Welcome to Birmingham Vision

Following the Birmingham Vision Board meeting on 23 October 2019, we, the Birmingham Vision Board have reviewed the interest in the drop in on 1^st November and have concluded that due to the potential level of attendance this poses an increased safety risk, which impacts on our safe evacuation procedures for blind and partially sighted people.   Safety is our paramount concern for those attending, the staff and volunteers who had offered to support the day.

We have concluded that we postpone the drop-in day in view of the safety concerns identified.  Birmingham Vision will hold an invite only event for people who access our services and for our volunteers.

Invites will be sent to people who have regularly attended our social, sports, and employment events.  During these invite only events we will be pleased to discuss the new providers of the services and provide their details for you.  By running an invite only event we can ensure everyones personal safety and comply with our fire regulations and evacuation procedures.

We recognise that for some people this is an uncertain time, and we are working quickly to provide a smooth transition of services to other reputable organisations who will continue to deliver face to face services, and support even more blind and partially sighted people in the future.

Thank you for you understanding.

Emma Cruickshank CEO for and on behalf of the Birmingham Vision Board

Birmingham Vision has supported blind and partially sighted people, their friends, families and carers, since it opened in 2015.

Following changes to available future funding, we have recently been reviewing the sustainability of Birmingham Vision and working closely with our primary funder, Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT), to determine the best way forward for continuity of provision of services in the area. We have, sadly, concluded that Birmingham Vision is no longer sustainable, and have made the difficult decision that the charity will no longer continue to operate. We are currently working on a date to close the charity but will aim to continue our existing activities, where possible, until December 2019.

TPT are committed to continuing to provide financial support in Birmingham, and it now looks most likely that this will be achieved through a combination of redeployment of some Birmingham Vision staff to other organisations and direct funding of services at other organisations in the area.

We are working with TPT and local and national sight loss charities to transfer our activities and services to them and we feel that this is the best solution for ensuring the continuity of services for blind and partially sighted people of working age. With the support from TPT, we are confident that these opportunities for blind and partially sighted people will continue.

On 1 November between 11:30am and 4:00pm, there will be a drop-in session at Birmingham Vision for volunteers and people who access our services. This will be a chance to ask any questions about services.

Further information will be circulated via social media, our website, our newsletter and a letter in the coming months.

Birmingham Vision would like to thank everyone who has supported the charity either as a volunteer or service user. We have enjoyed supporting everyone who has accessed our services.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank TPT who have so generously supported our work. We also acknowledge the kind support of our other funders who have enabled us to deliver and develop services.

Yours Faithfully

Emma Cruickshank CEO on behalf of the Birmingham Vision Trustees