Surrey Association for Visual Impairment. Making a visible difference in Surrey.
About SAVI
History of Surrey Association for Visual Impairment
The Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI) was founded in 1922 and was registered as a charity in 1962. Originally the charity's name was Surrey Voluntary Association for the Blind, where for many years until 1976, only volunteers work for the charity, and it was started to support people blinded in the first world war. By 2002, the Charity members agreed that the name did not reflect that it also had many paid employees and that the services were also including partially sighted people. A new name was agreed and Surrey Association for Visual Impairment became the charity's title. If you would like to know more about the history and time line of how the charity evolved you can visit our history page.We are still a charity that highly values work done by volunteers and our volunteer services are still busy today.You can find out more about this department by going to our volunteering page.
Where we are now.
The charity's aim is
To work with blind and partially sighted people in Surrey, to provide services so that they may choose to lead fuller, more independent lives.
To achieve this, we provide a wide range of services to visually impaired people and their carers, including statutory registration and rehabilitation of blind and partially sighted people which can be found on our Rehabilitation page. Read about services for people with combined sight and hearing loss and a Low Vision Studio which has lighting and magnification aids and a wide range of equipment for visually impaired people to cope with everyday tasks, and more information about this can be found on our Resource Centre page.
We provide information via factsheets and e-mail groups, and newsletter which you can see on our News page. Also advice and counselling for people having difficulties due to their sight loss. Guidance and support for people wishing to claim benefits related to their disability. If people want to learn new skills to read and write, we provide communication classes to learn Braille, Moon, and touch typing and computer training with assistive technology for visually impaired people. More information about these services are available on our Vision Support page.
To Professionals, we offer visual awareness training, and suggestions on making a work place accessible, and can provide information that they need when working with or caring for visually impaired people and a training support DVD or Video about visual awareness. More details of this can be found on our Professionals Services pages. And for people wishing to find employment with us, look on our Vacancies Page.
Fundraising
This is a vital part of SAVI's work to be able to support visually impaired people in the Surrey community, as many of our services are free. There is also a cost in recruiting and maintain volunteers and paid staff to provide the valuable services from our charity, to provide a building for us to have a work base and also the valuable Resource Centre and Low Vision Centre, and training rooms. If you feel you can support us with this work and would like to see what we do visit our Fundraising page.
Back to home page
Chief Executive Officer profile
Find out more about Lance Clarke, SAVI Chief Executive Officer.
Who's Who in SAVI
Chief Executive Officer - Lance Clarke
Chief Executive Officer's PA - Elaine Stewart-Morton
Senior Management Team
Head of Community Services - Jason Spinney
Head of Rehabilitation Services - Sandra Gregory
Head of Finance - David Lloyd
Head of Office Services - Lynda Ellis
Charity's Community Services Team
Home Visitor Co-ordinator - Dennis Saunders
Resource and Low Vision Manager - Andy Cook
Community Liaison - Katy Kirton
Children's Recreation Coordinator - Stella Black
Statutory Services
Rehabilitation Operations Manager - Amanda Eves
Combined Sight and Hearing Loss Team
Sight Loss
Learn about the most common eye conditions that can cause visual impairment.
Macular Disease
Cataract
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
