Blind in Greenwich – local community organisation

London Vision is excited to be doing more work in Greenwich going forward. We are working more closely with groups like Blind in Greenwich (BiG). Blind in Greenwich is a peer support and social activity group for blind and partially sighted people. BiG also works with other people affected by vision loss, who live in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. BiG came to London Vision’s Information Day in April – read on to learn more:

Blind in Greenwich

Blind in Greenwich (BiG) attended the London Vision Information Day on April 13th. We saw it as an opportunity to increase our membership in Greenwich. It was also a way  and provide assistance and peer support to more blind and partially sighted Greenwich residents.

We are only a small voluntary organisation from Greenwich. Sometimes we find it difficult to get information about who we are and what we do to the people who might need it. So, we recently created some flyers to help with recruiting more blind and people to our events. The London Vision Information Day was a great opportunity to meet people and give out the new flyers.

Four of the Blind in Greenwich team attended. Wayne Holmes, Sue Mitchell, Sajida Shah and me, Steven Reed. We came with our flyers, willing to talk to the borough’s visually impaired community.

There was a good turnout and for the first couple of hours the room was busy, buzzing with activity. We did so much talking I’m surprised we didn’t leave hoarse, but we had a good time and picked up some potential new members.

Making contacts in the borough

I had a fantastic conversation with Peta Cubberley. She is the Voluntary and Community Sector Stakeholder Relationship Officer for the borough. She provided me with contacts within the council and around the borough who we may be able to work with. As a small voluntary organisation, I’m sure these contacts will prove invaluable. At first I didn’t view the Information Day as a networking event, but Peta sent lots of emails after the event. I am grateful for everyone Peta put me in touch with as a result.

It was also great to see some of our current members there. Some members looked at the technology on offer from Optelec and Sight and Sound Technology.
Others chatted to Kerry from RNIB. Kerry is an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer, and she told members about what she does and the services RNIB provides. We had a good chat with the London Vision team about their plans for work and services in Greenwich.

The most important thing that came out of the day was plans for how London Vision and BiG can work together. Both organisations want to improve services for visually impaired people in Greenwich. I think that by working together we will be able to help even more people with sight loss in Greenwich.

Steven Reed, Blind in Greenwich