Nationwide Building Society support Local sight loss charity’s future services

Local sight loss charity, 4Sight Vision Support, who celebrate their 100th Anniversary this year, have received an incredible £17K grant from the Nationwide Community grants towards the development of their future services for blind and sight impaired people across West Sussex.

After having feedback from members during the pandemic, the charity are currently adapting their future services to strengthen the support available for current members and to also reach new members across the county. The adapted services will see the introduction of new roles including an Accessible Tech Officer and a Living Well Coordinator. These roles will enable the team to support members in a more comprehensive way in these specific areas.

Nik Demetriades, CEO at 4Sight Vision Support explains “Whilst Covid has presented the charity with many challenges, it has also provided us with the opportunity to really connect with our members and hear what support they need now and in the future.

"We are absolutely delighted and very grateful to receive this grant  from Nationwide which will enable us to better support blind and sight impaired people from childhood and into later life, with these new roles tailored to the needs of our current and future members”. 

The charity explains that whilst technology has played a pivotal role for everyone this year, for someone who is visually impaired there are often barriers to accessing technology, identifying the products and apps which are best suited to their needs and getting to grips with this on their own.

As a result, they now have a list of over 100 people waiting for accessible technology assistance on a face-to-face basis.

The support from Nationwide will enable a new Accessible Tech Officer to play a pivotal role in helping people of all ages learn or relearn how to use technology – helping them to remain independent and connected to the outside world.

Additionally, the grant will support a Living Well Coordinator, a role that will have a strong focus around supporting people of working age who develop sight loss, as they are often most at risk of losing their jobs and their homes and the financial stability of both themselves and their loved ones.

Matt Stanley, Nationwide Bognor Regis Branch Manager said, “Helping local communities is at the heart of what it means to be a building society for Nationwide.  Thanks to our Community grants programme, we are thrilled to be able to award the £17k grant to 4Sight knowing this will make such a difference to the fantastic charity and make such a positive difference to so many individuals in our local community. Many charities are struggling, so we’re pleased that we’re able to help this very worthy cause.”

The local Nationwide branch in Bognor Regis will also be working closely with the charity to help provide further awareness and fundraising opportunities, and in return, the charity will be helping staff team at Bognor gain an understanding of what living with sight loss is like. 4Sight Vision Support will also be providing opportunities for the staff to take on volunteering roles to support the charity’s members directly.