User:Sightlinevnw/sandbox

Sightline Vision (North West) Limited is a British charity founded by Mrs. Eileen Green in 2000, to provide helpline support for the visually-impaired, with a particular focus on individuals recently diagnosed with deteriorating or complete loss-of-sight. As of 2013, Sightline has received a £190,000 Big Lottery grant (spread over 3 years and contingent upon raising matching funds). Sightline's primary focus is to fill the gap of providing necessary support and guidance to individuals who are often left not knowing where to turn when suddenly faced with the prospect of losing their sight. Sightline Vision (North West) Limited operates out of a small office in Crosby, Liverpool. What makes Sightline Vision (North West) Limited uniquely qualified and exceptionally effective in providing support is that all the Helpline volunteers are themselves visually-impaired (some completely blind) and so able to provide vital empathetic support to help callers through what is often a deeply emotional time.

Origin
The charity's founder Eileen Green has herself confronted the devastating experience of having deteriorating sight suddenly disrupt her life. Eileen was living a normal life, employed at a well-known Building Society. Everything changed when she was diagnosed with Myopic Macular Degeneration. Despite help in the early stages, and a supportive family, Eileen still felt isolated, with no-one to talk to on a personal level as time went by.

Eileen deeply felt something had to be done for the many others not as fortunate as herself. She knew that the deepest darkest times could come at any time, day or night. She quickly found there was no real service for people in these difficulties. On her own, in her own home, she self-funded and set up a toll-free phone-line service which would provide a first line of support for other people suffering sight loss. Eileen was limited in what she could do, and had to initially restrict her service to three evenings a week. Her goal was to comfort and encourage sufferers, and to direct them towards other people who could help.

Over time Eileen built up her expertise and knowledge of the services available so she could not only comfort and encourage sufferers of sight loss, but also provide concrete assistance by directing callers to people who could provide direct aid.

Sightline Vision (North West)'s work today
The primary service offered by Sightline Vision (North West) Limited is unique in England. No other service is available to provide a free confidential phone service, manned by trained visually-impaired volunteers, available in the evenings and on weekends. The phone lines are currently open from 6 to 10 PM, on Thursdays through to Mondays, and Sightline expects shortly to achieve a long-standing goal of moving to being available every evening throughout the year. Visually-impaired sufferers and their supporters are welcome to phone during those times on the helpline number of 0800 587 2252.

Over the past decade, Sightline Vision (North West) has developed into a recognized charity, with Sue Townsend (of Adrian Mole fame) as a patron, funding from the UK Big Lottery Fund, a small office manned by Eileen and a part-time assistant; 17 visually-impaired volunteers manning the phone line with 5 more being trained and 2 awaiting training, and service now moving to every evening year-round.

Recently Sightline received an award of £190,000 Lottery funding (restricted to paying salaries and core costs; and dependent upon matching-fund-raising) spread over three years (2012-2015).

Challenges faced by Sightline Vision (North West) today
First and foremost, Sightline needs to widen public awareness of its services, to make more people aware of the service that is available. Eileen travels throughout the UK to speak to various groups in this regard, and further avenues of reaching the public are being investigated, such as pharmacists, opticians, hospital wards, and others.

Second, due to the current financial climate, a number of corporate sponsors have been unable to continue their previous generous support of the Charity. Although the allocation of the UK Lottery award provides a vital and timely boost, the funds it provides are limited, may only be spent on specific costs, and further require that Sightline raise matching funds through its own efforts.

In order to assist the Charity with facing these combined challenges, the Charity recently recruited six new non-executive trustees with relevant business experience. Combined with the experience of the incumbent trustees, the newly-enhanced Sightline board is launching a number of new efforts to both raise those needed funds and widen public knowledge of services offered by the Charity.