Blind, Visually Impaired & disabled people struggling in lockdown
Have you noticed people struggling to keep a social distance? Are they able to see? Is their mobility restricted? We all need to keep our eyes open and up our observation skills during lockdown and distancing restrictions. And we are doing a good job.
However, some people are struggling. I happen to be a volunteer trainer of Guide Dog Puppies and I was terribly sad to read that one Guide Dog Owner has said he’s decided not to take Kika, his Guide Dog, out alone any more, thus taking him back to the permanent lockdown which engulfs many Visually Impaired People (VIPs). In recent weeks so many people seem not to have noticed him, haven’t bothered moving and instead brush or bump into him. The pavements are now too busy for VIPs to maintain social distancing. This is one step back for equality and independence.
Also I’ve heard people complain when VIPs with Guide Dogs have seemed to ignore queues. The Guide Dogs are trained to take their VIP in straight lines and they haven’t learnt about queuing. My present 6 month old pup Clarkie is getting a lot of experience of queuing! Perhaps that will be a new skill for future Guide Dogs! But in the meantime, Please, Please, can we, all of us, blessed with sight use it and not discriminate against the VIPs.
‘Be There’ Campaign
Guide Dogs have launched a public awareness campaign to highlight the challenges faced by blind and partially sighted people around the social distancing measures. We have come up with three tips to help the public understand how they can help people with sight loss cope with the challenges of social distancing. We are calling the campaign ‘Be There’ to emphasise that although social distancing is important, we want the public to be there to offer help, if needed. A big thank you to those I spoke to last week who gave feedback on the tips which are;
Keep your distance, but don’t disappear – People with sight loss may find it challenging to social distance, so if you see someone with a guide dog or a long cane then you can help them by making sure you keep two meters away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also offer your help.
Say hello and offer your help – Simply by letting someone with sight loss know you are nearby; you are giving them the opportunity to ask for any help if they need it. People often feel unsure about their ability to help someone with sight loss, but their request could be a simple as finding out where a shopping queue starts, or if there is a safer place to cross a road.
Describe the scene – We’ve all had to adapt to unusual sights during lockdown – people standing apart in long lines outside of supermarkets for example. But those with sight loss haven’t always witnessed this to the same extent, which can be isolating and confusing. By describing what you can see to someone with sight loss, you can help them to understand the environment and navigate accordingly.
VST is pleased to now offer blended and online training for both new and existing accredited and non-accredited courses.
New non-accredited courses are 2 hours long, just £25, and are delivered by experts in their fields and deal not only with the main topic, but also how these topics are being affected by the current health crisis.
Our existing accredited courses have been reorganised so they can be delivered live by /expert trainers over a number of sessions.
We are starting with a focused number of courses which will grow in time,
The British Heart Foundation is launching a free postal donation service in a bid to reduce the number of people visiting its 750 shops when they begin to reopen over the next few weeks.
The charity said smaller items, including books, clothes and vintage toys, donated to the charity retailer through its new post-and-donate service would be sold on the charity’s eBay store online or in one of its shops.
The service aims to help shops fill volunteer gaps and allow potential volunteers an easy way to express an interest in contributing to the work that charity shops do in their communities and for their parent charities.
Retailers with vacancies will be able to ‘interrogate’ the database and identify potential volunteers according to their location and specific charity interest.
Cancer Research UK has cancelled all Race for Life events this year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The charity had hoped to postpone its 380 events until the autumn, but with uncertainty as to when mass participation events might be allowed, it has decided this is no longer possible.
Instead it has launched launched Race for Life at Home and is encouraging people to share their challenges and activities on social media using the hashtag #RaceForLifeAtHome. Read the full Civil Society article here.
Last night I delivered a presentation to Basildon Borough Council detailing how vital the voluntary sector has been in responding to the challenges and required support which have surfaced since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is increasingly important that other bodies acknowledge the extremely valuable work we all do in supporting and developing our communities and how we are able to connect and implement positive changes so swiftly. It was a great opportunity to represent our sector and also draw attention to come of the challenges we face in the future. It’s extremely important to be represented and hopefully you can see that at BBW CVS we are doing so in a motivational and proactive way.
I hope you recognise that our service is adapting rapidly and all voluntary organisations, charities and CICs are at the centre of those changes.
Signpost Tendring is currently continuing to support our local unemployed people throughout the Covid-19 crisis, by working remotely with them through our Building Better Opportunities Projects. We are currently enrolling participants onto our HeadsUp project (which supports people with anxiety and depression) and also our Community Connections Essex Project. Both projects will give people a variety of employability skills which will include: CV writing, cover letters, support with applying with jobs on-line and other job seeking skills, along with general support and advice. There is also the opportunity of gaining employability skills in-house certificates.
Our advisors are working from Tuesday to Thursday each week and can be contacted on the following number: 01255 688683 and you can also use the following e-mails:
Beacon, a nonprofit database provider, have created a free eBook to help small charities choose a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Due to the source of the content we expect there to be some bias, but there are some useful tips for any organisation looking to procure a new database system:
1) What kind of data do you need to store?
Think about all the different kinds of data that you need to store and write down a list of them. You’re going to want a system that can handle all the things you need to store. For example:
Donors
Memberships
Volunteers
Fundraisers
Grants
Funds
Legacies
Key Point: Know what you need from a charity CRM and choose one that’s flexible enough to handle everything
2) How are you taking donations?
Your charity CRM and your donation flow should work beautifully together. There’s no need to pay twice for a donation processor and a CRM – make sure your CRM comes with great-looking donation processing built in. And remember these things to look out for from an online donation processing system:
It should look good and modern
It should come with automated gift aid processing
It should support all the modern payment systems like Apple pay
It should be mobile friendly
Key Point: Make sure your charity CRM comes with a modern donation processing system
3) Who’s going to run the show?
If you choose a very complicated system you’re going to need experts to run it – or you’re going to have to pay for expensive consultants! Choose something that’s really easy to use – and ideally something that’s been built specifically for charities.
Key Point: Your charity CRM should be flexible and easy to use
4) How much can you afford?
It’s worth figuring out exactly what you can afford. There’s a balance between cheap (you get what you pay for, right?) and being charged a fortune by a big corporation. Look for a public pricing page and really clear pricing. Most modern CRMs just charge per user so it’s really easy to calculate.
Key Point: Get pricing information up front and know your budget
5) Try out a bunch of charity CRMs
Make sure you try the systems out yourself – don’t just get a demo! There’s a lot of old, clunky software around that’s been around for ages and it’s slow and hard to use. Modern software should look and feel smooth, easy, and intuitive!
Following easing of Govt local down rules as organisations are starting to consider how to return safely to using their premises Public Health England and the HSE have warned of the risk of Legionella growth in stagnant unused water systems in buildings which have been left unoccupied for weeks or months. Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia and everyone is susceptible to infection. Don’t assume that because the water system on your premises was previously low risk, it will remain so after a period of disuse.
