East Sussex Sight Loss Council celebrates its first birthday

East Sussex and West Sussex Sight Loss Councils (SLCs) and both led by blind and partially sighted volunteer members and funded by Thomas Pocklington Trust. Together, they work with organisations to ensure what they do is accessible and inclusive.

East Sussex SLC has had a remarkable first year, leading several fantastic projects across the region which have featured on television, radio and other media. Examples include:

• working in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) to make streets more accessible for BPS people
• running an accessible travel forum for BPS people in the area to raise awareness about what support is available to them
• developing a resource to support galleries locally and nationally to describe art for blind and partially sighted people and make their galleries accessible
• working with Govia to trial a new app that connects BPS people to a remote advisor to guide them around the station, to a member of staff.

Paul Goddard, East Sussex SLC volunteer member, said: “It is an honour to be a founding member of East Sussex Sight Loss Council. I can’t believe it has been a year already.

“I joined as it’s important to me to give a voice to blind and partially sighted people on issues that affected their everyday lives. I want their voices to be heard when they are so often ignored.

“It is incredible to see the difference that East Sussex SLC has already made by working with the Brighton Job Centre and Brighton and Hove city council, and the respect that it has gathered in just a year.

“My highlight was our accessible travel forum we held for blind and partially sighted people at the Amex stadium in Brighton. It was great to be able to publicly congratulate Brighton and Hove buses on their inclusivity and access for blind and partially sighted passengers – which is second to none. May other bus companies catch up quickly!”

Linn Davies, East Sussex SLC volunteer, said: “I’m happy to have been a part of East Sussex SLC from the start. I saw it as an exciting opportunity to improve things for blind and partially sighted people in Brighton, where I live.

“I’m so excited about our new projects for this year. The social aspect is good too. Although we are not a social group, it’s always nice to attend the meetings and catch up with the other members.”

David Smith, Engagement Manager for the South East, added: “We’ve had a great first year establishing East Sussex SLC in the area. So good in fact, we have just launched in neighbouring West Sussex and are looking for new volunteers to join us.

“We are really looking forward to the year ahead and all of our projects across both regions. This includes working on projects around transport, the built environment, and retail – specifically looking at the accessibility of supermarket shopping.

“We are excited to continue to build on relationships with local organisations and service providers and look forward to forging new ones.”

Join West Sussex Sight Loss Council

If you are blind and partially sighted and want to improve services for visually impaired people in your area, apply today at www.sightlosscouncils.org.uk/join-us/ or telephone 020 7031 6376.