
Hundreds of local older people with visual impairment will get the Home Visiting Support that they need thanks to a grant of £10,000 from Middlesex Freemasons to the Middlesex Association for the Blind.
Up to 400 older people with vision problems will get help with anything from reading mail, keeping up to date with account payments, getting out of the house for exercise, visiting the GP or doing the shopping. The home visits are essential to break the isolation that people with visual impairment experience, and they contribute to them retaining their independence and improving their mental wellbeing.
The Middlesex Association for the Blind helps over 400 people every month in the London boroughs of Brent, Barnet, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Haringey and Richmond, of whom 40 per cent are from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. According to the Royal National Institute for the Blind, more than two million people in the UK are living with sight loss, and 250 people start losing their sight every day.
The grant from Middlesex Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.
Valerie Hill, CEO of the Middlesex Association for the Blind, said:
“We’re very grateful to Middlesex Freemasons for their generous grant. As a charity we’re completely dependent on grants and donations for our survival. The help the Freemasons are giving will help us deliver a high-quality service to our clients who are all visually impaired, and mainly elderly. Without donors like the Freemasons we would not survive.”
Peter Baker the Pro Provincial Grand Master of the Middlesex Freemasons, said:
“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to help the Middlesex Association for the Blind who provide outstanding support for elderly visually impaired people in our community. As well as assisting with important everyday task like shopping and dealing with paperwork, they’re essential in breaking the social isolation that so many people with visual impairment experience.”
For more information on the Middlesex Association for the Blind please call 020 8423 5141 or email on info@aftb.org.uk or see www.aftb.org.uk/
About the Middlesex Association for the Blind
Middlesex Association for the Blind gives advice and support to people who have visual impairment. The vast majority are elderly and 40% come from BAME backgrounds. The isolation they experience due to sight loss leads to feelings of anxiety, depression and sometimes suicidal feelings. The only way to break this downward spiral is to break the isolation that they experience. MAB offers a range of services including a Home Visiting Service where beneficiaries are visited on a weekly basis and given bespoke support, depending on their needs. The Rapid Response Counselling Service is for people who are in crisis after a sight loss diagnosis and visits people in their homes. The Employment Service helps (younger) people to become job ready and there is also Braille Training for people wanting to learn that skill. The Mobile Resource Unit parks at high footfall areas giving out advice and support and exhibiting assistive devices to people who are already visually impaired. It also gives out messaging about having regular eye checks to prevent avoidable blindness. Over 5,000 people benefit every year from the charity’s services which increase independence, reduce isolation and improve mental wellbeing. www.aftb.org.uk/
For further information about the Masonic Charitable Foundation, please contact Guy Roberts, Press Officer (groberts@mcf.org.uk |0203 146 3311)