, some telling us that it is the highlight of their week. Full training is provided and we cover all reasonable expenses.
“We currently have a number of visually impaired people in Frome and the surrounding area who would welcome a volunteer visitor, but they are on a waiting list as we don’t have enough volunteers to match them with.
“Furthermore, we hold a monthly Frome social group for the visually impaired at the Archangel in Frome on the last Thursday of the month, between 10.30am and 12 noon. Our service users come along to have a chat and a coffee, and we are also able to share ideas and information about living with sight loss.
“We also have a mobile advisory service which travels across the whole of Somerset offering information, advice and visual aids for people with sight loss. We have lots of helpful gadgets and interesting resources on board.
“We arrange regular outings and events for people who are visually impaired, including an annual trip to the seaside. We deliver regular ‘Seeing Life Differently Days’ for people who are coming to terms with sight loss. We also provide low vision clinics and we offer emotional support sessions via telephone. We have seen a big increase in the use of IT by our service users, so we now offer IT support to our visually impaired service users.”
Further information about the organisation can be found on the Facebook page and on the website: https://www. somersetsight.org.uk/ , @somersetsight
